The Pitching In Isthmian Football League

Lightning strike stumps statistician

23 Sep 2016 By David Watters

The Ryman League's official statistician Mike Wilson has been left scratching his head after Kane Haysman struck for Staines within seconds of kick off in Tuesday night's 2-2 draw with Enfield Town.

The former Gillingham, Sutton United and Eastbourne Borough midfielder, pictured, found the back of the net 13.5 seconds into the Ryman Premier clash to start a social media debate over records and the fastest goals ever scored in the history of the Isthmian League.

As the Ryman is over 100 years old and the majority of records do not record goal times of under a minute, Wilson can't say for sure whether the 21-year-old set a record in front of the crowd at Wheatsheaf Park and Ryman League chairman Nick Robinson who was also at the fixture.

The editor of the annual Ryman Football League Statistical Review said: "Most of the records don't show goal times in seconds but I'd be surprised if there wasn't a faster one with the league's long history. If anyone does have any suggestions I'd love to hear from them and they can email me at wilson-m17@sky.com."

Tuesday's draw left Enfield in the relegation zone with the Swans up to ninth place ahead of Saturday's trip to third placed Havant & Waterlooville.

* The 19th edition of Wilson's annual stats bible was published in August to mark the start of the new season. Packed once again with all the key statistics covering the performances of every club last term, the annual round-up includes the results, scorers and attendances of every club's league campaign.

As well as the records of clubs in the Alan Turvey Trophy sponsored by Robert Dyas, Ryman Youth League, Lucas Fettes Youth Cup, Robert Dyas Veterans Cup, Robert Dyas Disability Cup, Boux Avenue Women's Cup, FA Cup, FA Trophy and senior county cups, the popular booklet also lists player appearances for league matches including their regular playing positions. An index of the Ryman's stars in alphabetical format is also included.

The booklet is priced at £7 but as part of a special offer is available to member clubs for £5. Postage for one copy is £1.27 for first class delivery or £1.20 for second class. Postage for two or more copies is priced at £1.71 and £1.54 respectively.

To order, cheques should be made payable to Mike Wilson. Along with delivery details, they should be sent to the statistician at 71 Elm Road, Slade Green, Kent, DA8 2NN.

Image courtesy of followtheswans.com

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