retired_richcoble

October 2005

Before our first match of October I had a board meeting before setting off for our game against Havant & Waterlooville, a bit inconvenient as I then had to travel separately to the game. The board were pleased with my performance but informed me the club had made a loss of £90k in September and asked what measures I’d be taking to reduce this seeing as I was over my wage budget. I told them I’d look at the team and see who I can do without but made no promises, I know I had to keep the club financially viable but I’d only just brought these players in, I couldn’t get rid of them without a proper evaluation of their talents.

The match away to Havant & Waterlooville started well as Hejazi converted a penalty the home side had conceded and after half time Teymur has assured my team victory with two goals in ten mintues, the first one on the hour mark. The second was a good goal as Hejazi put Teymur through at the half way line and Teymur never showed any hesitation as he beat the keeper with a shot slotted into the near corner after dribbling with it for 40 yards. Havant got a consolation goal, I say Havant got one, Lee-Matthews, my right back, scored by passing it into his own goal past my keeper..

Havant & W 1 Canterbury City 3
Goals: Lee-Matthews (OG), 85; Hejazi 15, Teymur 59, 68;
MoM: Hejazi

After the Havant game we had a home game the following Wednesday against Newport County. Only 879 people came to the match which we dominated, however it was an improbable match as we won largely part to two own goals scored by Newport County players before Teymur scored just after the break, his seventh goal in six league games, what a signing he was turning out to be, he was also improving greatly on the technical side in training, but his physical abilities were in decline, I think I needed to adjust the training schedules for my attackers. Despite the victory we remained in second place as Eastbourne Borough won once again, however we were both clear of our contenders at this stage as Weymouth, Lewes and Histon were all on fifteen points, six behind my team and seven behind Eastbourne.

Canterbury City 3 Newport County 0

Goals: Jenkins (OG) 5, Hillier (OG) 35, Teymur 46;
MoM: Malmstrom

Saturday the 8th and we face Dorchester at Avenue Stadium which has a listed capacity of 5009. We were playing in our away kit, white shirts and blue shorts, while Dorchester were in their black home kit. After going close a few times Malmstrom shot across the face of the goal from the edge of the box and into the bottom far corner to open the scoring. 1-0 Canterbury. It wasn’t long before Dorchester responded, a deep ball from their left winger into the box was headed down by one of their strikers to another who unleashed a fierce shot, completing wrongfooting Baker in my goal but it cracked against the post and bounced out, thankfully to Maddison, my left back. The rest of the half saw few chances as both sides kept it tight defensively.

With Mitchell out with an injury Teymur was my captain today and he latched onto a long ball sent down the wing, beating his man he was one on one with the keeper coming in from the wing, he tried a delicate lob but their keeper made a great save to keep it out and it was a corner to us that came to nothing. Malmstrom was taking the ball down the left and attempted a cross into the box which deflected off one of their defenders and fell to Hejazi, he shot at goal but it deflected off a Dorchester defender and wickedly spun into the goal to make it 2-0 Canterbury. It was Hejazi’s fifth goal of the season.

A few minutes later Lee-Matthews did a simple back pass to Baker in goal, he controlled it but dithered on it and two Dorchester players came at him and Jamies Brown, their midfield playmaker stole the ball and passed it into the empty net to make it 2-1, I was furious with Baker’s idiocy. Ten minutes later I was dancing in celebration as Daniels my right winger hit a long ball out to the left where Malmstrom controlled it before playing a killer ball into Appleby who beat his man and slotted it past the outstretched arms of their keeper, it was 3-1 to Canterbury and that was how it finished.

Dorchester 1 Canterbury City 3

Goals: Brown 76; Malmstrom 16, Mahmod Hejazi 69, Appleby 82;
MoM: Malmstrom

I had been having a competition between the three left wingers I now had in my first team squad to see who should be playing regular first team football, I’d been giving each player run outs and Malmstrom had taken his chances and been instrumental in my last two games after having a few mediocre games to begin with. He was clearly showing he was the better option of Driver and the Portuguese Lemos who I signed for £2k from Abrantes. I did however discover that although Lemos is described as an attacking left winger and central midfielder, he was more comfortable in left midfield rather than the more attacking left wing position. He may have to be expendable as he doesn’t fit into my system, I’m going to attempt to retrain him as he has the tools to be successful further forward.

The victory in the Third Qualifying Round put me through to the Fourth Qualifying Round; I never knew there were so many! I do hope a victory in the next one will put me in the first round proper. We got £5,000 in prize money for getting through however the press accused us of being lucky saying it was an even encounter, I did wonder if they’d been watching the same game as I as we took three well earned chances and they were quite fortunate in their goal. My Chairman was under no illusions, praising me for the manner and style of the victory.

Once again the Monday saw the draw for the next round, there were only 64 teams in this draw and I anticipated higher level opposition and hopefully a home tie. Canvey Island, never a big fan of the area were the first team out and got drawn against Nuneaton. Braintree had Conference National opposition in the form of Alfreton. Soon after Buckingham or Billericay (another local side of mine back in Essex) got drawn at home against… Canterbury City, I did hope it was Billericay we got to face, they’re closer than Buckingham plus I have a connection to Billericay.

