Dave Payne column: Great to see Bath's FA Cup progress

Dave Payne column: It was great to see one of my former clubs – Bath City – progress to the second round of the FA Cup last week after defeating League Two Grimsby Town.

Bath now have a home tie in the next round against another non-league team – Mansfield or Forest Green – so there is every chance they can make it into the third round and perhaps draw one of the big Premier League teams.

Another local team – Paulton Rovers – bowed out to Norwich City, but they hopefully enjoyed their week in the spotlight and will put the money from their great cup run to good use.

Last week, the team I manage – Brislington Reserves – had their match postponed so, although I have not played since last April, our third- team manager, Kevin Hazell, begged me to play for his depleted team.

I found my boots, which were hanging on a big nail in my garage, and pulled them on again to play in a Suburban League match.

After I missed a simple chance, I got a lot of stick from Kevin and his 15 assistants standing on the touchline. What they all forgot was that I made a long, mazy run from my own half to create the chance.

Unfortunately, my 47-year-old legs gave out on me just as I was about to kick the ball into the net.

After about an hour, with the team leading 4-0, Kev decided to substitute me, which was a wise decision because I was tiring badly.

The final score was 4-2 and, although that match was over a week ago, I'm still aching now.

As usual, last weekend was full-on football for me. Not only did I play, but I watched the FA Cup and Premier League games on the TV for hours and hours.

My wife was really fed up and she told me that I put football before her.

"How can you say that?" I replied, "This is our 12th season together!"

In fairness, I have to say that things are bad at home at the moment.

She told me that if it is not football that I'm watching, then it is any other sport that comes on. She has a point – I paid the extra fee to watch the David Haye boxing bout.

So this Friday, I decided to book a quiet table for two in an attempt to patch things up.

To be honest, though, by nine o'clock things had got 10 times worse – she hadn't potted a single red!