Faramir

14.4.07
Havant & W (2) Harrow Hill (0)
We managed to survive a first half where every time we tackled, we got a yellow card and a disputed penalty kick that was subsequently missed wide, to be scoreless at halftime. What we couldn't survive is young James Evans' nerves as he basically handed Carl Wilson-Denis the ball in our area to let them go ahead and then Evans' indecision as he was caught well out of position less than four minutes later to let them score another goal. I felt I had to pull Evans and bring Craig Farr in and I don't plan on playing Evans again this season, unless an injury comes up. We were a bit overmatched in the first half, but I felt we tried to fight back well when we fell behind. We were so close to getting a goal or two to change the match- but things just didn't work out today. Their keeper- Shane Gore- earned the MOM honours for his sparkling second half once they had the lead.

Faramir

21.4.07
Harrow Hill (1) Newport County (2)
Newport came in desperate for a win to help them avoid relegation, and they got it- thanks to our help and a wee bit from the Referee. We had a golden chance in the early going as John Brough pushed Philip Quinlan in the air on a cross, but Stephen Reid missed the penalty kick over the goal. Nathan Blake then gave them the lead, but I remain convinced he was offside on the counter-attack as he was well past David Wilkes before the ball was kicked out of their area. We answered that goal when Michael Gahan scored, but Craig Farr duplicated James Evans' bad play of last match when he miskicked a ball and it went right to Kevin Struthers- who scored easily into the open goal late in the first half. We are the lowest scoring side in the ECS and simply can't afford these catastrophic mistakes- that showed again as we had pressure, but weren't able to score again in losing our final home match 2-1.

***

21.4.07
Mike Davies signed on with Leicester as a scout, so John Richards is now our only scout. Since we haven't really searched hard for players this season, it hasn't mattered a lot. Although the Board would prefer one scout- I would rather have two.

Faramir

28.4.07
Farnborough (1) Harrow Hill (0)
We closed the season out in fitting fashion, by playing well and losing another close match. They scored in the 9th minute as Isaiah Smith's lack of pace was exploited as Michael Charles burst past him and scored past Craig Farr. We played much better after the goal, but we weren't helped by losing two apparent equalizers on offsides calls. Even with those calls, we could have won this match as the chances were there, but our shooting was poor- again. Our backline played was very uneven, which given the patchwork backline I was using- didn't surprise me much. The win wasn't enough to save Farnborough as the 10 points deducted before the season killed them- they wound up a point behind Yeading in the race to avoid relegation. We finished in 15th place, which wasn't a terrible result, but I consider it disappointing as we were in the race for a possible playoff spot as late as about 28 matches in- and we just did not play well after that point.

Faramir

29.4.07
As the club packs to leave for the summer, I am left considering what- and how- things need to change for next season. The clearest thought I have is that we must find some scoring, whether from forwards or possibly a midfielder, to be able to take some of the pressure off. Our defense really wasn't bad most of the season- but once we found ourselves a goal behind we were rarely able to make it up. Our keeper tandem of Craig Farr and James Evans appeared solid, but also wore down under the pressure the last portion of the season. We need more depth in our center defense and we really need to find more overall pace for the club, as we just weren't all that quick. The one player drawing interest from larger sides is Adrian Cregg- who also was one of our two best players. The other player who had a fine season was defender Cathal Feeney and his loss to injury coincided with the start of our swoon to finish out the season. I have work to do in clearing out the roster, since Brendan O'Connell took it upon himself to negotiate some contracts before I informed that I wanted to handle *all* contract negotiations.

***

18.5.07
With the pending departure of many of our youngsters- as I plan on not renewing their contracts that come up this summer- I had been scouting around for players to sign. Though John Richards and Brendan O'Connell were not enamored with 18 year old forward Josh Hamilton, I decided to sign him anyways. He should at least provide additional cover up front.

Faramir

6.6.07
After our problems last season, I basically ignored the Board's guidelines on coaches as I re-signed Anthony Martin and Martin Reynolds along with bringing in new Coach Tim Allpress. Allpress was brought on board specifically to focus on coaching our defense, because we had such problems with it last season.

