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Jace Drabek stepped out of the car. He couldn't believe he was finally here, but here didn't look all that dapper.
"Larksfield Road," he muttered, almost under his breath. "Still, it is a start."
Thinking back, he hadn't realized how much of an influence his Uncle had made on him.
"I never thought much about Uncle Will's success at Leyton Orient," he would recall much later to colleagues.
Jace couldn't be sure that it wasn't his Uncles doing that he was here to take over a newly promoted Harrow Hill club. Still, if it was, his Uncle hadn't exactly done him any favors. This was going to be a challenge and certainly a crucible. The club had a few players from their youth program- a smattering of eager 15 and 16 year olds, but the other players had all bolted- either because they had jobs and didn't want to devote themselves to the rigors of the Conference South season, or because they had a decided lack of hope in the youthful Drabek taking over the club.
"At least a few of the staff stayed on," said Drabek- still talking to himself under his breath. "Two coaches, Martin Reynolds & Anthony Martin- who both have already told me he will see out his contract until the end of the 2007 season and then they are gone. A physio- James Leather, who feels much the same and a scout- Mike Davies- who wants out now, but doesn't seem to able to ask me directly and is hoping I let him off his contract. Quite a collection."
Drabek strode up to the small Stadium and inside, "Time to face the fears and live my fondest wishes..."
***
MD- First FM 2007 story and shockingly it isn't Leyton Orient I couldn't resist trying my hand with Harrow Hill again, so they were edited into ECS in place of the lowest rated Fisher. I tried to begin without staff and players as I have in the past- but it appears the youth feeder program overrules that to an extent, so I am living with what was generated for the club. From what I have already seen at this early juncture, this will be a more difficult task than in the past.
We have made great strides in beginning to fill out the team, beginning with the additions of 39 year old Brendan O'Connell as Assistant Manager, 52 year old Peter Latchford as Keeper Coach and 36 year old John Richards as 2nd scout. We appear to have a solid enough staff at this point that adding anyone else is not prudent.
***
8.7.06
On the player side, despite a few rebuffs from players who don't care for our situation, we still managed to add some solid younger players with experience and some completely new youngsters. Joining us on free transfer in the first group were 22 year old GK Craig Farr, who will be our number 1 keeper, and 16 year old GK James Evans, who surprisingly chose our offer over several others. Joining our backline will be 24 year old DRC Karl Johnson, who will be starting rightback and 24 year old Irish fullback Stephen Place, who will start at leftback. Providing cover for those two- and inded many spots- will be 23 year old Carl Laurie. Two Irish youngsters, 17 year old Andrew Estel and 16 year old Cathal Feeney, will be in the mix for our center defense for our first friendly- but I also want to look at 16 year old Aussie Isaiah Smith- who was already here when I took over the club. 16 year old David Hall will also factor into that mix. In our midfield, we managed to add several players I like including 25 year old Irish midfielder Jonathan Mooney and fellow Irishman Michael Gahan. Other promising youngsters for our center mid are Steve Abbott and Philip Quinlan who signed with us on free transfer. James Walker and Sue Peters were here already and will provide depth along with possibly Estel- who is versatile enough to help us here too. On our wings will be Mooney on the right, though suited better to the middle, and Dan Taylor who was here when I joined the club. Peter Adeniyi will back Taylor on the left after he turns 16 and Allen Dunlop will cover on the right. Several forwards joined the club including 25 year old Scot Stephen Reid and 26 year old Michael Yates. Right behind them on the depth charts are 16 year olds Richard McCabe and Jason Smith. Also providing cover up front are Aussie Michael Love and Paul Furse, another pair of 16 year olds already in the youth program when I arrived. I wish we had more depth on our wings, but we will have to make do with this bunch as we are about at the limit of the Boards' weekly wage expectations.
Heya Flying Fin I completely agree that the challenges faced by obscure sides- Harrow Hill in this case- are more severe this time around and it will be much more of a challenge.
***
9.7.06
Our first friendly, hosting local rival Cinderford, was a pleasing success as we dumped them 3-0. I was surprised when we hit them for two goals in the first 10 minutes of play. The score was a bit misleading as they missed a penalty kick and did play well in the first half, only to run afoul of good work in our goal by Craig Farr.
***
12.7.06
Our second friendly also resulted in a win as we beat another local rival- Cheltenham Saras- 2-1 in a rough match. The yellow cards were flying between our two clubs and Saras' Tommy Callinan took a redcard early in the second half for a brutal two-footed tackle.
***
14.7.06
In what may be our last signing off the free transfer list- for awhile at least- we landed 26 year old Irish rightwinger Adrian Cregg. I considered rightwing the weakest position on our club and it was very nice to add the accomplished Cregg to be our starter there.