The match between Billericay and Buckingham was played on the Wednesday, the same time as the England – Poland match, that match, which had the potential to decide the group when the fixtures were first settled was a bit of a non-entity as both teams had qualified with England guaranteed first whatever the outcome, in the end it was a 1-1 draw. Billericay came through their 3rd Qualifying Round replay against Buckingham with a 2-0 victory which meant my team would be travelling to the New Lodge to face them in 10 days time on Saturday the 22nd.

retired_milla0225

Pretty good stuff this Wegason. Keep at it, you have the makings of a fine storyteller.

retired_richcoble

Thank you Chesterfan2! It's knowing that people appreciate it and are enjoying my writing that keeps me interested in writing it and makes it rewarding.

Every comment of appreciation just makes me more determined to write more. Thanks.

Another update is on its way, working on it at lunchtime and should be posted soon

retired_richcoble

Saturday the 15th and we were playing Histon once again, this time in the Conference South. After our poor performance last time round I was going to try and make sure my team were playing better football this time around. Rumours were circulating in the Canterbury Gazette that Blackburn Rovers, a Premier League team were sending scouts to watch our games. The rumours circulating stated that they were interested in not one, not two but three of my players! Those being scouted were Mark Jones, Mahmod Hejazi, and Johan Teymur, Teymur and Jones being two of my three highest purchases. If Blackburn came in they'd have to make us very rich as we had them collectively valued at £500,000 and I wouldn't settle for less than a cool million for them.

Histon were playing in their black kits with red trim while we were once again in our white away kit. Right from the outset we were putting pressure on the Histon defence however we were unable to create any clear-cut chances. Histon launched a counter attack just before half-time and it was only a fantastic save from Baker that kept the scores level, once again Histon, who were in fifth position, were making life difficult for my team. I told the team that they could win this if they applied enough pressure to the opposing defence but no matter what my team did they were unable to break them down and the match finished scoreless with the press later describing it as a 'bore draw'. I made a note to study Histon before the return later on in the season to see where they have weaknesses and how they play in greater detail. Afterwards I made sure I congratulated my opposite number Steve Fallon and comment on what a good job he was doing at Histon, he had them exceeding all expectations by being in 5th in the league table.

It's Monday and we know what that means! Another cup draw, this time for the Second Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy, a competition I hoped to do quite well in. We were drawn against Banbury, away… again, a team in the lower leagues of the English football pyramid. On the same day my assistant Patrick Cohen reported that a young defender I had on loan from Man Utd was showing remarkable improvements during recent training sessions and recommended I played him more, what I found interesting was he referred to him as a right winger… when I pointed it out he denied he ever said it which gave me a chuckle.

It's now Saturday the 21st October 2005, my fathers birthday, I invited him to watch the game against Billericay this afternoon, its only a short drive from their home so I knew they'd come along and sure enough they were there when we kicked off against Billericay. I only made a couple of changes from my previous line-up, putting Jorg Stiel, a Swiss goalkeeper who I was going to hire as my goalkeeping coach before I realised he also played, so he does both, he costs me a £1,000 a week in wages back in September and is a big reason I am well over my wage budget (£1.4k to be exact). I gave him the start over Baker and made the decision to try and offload my third/fourth choice keeper Mark Smith who at 32 wasn't going to get many games and I wanted him to find first team football elsewhere so I transfer listed him which he wasn't happy about, hopefully someone will come in for him, I've put him up for free. I also put Malmstrom back into the team over Driver who had returned from injury the previous week and played in the previous game. Driver wasn't playing well and out of three left wingers I had, he's probably the one I could do without, especially as he was on £375 a week.

Billericay were easily the best side for the first twenty or so minutes, creating a number of chances but it was my team that scored first as a counter attack ended in a foul by one of their players on Hejazi on the edge of the box. Lee Matthews took the resulting free kick and scored a wonderful curling effort that nestled in the top corner of the goal. That settled my team down a bit and the rest of the half was fairly even. At half time the attendance was announced at 1886, which was more than had been in Marlowe Road for any match thus far this season, I was a bit disappointed but pleased for Billericay, as long as we beat them! Disaster struck 70 minutes into the match when Lee-Matthews, attempting a backpass missed Stiel and passed straight into an empty net to score an own goal, not the first time he's cost me a goal. However I was fortunate that a beautiful cross from Daniels on the right was met by Hejazi who looped his header over the Billericay keeper. Fortune favoured the Bishops again when Teymur tried one from long range which took a wicked deflection that changed the direction completely and wrongfooted their keeper, making it 3-1 to my team, which was how it finished.

Billericay 1 Canterbury City 3
Goals: Lee-Matthews (OG) 68; Maddison 25, Hejazi 74, Teymur 83;
MoM: Eseyas Yemane (signed from Hampton and Richmond for £3k in July)

With that victory we were through to the First Round proper! Woohoo! £10,000 in prize money made the celebrations even more worthwhile and when Monday rolled around it was time for yet another cup draw, for the First Round of the FA Cup! I eagerly listened to the radio as the draw was made, there were 80 teams in this round to be drawn. I listened and listened and by my calculations only sixteen teams were left in the draw, including my former local league team Southend and some other fairly 'big' sides I'd love to be drawn against. Gravesend were next so we missed out on a local draw against higher league opposition. Southend were drawn against Stockport and there were only 8 teams left in the draw now. "Canterbury City will play……" I waited in anticipation of a big team, "Notts County"

"Yes!" I screamed, we had a match against League Two opposition, at home! I anticipated a big crowd for when that match took place, on Saturday the 5th November. The paper the next day's main story on the draw was on our game, saying "Notts County will be attempting to avoid an upset against Canterbury City at Marlowe Road in the pick of the FA Cup First Round ties."

