Last night - on the coldest, most frosty evening of the season so far, my good friend and neighbour, the admirable Mr. Slightly, ventured to the Priestfield Stadium at Gillingham to watch his footballing heroes take on the might of Sunderland in an FA Cup replay, the Gills having secured a creditable draw away at the curiously named Stadium of Light about ten days ago.

But the real heroes of this ramble are not the Gillingham team or their ample manager, Steve Evans, but those who decided to go and watch the game anyway, including my neighbour, of course.   He and his Gills supporting chums were rewarded with their team winning 1-0 after extra time, thus securing a place in the Second Round Proper of the FA Cup where they will play Doncaster Rovers.  For it was Doncaster who overcame Wimbledon - captained once more by our street`s sporting icon Captain Scott Wgastaff  - in another FA Cup replay last night and The Dons will not be looking forward to their trip to Gillingham, which is always a difficult place to go to.

But on the question of heroes, spare a thought for the 329 Sunderland supporters who made the 600-mile round trip to watch their team go out of the competition after extra time.  And it`s that bit that makes their journey that much more heroic.  I guess the game finally ended well past 10.00pm, they then had to escape the rigours and vagaries of the visitors` uncovered open stand at Priestfield which is not a good place to be on a long, cold, unsuccessful frosty night and make the journey back to their northern outpost.   God only knows what time they got back home.

I suppose it might be the underdog in me - as a Saints fan I readily identify with plucky minnows - but I do admire the true supporters of struggling teams, some of whom, like Sunderland, have fallen on hard times and others who have never known anything other than constantly dreaming that one day things will be different;  hence my penchant for clubs like Fort William and Truro City, whose fans undertake journeys in support of their own causes, lost or otherwise, which strike me as truly heroic.

So let`s hear it for the unsung heroes, those who give their devotion, time and resources to following their chosen club - I just hope that they are admired and respected by those clubs in return.   And that goes for Gillingham too.