If you can learn from bad experiences, they are worth having'

From the Echo, first published Monday 20th Oct 2003.

USHER: "All rise..."

CLERK OF THE COURT: "Sean O'Driscoll. You are hereby charged that on the evening of Tuesday, October 14, you were responsible for managing a football team which lost an LDV Vans Trophy first round match.

"It is said the incident took place between the hours of 7.45pm and 9.30pm at Huish Park, the home of Yeovil Town Football Club in the county of Somerset.

"The prosecution alleges that you presided over this unforgivable crime and claim to have overwhelming evidence from around 1,500 witnesses.

"Should the jury find you guilty, this court has the power to sentence you to life with the Kidderminster Harriers Travel Club and issue you with a season ticket to Aggborough.

"Does Mr O'Driscoll's counsel have anything to say on his client's behalf?"

BARRISTER: "Yes your honour, we do. We feel there are a number of mitigating circumstances in this case which will prove Mr O'Driscoll's innocence.

"Firstly, the court may be interested to know that four of the top-10 teams in the second division suffered a similar fate, including the holders Bristol City and previous winners Port Vale, who lost against Scarborough.

"Secondly, Mr O'Driscoll, who had just 17 players to choose from, strongly refutes any suggestion that he fielded a "weakened" side in the competition.

"In fact, the 11 players in his starting line-up had made more than 2,000 league and cup appearances between them, while one of the least experienced players was Warren Feeney, a Northern Ireland international.

"Mr O'Driscoll would also like to point out that he bowed to supporter pressure and did not field either Alan Connell or Brian Stock in favour of starting with more experienced players.

"The defence would also like to record that as a result of the fixture, Mr O'Driscoll will be deprived of the services of Derek Holmes for a period of six weeks due to injury and Marcus Browning for one game due to suspension.

"Turning to more recent events, Mr O'Driscoll would like the jury to study exhibit A, a copy of the most recent Division Two league table.

"It shows his side currently occupy their highest league placing for more than four years and must now be considered as genuine promotion contenders.

"Exhibit B is a copy of the Division Two results from Saturday, October 18, which clearly shows that Mr O'Driscoll's team beat Brighton and Hove Albion by the scoreline of one goal to nil.

"Exhibit A lists Brighton and Hove Albion as the league leaders, while exhibit C, the current form table, indicates that prior to Saturday, the Seagulls had conceded just one goal in their previous six league games.

"Mr O'Driscoll's defence has statements from more than 7,900 witnesses that despite his team winning by a solitary goal on Saturday, it could have been many more.

"The defence would like to call Mr O'Driscoll to the stand."

MR O'DRISCOLL: "We are trying to get the players to learn from their experiences and although we lost the LDV Vans game, we wanted to come out stronger than when we went into it.

"That was the message and I thought they showed that against Brighton. We looked a stronger, tighter team than we did on Tuesday night so if you can learn from bad experiences then they are worth having."

JUDGE: "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I would now ask you to retire to consider your verdict."