The next game of the season rolled along and it was against Sutton United, the famous giant killers from a while back if my memory serves me correctly, and for this match on the Saturday I decided to bench James Lee-Matthews my starting right back for a series of poor performances, I chose the fit again James Smith, the right back I signed from Liverpool back in the summer. He hadn't been on best form thus far but was still developing and I hoped he stepped up to the plate after a period out of the starting XI. I decided to give Stiel another start as I wanted to see what his form was like given a run in the team, and whether his 37 year old body could take it or if he would be better suited to being the relief for young Nicholas Baker. The game started off well as we were ahead within fifteen minutes when Maddison swung a ball into the box from deep which Appleby controlled and rolled across the face of the goal for Teymur who thundered it into the goal. We almost had a second when James Smith crossed in from the right and Teymur met the ball in the air and put the ball into the back of the net, unfortunately he was offside according to the linesman at the time. We did manage to go up 2-0 however just before the half time whistle when their centre back passed the ball past his keeper into his own goal, he did in a manner very similar to what Lee-Matthews did last week.

At half time I declared myself pleased and hoped to see a strong performance in the second half but it was a drab affair until Sutton scored from a corner with six minutes left in the game, Ryan Palmer getting up to score what I thought was a consolation goal, but no, less than a minute later and Marvell shoots from range, Stiel tips it and it hits the post only to squirm back and come off Stiel and trickle across the line. 2-2 and I was visibly upset, we'd surrendered a 2 goal lead and the circumstances were quite unfortunate. I must have been asleep in the second half as I hadn't noticed that Yemane was exhausted, Appleby was injured and Maddison was playing terribly. I immediately made three changes and instructed my players to attack their goal like mad, I didn't want a draw, I wanted a win! My sudden moment of clarity paid off immediately as two minutes into injury time Gitselov who I brought on for Yemane headed down to Teymur who beat his man and shot from the edge of the area, powering it into the bottom corner of the goal. He came running over to me and bearhugged me and I hugged him straight back, this was then followed by me ending up at the bottom of a pile of my players as we celebrated like mad. It may have been over the top for just a league victory in October but I was ecstatic my players had shown such character to come back from surrendering a comfortable lead by taking their chances. Teymur once again being outstanding as he won the man of the match and scored two goals, what a signing, my Finnish scout is a miracle worker for finding him. Amongst the excitement it had passed me by that 1,106 people were in attendance, our highest thus far in the season.

Canterbury City 3 Sutton United 2
Goals: Teymur 15, 90, Elliott (OG) 45; Palmer 85, Marvell 86;
MoM: Johan Teymur

We ended the month of October in second position in the Conference South as Eastbourne Borough hadn't lost a game yet and were four points clear of us. I was pleased with the start we had made in the league as I never expected to find my team sitting second in the league having played good football and won more games than we’d drawn or lost put together. Teymur has been a revelation and Hejazi is showing the signs of being a star, the players I acquired for small fees like Scott Mitchell, Malmstrom and others were really developing and showed signs of promise, I hoped we would be able to maintain our good form and continue our challenge for promotion to the Conference National, we were exceeding the expectations of the board and the fans, I wanted that to continue.

retired_richcoble

November 2005

Tuesday 1st November 2005 and time for my monthly meeting with the board, they explained that they were very pleased with my performance as manager but once again Adam was concerned at the financial situation, we were haemorrhaging money as we lost £82.81k in October, despite the prize money. It was clear what was doing it as my wages bill was greater than all the income we received in the month. The ground maintenance at £16k and the interest payment of £31k were the killers however on the expenses side. I had to reduce the wage bill as a matter of urgency if were to stay in the black. I immediately transfer listed a few highly paid players who weren’t in my starting 11 team if I had to choose my strongest team. Driver, Guidiol, and Parker were put on the transfer list as well as five youngsters not cutting the mustard in my reserve team.

Our first game of November was against struggling Basingstoke who were languishing in 21st position when a mid-table spot was where they had aimed to be, despite this I named a full strength team, relegating Stiel to the bench and the exhausted Yemane to a rest as I played Mark Jones in midfield instead of defence. The first half could not have been more uneventful and it was scoreless at half time, I made one change, subbing out Guidol who had taken a knock and bringing on Lee-Matthews. With twenty minutes left in the game Gitselov chipped a ball out to Daniels on the wing, he controlled it with his chest beautifully so that his next touch would be a curling cross aimed at the far post where Malmstrom met the ball with a diving header two yards from the goal to send the ball crashing into the Basingstoke goal, 1-0 Canterbury. Despite the goal sparking life into the game and my strikers having a couple of decent chances, the game finished up at just 1-0, we weren’t playing the most attractive football, but we were winning and grinding out results which I was happy about, which is what I told the lads.

