Newport (IoW) 1 Burgess Hill Town 1

THERE was an air of anger and frustration at St George's Park on Saturday, with Newport IoW's long-suffering fans still in the dark about the future of the Dr Martens Eastern Division club.

Although the receivers from BDO Stoy Hayward of Southampton announced late Friday that they had accepted a bid for Newport's ground and other business assets, the identity of the buyer is unlikely to be known until the end of this week.

It leaves some key questions unanswered - most notably whether the ground's new owner(s) will take on the running of the football club itself or whether they will lease only certain parts of St George's to the club and put the main building and car park to alternative use.

The statement from receiver Dermot Coakley was somewhat non-committal, saying only: "I am hopeful that a deal has been done which will enable ownership of the ground and clubhouse to pass to new owners. We hope that as part of those arrangements we shall be able to secure the continued use of the pitch and certain facilities for the football club."

Alan Phillips, secretary of the Newport Supporters' Trust and one of the key figures behind the Save Newport Action Group (SNAG), said: "The fans are still in limbo as we always have been. This waiting is no good for anyone.

"It seems to me that the new owner will want to keep the football club separate from the facilities. They may want to use the main building as offices or even a retail outfit, who knows?

"Our worst fear is that whoever's buying it will not have football at heart and will make it difficult for us to carry on playing in the Dr Martens League.

"We're keen to have a meeting with the new owner at the earliest opportunity and try and iron out some kind of understanding as to how their business and the football club can work side by side. We've got to try and co-operate. There's nothing to be gained from being awkward."

The feeling among fans and club officials alike is that Romsey businessman Peter Beale, the supporters' favourite to buy the club, is out of the picture.

Beale, who owns a string of barber's shops in the Southampton area, attended a second SNAG meeting last Tuesday, but club secretary Dave Bartlett said: "We heard unofficially on Friday that he had dropped out.

"The receivers have said that the new owner wants to keep the football going, but what does that mean exactly? Will someone be taking hands-on control of the club or will we just have use of the pitch and, if so, what sort of rent would they want? Would it just be a peppercorn rent or would they want something substantial. And what will happen to the rest of the site? Will they be building blocks of flats on the car park or what?

"You'd have thought whoever it is would at least have come along today to make themselves known to the club officials."

Despite the uncertainty behind the scenes, the Newport players put heart and soul into Saturday's 1-1 draw against Burgess Hill Town.

With their last mainland player, midfielder Gareth Keeping, having joined Bashley, Port fielded an all-Island XI for the first time in their 13-year Southern League history.

Although the Hillians had the territorial advantage throughout a gripping contest, it was Newport who made the better chances and they took the lead with 18 minutes gone.

Ian Buckman, managing the team in the absence of holidaying caretaker boss Bunny Warwick, pumped a high free-kick into the danger zone, Chris Bridges beat 'keeper Pat Gannon with an aerial challenge and the ball fell for Alex Perry to thump into the empty net.

The Sussex visitors deservedly got back into it on 67 minutes when Nicky Sullivan's bye-line pull-back invited Ashley Carr to shoot under the diving Joe McCormack and, but for the woodwork and the heroics of Newport 'keeper, Steve Harper could have put the Hillians out of sight.

Yet the Islanders were a constant threat going forward and finished the stronger with Bridges smacking a header against the bar from Danny Hatcher's cross and then substitute Steve Bonser drawing a brilliant fingertip save from Gannon.

Burgess Hill's line-up included Bognor loan defender John Price, who famously skippered the Islanders to the Eastern Division title three seasons ago.

He said: "I hate to see the club in trouble. People like Bucko (Ian Buckman) and Spezza (Gary Sperry) are Newport through and through. It's really, really important to keep it going."