HAVING enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame, Kingstonian and Dagenham and Redbridge refused to slip quietly back into the shadows.

The Daggers finally bowed out of the FA Cup having held Premiership big boys Charlton for three hours of gripping cup football.

And Kingsonian haven't finished yet as they prepare for a fourth-round replay against Danny Wilson's in-form Bristol City next week.

Morecambe, Yeovil, Chester and Northwich have also dumped League opposition out of the competition this season to prove that the Nationwide Conference is closer than ever before to the standards in Divisions Two and Three.

And if the Conference clubs get their way this summer they will bridge the gap even further by gaining an extra automatic promotion place to the Nationwide Football League.

Two-up, two-down is on the agenda and looks increasingly likely to happen.

Even League clubs, who for so long ran a closed shop, seem ready to accept the plan provided that adequate financial compensation is in place.

Unlike turkeys voting for Christmas, the Third Division chairmen apparently accept that relegation wouldn't be the end of the world if there is twice the chance of coming back up and enough of a financial 'parachute' to soften the fall.

Cash is currently the sticking point but with the FA thought to be in favour of the move and Sky Television starting to show an increased interest in the Conference that problem should be overcome.

There's talk of a major new backer -- not unknown to football followers -- coming in next season should Nationwide not renew their sponsorship and everything in the Conference garden appears to be rosy.

There willl still be rich and poor in the division but the standard across the board should improve if clubs don't overstretch themselves.

The eight or nine full-time clubs will soon reach a dozen and with greater movement between the two leagues the lower levels of the professional game will get a major shot in the arm.

With Premiership clubs rapidly pricing themselves out of the market for many supporters at last the underdog could be ready to bite back.

Accrington Stanley's prospects of League football may not be such a pipedream after all, Geoff Chapple could get his deserved chance at League management -- if cup kings Kingstonian avoid the drop this season -- and Scarborough could be back in Division Three in 2002. It's all too good to be true.

AS England flew out to Sri Lanka yesterday for the second leg of their winter itinery there is now overwhelming evidence to suggest that we are no longer the soft touches of world cricket.

Not only have we just won a series in Pakistan against all the odds but the 'A' team are looking a good bet for the semi-finals of the Busta Cup in the West Indies.

Not only that but the England team in the Caribbean is becoming as bolshy as the all-conquering Aussies by the day.

Lancashire leg-spinner Chris Schofield has had an official ticking off by the tour management and county colleague John Crawley had to calm the England players down last week as their disapproval over umpire decisions threatened to boil over.

Are England finally showing they've got what it takes to win consistently in international cricket?

Or is the tourists' behaviour further proof that the West Indies no longer have any serious quick bowlers capable of putting any miscreants firmly in their place. You didn't argue with Colin Croft, Andy Roberts or Curtly Ambrose in his pomp.