Canterbury City 1 Basingstoke 0

Goals: Malmstrom;
MoM: Malmstrom;

I found after the game that Johan Teymur had picked up a knock which caused me some concern but it seems the guy is tough as well as talented as he didn’t miss a day of training and would be available for the big game against Notts County on the Saturday in three days time. We were labelled underdogs to the strong favourites Notts County in the build up to the game. Notts County were surprising everyone in League Two as they were fourth in the league and going strong, after expectations of a much lower finish. We were going to be up against it so I spent the days before the game instructing my players on the defensive minded, counter-attacking tactic we were going to be employing against them in the hope of nabbing a historic victory as Canterbury City had not to my knowledge ever progressed beyond the first round suffering heavy defeats to Torquay 6-0 in 1963 and a narrow loss to Swindon Town by 1-0 in 1968. The match against Torquay saw a record attendance of 3,001. I hoped to beat that record when we faced Notts County tomorrow.

Barry, the team physio, informed me that Teymur’s condition was worse than first thought as he was struggling in training and he was shattered. I reluctantly agreed to leave him out of the game against Notts County which was devastating, he was clearly my best player. Appleby would start upfront with Hejazi, with Gitselov in the attacking midfielder role. With Teymur out I named Baker my captain. We stepped out onto the field to see what must have been a record attendance, Marlowe Road was at least half full, all the seats were taken and there were people everywhere it seemed. My players looked excited to be performing in front of their biggest crowd at home so far, of that there was no doubt. The game opened with some decent exchanges between both sides but it was Notts County who created a great opportunity which Debolla converted, 1-0 Notts County. Their players jogged back to the half-way line but the whistle blew, the linesman had his flag up, it was offside. There were protests from the Notts County bench but I wasn’t about to disagree with the assistant referee! Thankfully it was still goalless and we were starting to hit them on the counter attack. At half time I told the team that they only needed to keep it tight and get one goal to win and urged them to hit them on the break at any opportunity they got.

My team, fired up, ran out onto the field for the start of the second half to a roar of applause, well, a roar by Marlowe Road standards. The second half was very quiet until Gordon was put through by Notts left winger but Baker made a terrific save at close range to deny them a goal. Gordon was involved again 70 minutes into the game when he crossed for Debolla who had a chance from six yards out but once again Baker made a terrific save from close range to deny him and Blomqvist hoofed it clear. Thankfully that was the last clear cut chance Notts County had and the match ended a 0-0 draw, I was a tad disappointed I couldn’t send the supporters home happy but pleased nonetheless that we had managed a gutsy draw against opposition two divisions higher than ourselves, I was looking forward to a replay where hopefully Teymur would be available, along with Scottie Mitchell.

Canterbury City 0 Notts County 0

Following the game there was a nice article in the paper about me, entitled “Nelson basing success on defence” it said that although my career had only just begun, early indications were that I was set about creating a mean defence. “Nelson has masterminded his Bishops side to twelve victories over the past fifteen league games as well as a clean sheet against League Two side Notts Co. and this was in no small part down to the Canterbury City backline who have conceded only eight goals. Deservedly, Nicholas Baker scooped the man of the match award for an outstanding performance in goal for my side.

retired_w0lfpack1

:thup: - I agree with chesterfan2; good stuff, particularly the Sutton United match write-up. Nice!

I like the bold-style you're settling in on, just the right amount to punctuate without drawing the eye all over the place.

I was going to give you guff for having conceded a goal in those first five games - "I expect perfection!", but then you lost a match before I could do.

retired_richcoble

It’s a Monday again, the 7th November to be exact, and we know what that means! Cup draw time! This time it was for the second round of the FA Cup and we were one of the last teams to be drawn as Canterbury or Notts County were drawn at home against Carlisle, thank god I thought, a journey to Carlisle if we beat Notts County would not have been nice, them coming to us would be much easier and hopefully give us an advantage if we managed a win. Perhaps my cup draw luck had changed as that was two home draws in a row now. Our next league game was away to Welling tomorrow and we made the 49 mile, one hour journey up the M2 to Welling in the South East of London on the Tuesday, Park View Road is a 5,500 capacity stadium with two covered standards either side of the pitch, it only seated five hundred fans but it was a stadium fit for Conference South football. I brought Teymur back into the line up with the intention of resting him against Banbury this coming Saturday.

As we marched onto the pitch I couldn’t help but notice that the crest of Welling United resembled a Polly Pocket Horse or something like that, being a pink Pegasus like creature. How strange, each to their own I guess. Within fifteen minutes my decision to bring back Teymur was justified as he was put through by Daniels, a player on loan who I was desperately trying to make permanent without much success, and powered the ball past the helpless keeper. What followed was a period of sustained pressure from my team on the Welling goal that in the end resulted with Gledhill committing a professional foul in the box that conceded a penalty, and saw him sent off. Appleby, who had picked himself up from the strong challenge, converted the penalty to make it 2 goals to nil to Canterbury. At half time I brought on Mitchell for Jones who had picked up a knock and brought Teymur off for Parker as a precaution and to give Teymur a rest. I hoped my team were still potent and strong and the early showings of the second half seemed to show this. After Green got himself sent off to put Welling down to 9 men, Malmstrom nicked the ball away from the Welling right back sending it soaring into the box where it was beyond the reach of their centre half and ran past Parker, with the ball in between the keeper and Parker it was a race to the ball, a race Parker won and poked past the keeper into the net five minutes from time. A 3-0 victory was well deserved for my side. Dave Daniels was outstanding throughout the match.

