SOME of these television pundits do talk a load of rubbish!

They said James Beattie wasn't getting any support up front in Southampton's FA Cup quarter-final win over Wolves.

But I thought our old boy Brett Ormerod had a great game and did really well on the ball.

Beattie had two good chances and you would expect a top class striker to put at lease one of those away.

Brett was the man of the match, he just needs to start scoring goals, and I'm sure he will soon - maybe in the semi-final!

A huge pat on the back must go to our groundsman Jim Shaw and to everyone who has made the Crown Ground a Conference Stadium. For Accrington Stanley have been asked by the Lancashire FA to stage the final of the Marsden Trophy, which is a tribute to everyone who has worked so hard on the stadium, and to Jim, who has worked wonders on the pitch.

The final will be between Conference side Leigh RMI and Kendal, who beat Stanley in the semis, on Wednesday April 16, and hopefully a few local people will come to the Crown Ground to watch the game.

It's a great honour for the club because it's the major non-league trophy in Lancashire and, as holders, it's a nice way to end the competition this season.

But it could also provide a stepping stone for referees.

Last season's referee, Mo Matodor, has refereed in the Conference this season. I don't know who the whistleblower is this year - it could be someone local with the final being played in Accrington - but at the moment I don't know.

Rossendale United boss Jim McBride continues to ring the changes at Dark Lane and has signed two former Stanley players, Lee Buggie and David Robinson.

It was unfortunate for Lee that he never got a lot of games at Accrington but we loaned him out to Clitheroe, where he did quite well, and he's been able to secure a permanent move to Rossendale.

And a correction for Jim, we only paid £4,000 for Dave Robinson when we signed him from Runcorn, not £6,000 as he has said. Nevertheless, I think he will be a great signing for Rossendale, who will be concentrating on the league now after losing their semi-final of the Unibond League Challenge Cup on Saturday to Gateshead.

To be honest, it could be a blessing in disguise because they can now concentrate on getting enough points to stay in the Unibond First Division.

I know Jim quite well, and hopefully by the end of the season, I'm sure he will have turned things around there.

A final word for our fans at Stanley because they've been magnificent and I really felt for them when around 400 of them travelled to Altrincham on Saturday only for it to be rained off.

We re-arranged it quickly so we could get it played tonight, and I know not everyone who went on Saturday will be able to go, but I'm sure we'll still have a good following.

Some of our away matches, such as those against Burscough and Worksop, really have been more like home games because we've had more fans than they have. And long may it continue.

STILL 11 games to go!