Kempston Rovers V Aylesbury United

Yesterday, I travelled to Bedfordshire to watch a vital match at the bottom of the Southern League Division 1 Central between Kempston Rovers & Aylesbury United.

Now, the home side were 5 points adrift of safety with 4 to play so it was MUST WIN for them really, whereas, the away team were 5 point clear of the drop, so, for them, it was MUST NOT LOSE.

On arrival, my daughter and I were warmly met on arrival, and were treated brilliantly by all at Kempston Rovers, which I can’t thank them enough for, but, for this, I want to give my thought’s regarding the respective managers.

Firstly, I sought out Kempston manager Richard Keil, as I had got in touch with him regarding filming the vlog.

He was a great guy, and despite the pressure of the impending match, he gave me plenty of time.

We had a joke where, I mentioned that his name was the same as the actor who played the baddie Jaws in the James Bond films, and if his team won, I already had a title of my video in mind.

After a quick on camera interview, it was time to try to meet Aylesbury manager David Tuttle.

Once again, he also was a great guy, we had a good laugh off camera, then we did a quick interview.

After the interview’s, the managers and I were chatting, and I assumed they knew each other pretty well, as they had an easy way with each other.

So, the match comes, and goes, and, for once, I will give a spoiler….it finished Kempston 0-5 Aylesbury….which, now makes it almost certain Kempston will go down and Aylesbury will survive.

So…as the teams and management walk off, I noticed Richard went back to the dugout on his own to just sit, and, I guess, ponder and think about what he had witnessed.

It was then I decided I wouldn’t ask for a post match interview with him.

Not long after, David came out, walked across the pitch and went and sat with Richard for a few minutes.

I thought that was real classy from him.

They came back off the pitch together, and, now, I was certain they were mates from way back as there seemed a real decent bond, but, to my complete surprise, when I spoke to them again, they had only met once…the previous encounter between the 2 teams, which was David’s first match.

It was such a decent thing to see on, what was a crappy day for the home side, and honestly, these 2 fellas really are representing the teams clubs brilliantly, and, I just wouldn’t be surprised somewhere down the line they may end up a management duo ( you heard it here first ).

One final thing, Richard dropped me a line in the evening, thanking me for coming and apologising for not changing much after the match due to how he was feeling…he had no need to apologise, he was great.

….Oh, if you fancy watching the vlog (it’s a bit longer than usual), Here it is!

Once again, a big thank you to Darren Ashley for sharing another one of his great Vlogs which always give a wonderful insight into non-league football and the people involved with the game at grassroots level.

Don't forget to follow and subscribe to Darren's YouTube channel where you can watch all his previous content and get notifications for up coming Vlogs.