Welling United 0 Canterbury City 3
Goals: Teymur 15, Appleby 38, Parker 85;
MoM: Dave Daniels

I named a weakened line up for the match against Banbury at Spencer Stadium. Johan, Hejazi, and Jones got rests along with Malmstrom, to give others run outs against opposition considered vastly inferior to my high flying side. Appleby took the most of his first chance as he buried his goal into the Banbury net after fifteen minutes. 28 minutes into the game and Lemos received the ball on the left wing, he beat his man, their right midfielder before taking it round the right back with his pace and heading diagonally into the penalty area where a quick move around the centre half saw him with an opportunity one on one with the keeper, he didn’t miss, powering a low shot across the face of the goal and underneath the diving keeper, a wonderful goal. Despite numerous opportunities after half time, for both side in the end, the game finished a disappointing 2-0 and it was in truth a poor match once the result was beyond doubt. The victory gave us £1,800 in prize money and entry into the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy. The draw was surprisingly being held on Tuesday this week, I was quite shocked.

In other football news, Paul Trollope, was sacked as manager of Bristol Rovers today after a string of poor results. They were 19th in League Two, they played in a decent sized stadium of 11,916, the Memorial Stadium, they had the potential to be a League One side and I was tempted to apply for the job but the favourites were people like Paul Merson and Chris Turner apparently, I had a look at Paul’s profile in the paper, it said he was without a club and hadn’t hung up his boots, I phoned his agent and offered a contract as a player/coach at a price I couldn’t really afford but he’d make a big difference to my team, he still had skills, just not much pace anymore. His agent informed me he wasn’t too interested but would consider it nonetheless. When Tuesday came around the draw pitched us in a home tie against lowly Newmarket, I was confident of further progression in the competition. I couldn’t pay too much attention to the draw as firstly I had to confirm the sale of Andrew Driver to Rotherham, signing the papers I noticed he turned down offers from Kingstonian and Macclesfield. We netted £5,000 from the sale, including a next sale clause of 10% which might give us some extra money should he start to shine at Millmoor, the transfer was due to go through on January 1st. The second thing on my mind was the Notts County game this coming Wednesday, I wanted victory and couldn’t decide on the tactics, the usual 4-4-2 attacking one I employ in the Conference South or a more defensive counter attacking one like last time.

On the Wednesday, in a rather surprising move the Bristol Rovers board appointed Ray Graydon, the assistant manager to the position of manager highlighting the stability it would bring. He only joined them in July of this year and from what I heard on the grapevine, wasn’t all that great. I chose my strongest line-up available to me for the Notts County game and I decided on my normal league tactic for the game hoping Teymur would be able to win me the game. Four minutes in and it was Hejazi who picked the ball up on the centre circle and dribbled all the way to the penalty area before skying the ball over. I was very pleased however with the performance of the lads in the first twenty minutes as we created numerous chances, that was until the young lad I had from Man Utd conceded a penalty and got himself sent off. Ullathorne converted the penalty to make it 1-0 to Notts County. Twenty six minutes into the game and Hejazi went on a beautiful run from out on the left wing as he beat his man, turned the corner and shot at goal only for it to be saved, it fell to Gitselov on the edge of the box who lobbed it into the empty net over the crowd of bodies. Just before half-time Notts County took a throw in out on the left which was put in the box and met by the head of Sheridan who put it past Baker. Their lead was further extended when White converted a cross from the right into the goal.

At half time I changed things round, switching to four at the back and three in midfield, and a very attacking mentality. This was the first time we were playing in our claret third strip and I did hope it wasn’t making a difference due to the unfamiliarity. In the 70th minute a cross from Malmstrom was met by the head of Hejazi, he powered it at goal but their keeper was able to parry it over for a corner. Insult was added to injury when Burns converted a header on from Gordon from a cross from Pipe past Baker and into the goal for a fourth. Five minutes to go and Malmstrom plays the ball into the feet of Hejazi, he turns with the ball, away from the defender, and chips it into Teymur, it’s a beautiful lofted ball between the defence and Teymur is one on one with the keeper, he takes the ball with his right foot and steadies himself before shooting low and hard to the left of the keeper… it hits the foot of the Pilkington, formerly of Man Utd, and out to the right, a great save from their keeper denied us a second goal. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get a second goal, which was what we deserved as 4-1 did not reflect how well we played considering we were down to ten men for the majority of the match and even equalised after being down to ten men. A spirited performance from my young side and I was immensely proud of them and said as much in the dressing room afterwards, telling them how they’d learn from this and it would motivate them to succeed this year in the Conference South.