***

17.6.07
Chairman Darrell Cash announced some big changes at our meeting. Cash worked out an arrangement with Chester where we will become akin to a feeder club for them. They offered a friendly at Larksfield Road with all money going to us, a bit over 4K support, and an excellent loanee arrangement that should give us at least a couple other solid players to work with for the upcoming season. I had no say in the arrangements, but it seems a good deal for us at the moment. We also graduated a new crop of youngsters, so our training camp will be in flux for awhile. Negotiations are ongoing with Stoke for the sale of Adrian Cregg as they made a 425K offer that was good value for a possible sale. We also completed several other minor sales including Danny Wilkes to Macclesfield for 10K, Jason Smith to MK Dons for 26k, Michael Gahan to Lincoln for 10K, and Isaiah Smith to Notts County for 14K. All of those help us lighten the wage structure and also open opportunities for our developing youngsters. Of course, some of those were youngsters, but neither Wilkes, Jason Smith or Isaiah Smith looked like they would fit well with our style of play and I wanted to cash in on them.

The other big news is that we have moved from Conference South to Conference North for this season. I much prefer to play clubs closer than the long trips we faced in ECS, so the arrangement suited me very well. The Board would just like us to avoid relegation again this season, so the expectations are both modest and realistic in my estimation.

Faramir

18.6.07
The first fruit of our arrangement with Chester arrived as 23 year old Irish forward Jonathan Walters joined us on season long loan. Walters is a welcome addition to our club and is the kind of forward who may do very well in our attacking system. Walters had appeared on the Irish Under-21 National side, though only occasionally, so has better credentials than our current crop of forwards.

We also let Jonathan Mooney go back to Ireland on free transfer as Athlone Town was willing to bring him back and we were willing to be shed of his considerable salary.

***

24.6.07
Our second free transfer signing of the summer is another young forward as we signed 17 year old Lewis Harman to a contract. Harman had been released from the Darlington youth program and should fit in well with our other young forwards.

Faramir

7.7.07
Predictably, we lost our friendly to Chester, as they defeated us 1-0 at Larksfield Road. They worked a nice passing play in the opening moments and scored easily on our backline. We had a few chances in the match, but overall were quite outclassed by the bigger side. It is clear we need to find another rightwing, as the loss of Adrian Cregg is leaving a big hole in our lineup at present.

***

11.7.07
We finally signed a new physio to replace departed James Leather. Leather was true to his word and would not sign new contract, so I finally was able to sign 38 year old Mark Fairhurst to replace him. We also signed 17 year old leftback Gilbert Nuako on free transfer after he was released by Hayes. Nuako will give us a true leftback to cover for Stephen Place.

Several players signed new contract extensions. Craig Farr is now signed through 2010. Signed through 2009 are Cathal Feeney (who is drawing interest from other clubs), Stephen Place, Carl Laurie, Karl Johnson and Philip Quinlan.

Faramir

11.7.07
Our second friendly turned into a disappointing 3-1 home loss to Cheltenham Saras as our backline kept giving the ball away in dangerous areas and they made us pay for our mistakes.

***

12.7.07
We may have solved our rightwing problems with a pair of additions today. Signed on free transfer was rightwinger Chris Gaghan, who was released by Northwich. Also joining us on season long loan from Chester is 20 year old Karl Noon, ex-Liverpool youth player.

***

15.7.07
Our friendly at Barking and East Ham just demonstrated our continuing defensive problems as we gave away three goals on bad plays and wound up in a 3-3 draw. Of much more concern than the result was the loss of Stephen Place for possibly 5 months with a torn calf muscle. Place was the captain for us, so this loss is a double blow.

Faramir

18.7.07
Our friendly hosting Barnsley made us some money, but we were beaten 4-0. Our backline continues to struggle and we need to get things sorted out before the season begins.

***

22.7.07
We finally put together a decent effort and defeated Welsh side Holyhead Hotspur 1-0 at The New Oval They assisted with an own-goal, but we missed a penalty kick and numerous other chances to increase the margin.

***
25.7.07
We signed Matthew Blake on free transfer. Blake is an 18 year old leftback who was released from the Carlisle youth program. With Place's injury we needed another leftback and Blake was the best that was interested in coming to Larksfield Road.

Faramir

27.7.07
Two young 17 year old defenders have joined us on free transfer. Tom Devaux was sought by several clubs and I was pleased to add him after he was released by Colchester. Devaux will move directly into the starting lineup with Cathal Feeney. Also joining us is Shaun Reay, after being released by Darlington. Reay and David Hall will now give us more solid cover as I have finally decided that Andrew Estel is severly miscast in a backline role.

***

29.7.07
We closed out our friendlies in fine fashion. After taking a 2-0 lead hosting Three Bridges, they stormed back to even the match at 2-2. I was very pleased as we responded with four goals to bury them 6-2. It showed me several players appeared to have improved quite a bit and some of the opening day starting assignements were decided by player's efforts today.