Funding scandals, lost discs and our Prime Minister's travails immediately sprang to mind. But these stories, as crucial as they are, have dominated news coverage over the last few weeks.

To mark the start of the festive season I wanted to write about something more positive and maybe a little exciting and I had to look no further than our very own Hornets!

To say it's been an exciting few weeks for Horsham Football Club is a bit of an understatement. After thrashing Maidenhead United at the beginning of November, Horsham sailed through to the Second Round of the FA Cup – no mean feat.

And so, on Friday night a packed-out Atspeed stadium drew a collective sigh of relief as Lewis Taylor's last minute penalty meant the Hornets drew one all with League One's Swansea City.

We were still in the competition but a draw necessitates a replay and so, on Monday, our boys will heading down the M4 to Swansea.

I was in the stadium on Friday and if the atmosphere then was anything to go by, anyone lucky enough to be travelling to Wales will be in for a real treat.

Horsham Football Club have made things easier for anyone who's decided to cheer the Hornets on by organising a convoy of coaches to transport people there and back – information can be found on the club's website: www.hornetsreview.co.uk.

This is fantastic news for our town and something we should all feel very proud of, but it's also great news for Horsham Football Club's bank balance.

Monday night's match will be shown on Sky Sports and this will be quite an earner for both Horsham and Swansea – the Hornets' coffers will be boosted by some £75,000 and this is great for the future of the club – a lot can be done with £75,000!

There's also good news for Paul Seuke who, quite rightly, has been nominated as one of the key players of the Second Round.

I'm going to take this opportunity to repeat a request that's been on the County Times' website all week – log on to www.thefa.com and vote for Paul to be recognised as the key player of the second round!

So, who knows, as I put pen to paper next week, we could all be looking forward to the Hornets competing in the Third Round of the best-loved football competition in the country – go Hornets!