Notts County 4 Canterbury City 1
Goals: Ullathorne 22, Sheridan 45, White 45, Burns 79; Gitselov 27;
MoM: Jamie Burns

To top off a disappointing evening result wise, my physio Rob Statham reported that Hejazi had picked up an injury and would most likely be out of action for two to four weeks with a pulled hamstring. A testament to the lad was that he picked the injury up early in the game and was still able to carry on and be the cause of our goal due to his silky and skilled run and shot on goal that led to Gitselov’s goal. I couldn’t think too much about the loss as we had a very important game on the Saturday, we were entertaining Eastbourne Borough at Marlowe Road.

retired_richcoble

It was absolutely crucial we got a result, a victory would send us to the top of the table, it would also be nice to end their unbeaten streak and ensure that we would not fall behind in what seemed to be a race for the single automatic promotion spot between our two teams. Before the match, the Conference South table looked like this:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Agt PtsEastbourne Boro 12 10 2 0 25 6 32 Canterbury City 12 10 1 1 28 6 31 Bishop’s Stortford 12 8 2 2 21 13 26 Weymouth 12 6 5 1 23 11 23 Newport County 12 6 4 2 16 12 22Histon 12 5 5 2 17 12 20</pre>

What had surprised me was the march of Bishop’s Stortford up the table, we had beaten them fairly easily in our first game of the campaign and since then they had been on a seven game winning streak and I believe that when we face them for the return fixture it will be a much more difficult match than it was before. Going into the match against Eastbourne Boro I had to start Appleby upfront with Teymur due to Hejazi’s injury, still, it was a strong line-up and I was confident we would be able to pull a result out the bag.

The match opened and within five minutes Eastbourne had created a golden opportunity as a wonderfully bended ball into the box from Crabb found Marney in the box open and he hit it first time but straight at Baker who made a save from close range and it went out for a corner from which nothing of note came about. Malmstrom picked up a yellow after 14 minutes, it was a ridiculous decision from Glyn Mellor, the referee, as Malmstrom hadn't even touched the guy! Twenty six minutes into the match and Malmstrom beats his man and swings a cross high and into the six yard box where Teymur was arriving to meet it, Teymur rose with great technique to attempt the header…. but just as he was about to meet it Hook, the Eastbourne goalkeeper, claimed it with a great pluck from the air. Barely three minutes later and Gitselov, picking the ball up in the Eastbourne half dribbled to the edge of the area, beat his man with deft footwork and launched a shot at goal, screaming it went towards the goal, and over the bar. He had another great chance when Appleby played a clever ball into his path with a first touch on the edge of the area, Gitselov had a great opportunity to get a shot on opportunity but scuffed it wide. A terrible miss. The two teams went into half-time with the game deadlocked and goalless.

At half-time I gave instructions for a more quick tempo attacking game and the team responded quickly Appleby crossing into the ball where it was met by the head of Driver, playing on the right wing for the injured Donovan, but Hook made a good save, tipping it over the bar. Nothing came from the corner that resulted from that piece of play. With twenty minutes to go Eastbourne went to a conservative formation, changing to what looked like a 5-4-1. Not much was created in opportunities during those final twenty minutes and depressingly the game finished 0-0 in front of a crowd of 1,182. After the match the press reported that a key member of the Eastbourne Borough side said that he felt his team were fortunate to escape with a draw and that we had every right to feel aggrieved at their failure to win the match. I coulnd’t have agreed more as on the balance of play only poor finishing prevented a victory for my team as Eastbourne managed only one shot on target all game and that was in the first five minutes. We dominated the game and should have come away with a victory. Our next match would be in the FA Trophy.

Canterbury City 0 Eastbourne Borough 0


Saturday the 26th of November and we had a home tie against Newmarket, a team playing their trade in the lower divisions of the National League system, due to the nature of the opposition I rested a number of my key starters as we had an important game against Lewes in the Conference South on Tuesday. Teymur, Malmstrom, Mitchell, Jones, and Baker were all rested while those who hadn’t played much this year were given a game, I still expected us to win comfortably. We almost got off to a dream start when the ball fell to Driver from six yards out but their keeper made a great save. Only seven minutes later we had another great chance as Appleby beat the offside trap down the left wing and from the edge of the box he curled one round the keeper to make it 1-0. Six minutes after that and Driver crossed the ball behind the Newmarket defence where Parker controlled it and slotted it past the Newmarket keeper and after fifteen minutes we were 2-0 up. Parker had another great opportunity on the half hour mark but the ball was saved. He had two golden opportunities one on one with the keeper just before half-time but skied both over the bar, disappointing and part of the reason I was trying to offload him to the clubs interested in him. We went in at the half 2-0 up.

The spate of misses continued when Appleby had a chance just after the half where it was easier to score than miss. It didn’t matter as five minutes later Lemos took a crack of ball that got deflected and fell into the path of Parker who poked the ball past the keeper. Of course he missed a sitter on the hour mark which Newmarket cleared, only for Horsley to send it back into the box, their keeper came for it, changed his mind but was out of position when Driver met it and powered his header into the empty goal. 4-0 Canterbury and that was how the match finished in front of a small crowd of 324 souls. I was pleased that my second team had won so convincingly, even if it was against vastly inferior opposition, and it put us through to the first round of the FA Trophy. I had a feeling the draw for the next round might be on Monday.