16.7.06
We lost in our trip to Clevedon as they beat us 3-1 in a friendly. Andrew Estel's inability to mark Jason Eaton allowed Eaton to pot a hat-trick in leading the home side to the win. We contributed by missing a penalty kick that would have evened the match at 2-2 midway through the second half.
***
19.7.06
Dunstable handed us a 1-0 loss at Larksfield Road in our friendly. They scored the only goal of the match late in the second half. I was doing some experimenting and blame myself for the loss, but won't worry much about it because I learned a few things about the club.
***
23.7.06
We beat Willenhall 5-1 at their place in a friendly that saw us finishing every chance well.
***
25.7.06
Our first major injury is the loss of Mark Yates for 3-4 weeks to allow his strained thigh to heel.
***
29.7.06
Youthful mistakes were our downfall as we lost to Potters Bar 3-2 at Larksfield Road in our final friendly.
Lord Crumb- thanks much I have to agree that rightwingers seem harder to come by than leftwingers- given I play a 442 that attacks up the wings it seems the leftside is continually more effective.
***
12.8.06 Weston-super-Mere (1) Harrow Hill (0)
It is one thing to lose a close match, it is another when the Referee has too big an impact on the match and that was clearly the case today. We received 4 yellow cards in the first half of play and paid the biggest penalty when MOM Scott Walker boomed home a free kick from an advantageous position- one of three in a row awarded the home side in the first half. We tried to battle back in the second half and Stephen Reid missed a golden chance when he shot over the goal. The decision that really incensed me about the Referee was in second half injury time. We had the ball and were waiting on a free kick- while an injured Walker was being escorted off the pitch. Before we could take the free kick, the final whistle sounded- while we were still waiting for Walker to be finished being led off the pitch. I was fuming, but Brendan O'Connell managed to cool me down enough that I didn't confront our 'so-called' Ref. Note- that is exactly what happened in the match, I was very surprised that we weren't allowed to take our free kick
16.8.06 Harrow Hill (2) Salisbury (0)
Helped by an early redcard to Jon Beswetherick, we managed to score twice to defeat Salisbury 2-0 at Larksfield Road in our home opener. After Beswetherick was sent off for a two-footed tackle from behind, Jonathan Bass made a poor choice in trying to backpass to keeper Ryan Clarke. Stephen Reid was lurking close by and had an easy time stepping in and pushing the ball into the goal for his 1st goal for us. Salisbury rallied and put us under a lot of pressure late in the first half- despite only having 10 men. Craig Farr played excellently in keeping them off the board. The second half saw the silky running of Adrian Cregg, as he earned MOM honours and we began to take better advantage of the additional space. We added the insurance goal when Aaron Cook pushed Dan Taylor in the area. Reid, despite being dinged up, calmly converted the penalty kick for his brace. It was a nice win for us, but it will cost us Cregg due to a thigh injury- we are not certain how long he will be out, but likely 3-4 weeks.
19.8.06 Cambridge City (2) Harrow Hill (0)
In the end it didn't matter as a failed clearance allowed them to score an insurance goal, but up until that point the Referee was again the biggest contributor to the scoreline. The first half was well played by both sides and we appeared to have taken the lead on a counter-attack early in the second half when Stephen Reid beat Danny Naisbitt, only to see a late whistle wave off the goal as Reid was ruled offside. Going the other way, in a carbon copy of our offside goal, Sam Reed fired a shot past Craig Farr and nothing was called. James Walker's failed clearance allowed David Sims to score at the far post off a corner jumble late in the second half. Stuart Sinclair received MOM honours.
22.8.06 Harrow Hill (2) Eastleigh (0)
After a frustrating first half where we missed several good chances to take the lead, Michael Yates made his debut memorable as he took a good pass from Stephen Reid and scored a debut goal past Paul Musselwhite- earning himself MOM honours in the process. We added a late clinching goal when Sayim Kabir tripped Jason Smith in the area and Smith converted the penalty kick for his 1st goal at Harrow Hill. Craig Farr earned the clean sheet with timely saves throughout the match, though our backline helped him a lot with some solid, mobile play.
Fondest Wishes- Harrow Hill in FM2007 
I couldn't resist trying my hand with Harrow Hill again, so they were edited into ECS in place of the lowest rated Fisher. I tried to begin without staff and players as I have in the past- but it appears the youth feeder program overrules that to an extent, so I am living with what was generated for the club. From what I have already seen at this early juncture, this will be a more difficult task than in the past. 
I am convinced you will find this one a lot tougher to succeed with than any of your previous endeavours.
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