AMID the furore surrounding the behind-the- microphone debut of Match Of The Day's first woman commentator Jacqui Oatley, one Press reader felt moved to stick up for female football fans.

Cynthia Glasby, of Southfields Road, Strensall, York, contacted us to defend the latest recruit to the BBC football highlights show, saying she deserves her place alongside luminaries such as Mottie and Mark Lawrenson.

In a letter to the paper, she said: "Jacqui Oatley has had to take a lot of stick for being the first woman to commentate on a Premiership football match, from male chauvinists who think women know nothing about football. Well, I beg to differ and offer this poem as proof."

Her ode to the beautiful game, entitled Football Crazy, starts by looking forward to the start of the season:

I'm always glad when summer's over and football starts again

And the Spion Kop begins to hop with the chants of a thousand men.

I love the cheers, the jeers, the tears, the arguments and bickers

And I have to smile at the macho style of 22 men in their knickers...

A hard-boiled egg dilemma

AN email to The Press alleges there is a bigger food debate raging than the question of how to pronounce "scone".

The Inn, at Hawnby, near Helmsley, has recently introduced a traditional fish pie to its menu. It's no yolk, but owners Kathryn and Dave Young say they have frequently found themselves debating the thorny point of whether it should contain hard-boiled egg.

Kathryn said she was left shell-shocked by the argument. "Amazingly, The Hawnby Luxury Fish Pie has not only become a surprising hit, but we frequently find ourselves in the middle of much banter and debate, with diners completely divided as to whether or not the fish pie should contain hard boiled egg."

Celebrity chefs are also divided on the issue.

The eggstraordinary Delia Smith and fish man Rick Stein all include hard-boiled eggs in their cracking fish pies whereas Scotsman Nick Nairn and the River Cottage's Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall give them a miss.

Here at The Dairy, sorry Diary, it's left our brains scrambled, coddled and fried.