When Monday did roll around I was made aware that the draw was taking place as I thought but on the Tuesday which was just as well as I was occupied for most of Monday fielding phone calls from seven teams interested in securing the services of Matt Parker, obviously his performance on Saturday had warranted attention and it seemed a significant minority of those in attendance must have been scouts! All the teams bidding were offering £5,000, to which I proposed they add a 20% next sale clause on for me to accept, I’ll see which ones are willing to meet that demand, with seven teams bidding I thought a couple would at least. In the FA Trophy we were drawn to play Havant & Waterlooville at Westleigh Park on Saturday the 17th of December 2005. Naming my squad for the game against Lewes I brought Baker, Mitchell, Jones and Teymur back into the lineup and put Lemos in the centre of the park after reinstating Malmstrom. I wasn’t taking any chance and wanted a victory to maintain our excellent league position.

The decision was vindicated early on as we took a two goal lead with goals from Appleby and Teymur, Johan’s goal was a beautiful 25 yard free kick that was curled round the wall at pace and into the corner of the net, truly top draw. When Lemos put Teymur clear through on goal he looked certain to score but before he reached the penalty box he was savagely brough down by Paul Scott, the referee had no option but to send Scott off for his professional foul, unfortunately nothing came from the free kick and we went in at half-time 2-0 up at the Dripping Pan (one of the more unique names for a stadium I knew, much like the Giant Axe that Lancaster play at). The game finished 2-0 as despite numerous opportunities, for both sides, there were no more goals or incidents of note. It was a comfortable and well deserved win in front of a crowd of less than two hundred at the Dripping Pan.

Lewes 0 Canterbury City 2
Goals: Appleby 7, Teymur 22;
MoM: James Smith

I hadn’t been paying attention to the other scores but Patrick Cohen, my assistant, informed me that Eastbourne had lost 2-1 at home to Weymouth; they had gone 1-0 with ten minutes left but Weymouth scored two late goals to steal the points and keep them in the playoff zone. We were now top of the table by two points, we could afford to, not that I had any intention of doing it, draw a game and stay ahead of Eastbourne due to our superior goal difference, unless they won 7-0 that is. On the Wednesday after the game I received calls from all seven teams interested in Parker, all seven had agreed to add a 20% next sale clause to their offer and I accepted them all and allowed Matt to decide where he wanted to go for I did not care where he went, he could go to Dover Athletic if he wanted, even if they were local rivals.

retired_richcoble

December 2005

I met with the board today and they informed me that they were delighted with my performance as manager of the club, stating they never expected to be top of the table as we approached Christmas and that I was working miracles at the club and had a tremendous eye for talent. While I love my ego being flattered I also believe in a strong sense of justice and was quick to praise the work of my scouts in finding the players that had propelled us to the heady heights we found ourselves in. Adam Kent gave me the financials for the previous month and we had yet again made a loss, it was however much smaller at just under £26,000. This was largely down to the £45,000 we garnered from the tie with Notts County which accounted for a third of the Gate Receipts for the entire season. I had reduced the wages bill for the month from £51k to £43k which was a start; I wanted to get it nearer £35k if possible however.

Our next match was against Weymouth, the team that had just defeated Eastbourne and were doing quite well in the league. 10 minutes into the match and Teymur had put Appleby through and he shot low at goal only for the keeper to save. Teymur had an opportunity from just inside the box but pulled his shot wide of the goal when he should have at least got it on target. The match was goalless at half time and Weymouth were not causing us too many problems. 58 mintues in and the Eastbourne right back, attempting a pass back to his keeper who was well up hit it too far in front of him straight to Teymur who took it round the keeper and shot at the empty net, it was destined for the goal and I was out of my seat with my arms in the air celebrating when it clattered off the post. So close! Six inches from a deserved lead and we continued searching for a winning goal when Weymouth counter attacked and Wilkes found himself free on the right side of our box, he came in and curled the ball round Baker in goal and into the far corner. 0-1 to Weymouth, in the 92nd minute and no chance to get an equaliser! Weymouth had in successive games knocked off the team on top of the table, Eastbourne and now us! I was devastated; they had stolen a game in the dying minutes once again like they did against Eastbourne. Fortunately, Eastbourne had drawn their game against 9th placed Farnborough and we remained top of the table by a single point.

Weymouth 1 Canterbury City 0

Goals: Wilkes;
MoM: Mark Jones (CC)

Neil Warnock was sacked as manager of Sheffield United on the Sunday after they found themselves languishing in 19th position in the Championship, John Gregory and Colin Cooper are amongst the favourites to take over. Matt Parker agreed to join Chesterfield and will join them on January 1st. Weymouth’s good form propelled them to third place, level on points with Bishops Stortford. Our next game wasn’t until the following Saturday, away at Eastleigh.

Eastleigh play their football at Ten Acres, a stadium very close to Southampton Airport and just outside of Southampton itself. Ten Acres is a very small stadium, with a capacity of just 2,300 of which only 175 are seated, I’m not sure if that includes the dugouts! Founded in 1980 they have risen up the football pyramid and are currently performing quite well in the division as they were 14th and comfortably clear of the relegation zone despite early season predictions that that’s where they’d be fighting. Since switching Lemos to the attacking central midfield role he has been in fine form with great performances in his last five matches and I couldn’t leave him out. With my inability to secure the permanent move of Daniels before the match after his loan deal expired it meant I had the choice of O’Donovan who hadn’t been on top form or playing Gitselov out of position. Due to Lemos’ great form I decided on Gitselov on the right wing and instructed my assistant to start training him for that role to add to my options and because he already was quite competent in that role. Six minutes into the game and Appleby, put through one on one with Malmstrom after Appleby beat his man, scored by shooting wide to the left of the Eastleigh keeper. Ten minutes later and a clearance from the keeper went straight to Malmstrom, he played a one two with Appleby and played a floating ball into the box first time for Teymur who headed over the outcoming keeper and into the net. He almost added another five minutes later but his delicate lob just missed the target.

30 minutes had passed before Eastleigh mounted their first real attack of the game as they swung the ball out to the right wing where it is crossed into the box and controlled by Stephenson who scores with his right foot to make it 2-1. The response from my side was immediate as less than ten minutes later after some extreme pressure on their goal Malmstrom crossed in where the ball was met at the near post by Teymur for his second goal of the game and a return to scoring for him. Teymur turned the creator on the stroke of half time when forced out wide with the ball he crossed across the face of the goal, fooling the keeper and setting Appleby up for a simple four yard tap in. Half time and it was 4-1 to Canterbury. We won a free kick on the hour mark and Teymur stepped up to take it. Attempting to curl it into the far post from the right hand side of the box his free kick took a wicked deflection and was sent the entire other way, wrongfooting the keeper and spinning towards the goal where it struck the post and out to the side. With a pretty uneventful second half I was happy with the performance of the team and their bounce back from the previous week when Appleby got his head on a cross from Smith out on the right, heading the ball back in the direction from whence it came and into the Eastleigh goal to add to the rout and complete the first hat-trick of his fledgling career.

Eastleigh 1 Canterbury City 5

Goals: Stephenson; Appleby 4, 45, 87, Teymur 15, 38;
MoM: Andrew Appleby

The next day after the game Phil Knight congratulated me on the victory as well as the team’s performance and praised me for the style in which I masterminded the “superb victory”. I thanked him and said it was hopefully going to be the first of many but that the main thing was winning and ensuring we get promoted this year as it seems that we had all the tools required to win the league this year if we can maintain consistency and not drop easy points. In former player news, Gareth Law, a former trialist with my team was given a new contract by his new team for his fine form for Gloucester, helping them overcome St Albans in the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying round and scoring 8 goals in 17 appearances. Hejazi returned to training on Wednesday and I also completed the deal for Dave Daniels for a fee of £12,000 spread out over 18 months. It includes a 45% next sale clause, he accepted a deal with a wage £100 less than he was asking for, and which is always nice when trying to keep the wage costs down.

retired_richcoble

My next game was the away tie to Havant & Waterlooville in the FA Trophy, for this game I decided to rest a number of key players, eyeing the midweek league game against Farnborough. I immediately regretted the decision when within five minutes Appleby was put through and for some reason took it wide when he didn’t need to and missed a golden opportunity, immediately Havant attacked and scored on the counter as Elliot finished a well crafted move. For the next half an hour we applied constant pressure and on a couple of occasions Appleby was through against the keeper only to be caught be a defender before he could get a shot off and tackled cleanly.

At half time I questioned the team’s passion as I desperately wanted a win, with nothing happening after twenty minutes I threw on my big guns and ordered a very attacking, quick tempo tactical change which I hoped would pay dividends. With only five minutes left in the half we created our first real chance since I changed tactics but Yemane, carrying a knock, skied his effort. Just thirty seconds later though and Lee Matthews crossed into the area for the far post where Teymur met the ball with his head and his header beat their keeper and nestled in the far corner of the goal for a deserved 1-1 score line.

In the 91st minute Maddison received the ball wide on the left with acres of space in front of him, moving the ball forward he crossed from deep to the edge of the box where it fell to the incoming Gitselov who controlled it beautifully before firing a vicious shot at the bottom right hand corner of the goal where Matthews, the Havant keeper, got a hand to it but could not prevent it from going in. Two goals in the last five minutes and a stolen victory! I was elated and disappointed, elated we pulled it off, disappointed we got ourselves in that position in the first place.

Havant & Waterlooville 1 Canterbury City 2
Goals: Elliot 6; Teymur 86, Gitselov 90;
MoM: Lee Maddison

The victory gave us prize money of £4,000 and a place in the second round and the draw was being held on Tuesday and we were drawn at home against Hereford, a team that plays their football in the Conference National, it would be a great test for my team to see if they could cut it in the Conference National next year should we be promoted. In other football news Liverpool won the Club World Championship, beating Sao Paulo in the final.

Our last game before Christmas Day was at home to 13th placed Farnborough and it was being billed as a match between two evenly matched teams despite the disparity in league positions. The game’s first half was dire to say the least but the second half started off in great fashion as Teymur took advantage of a poor backpass to beat a defender and lob the keeper for a fantastic goal to take his tally for the season to 18, including 15 in the league. The rest of the half was as dire as the first with the exception of a great save from the Farnborough keeper from a Gitselov freekick that seemed destined for the top corner.

Canterbury City 1 Farnborough 0
Goals: Teymur
MoM: Malmstrom

The victory put us four points clear at the top of the table over Christmas as Eastbourne to my amazement lost 1-0 at home to Eastleigh, the team I had hammered not too long ago. With Bishop’s Stortford winning it put Eastbourne just one point ahead of them for second position.