retired_steffani

Playoffs beckon then Harwin?

retired_merri13

It did look like we'd make it into the playoffs, but the league is very close

April

April fool's Bradford PA 2-0 Frickley evens(fav) Daly replaced by Oliver. Good choice, Oliver scoring in the 13th and 16th minute. Frickley tried but the Bradford defenders played well, never seemed to get into trouble and Paul managed to keep the clean sheet. To my shock we climb into 1st place :eek: Level with Barrow and Gateshead, too bad Barrow have still one game in hand.
Leigh RMI relegated today.

April 5th, Southport 3-2 Bradford PA 7-4 A very imporant game, only 2 points difference between 1st placed Bradford and 5th placed Suthport. Southport immediatly scored, it didn't take long before Boto hit one back. Southport started to look for another fast goal after halftime, but it went the other way when Boto scored his second in the 50th minute. Southport did get their second after a counter a few minutes after King left the pitch injured. Southport scored the undeserved winner in the 94th minute. Acoording to the commenatry Southport deserved their win, the statistics told me they didn't: 14(3) shots for them against 15(5) shots for us. We drop to 5th place.
King pulled a hamstring and is out for 2-4 weeks, Bunn stubbed a toe and is out for 1-2 weeks.

April 8th, Bradford PA 0-0 Harrogate 6-4fav Bunn and King both out injured, Caulfield (just back from injury) and Senior replacing both wingers. Owning Harrogate, strikers didn't know what to do. Up to 3rd place, only 1 point above 7th placed, 3 points behind Southport in 1st place.

April 19th, Barrow 2-2 Bradford PA 13-8 Barrow needed one chance to score, we had 2 before Elam equalised. After halftime we tried to get the needed win, but it was Barrow who scored. Just when the game seemed over a Barrow defender decided to pass the ball back to his goalie who already left the goal celebrating the win, the backpass rolled into the empty goal... :eek: We drop 1 place to 4th, still 1 point above 6th and 7th place.

April 26th, Bradford PA 1-1 Nuneaton Buough 7-4 Simple: if we win we reach the playoffs, a draw could be enough but a defeat is leathal.
We started great, Oliver scoreing fast and hitting his second after 30 mins, but he was strolling offside. After halftime the ref again overruled an Oliver goal to offside, Nuneaton did equalise from the freekick.
So with thanks to the referee we drop outside the playoff spots 2 Players are surprised I got mad at the team after the game, well...

League table to follow...

retired_merri13

Conference North 2007/8

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Southport | | 42 | 24 | 7 | 11 | 73 | 50 | +23 | 79 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Gateshead | | 42 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 56 | 32 | +24 | 78 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Barrow | | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 62 | 42 | +20 | 74 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Hinckley | | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 49 | 34 | +15 | 73 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | P | Moor Green | | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 50 | 41 | +9 | 73 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Bradford PA | | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 68 | 44 | +24 | 72 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Burton | | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 55 | 38 | +17 | 70 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Stafford | | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 53 | 43 | +10 | 68 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Alfreton | | 42 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 52 | 44 | +8 | 66 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Hyde | | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 64 | 53 | +11 | 63 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Hucknall | | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 57 | 51 | +6 | 61 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Worksop | | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 58 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Harrogate | | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 50 | 58 | -8 | 53 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Nuneaton | | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 50 | 63 | -13 | 50 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Lancaster | | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 53 | 67 | -14 | 49 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Frickley | | 42 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 37 | 49 | -12 | 48 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Marine | | 42 | 10 | 13 | 19 | 47 | 63 | -16 | 43 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Hednesford | | 42 | 11 | 9 | 22 | 34 | 43 | -9 | 42 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Vauxhall Motors | | 42 | 11 | 8 | 23 | 50 | 78 | -28 | 41 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | R | Wakefield-Emley | | 42 | 10 | 10 | 22 | 40 | 50 | -10 | 40 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 21st | R | Gainsborough | | 42 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 24 | 52 | -28 | 37 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 22nd | R | Leigh RMI | | 42 | 5 | 13 | 24 | 38 | 71 | -33 | 28 | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_merri13

Squad end of season review: (name, pos, apperences, goals, assists, mom, average rating)

Goalkeepers:

Mark Davidson 22 apps, 8 clean, 6.77 Started as 1st choice GK, but lost his place to Liam Paul after some very poor perfoming.
Liam Paul 23(1)apps, 12 clean, 6.83 Took Davidon's place and did very good in the last 3 months
Jon Worsnop 2(6)apps, 5.63 What a useless GK, going to leave.
Gavin Kelly 1app, 5.00 Retires now, played 20 minutes in a cupgame before he got subbed.

Defenders:

Tony Lyons, DR 37apps, 6asts, 6.78 Played good, apart from a dip in january when he was put into the reserves.
Matthew Shift, DR 11(3)apps, 1asts, 6,71 tackles good, the rest is bad. Can leave in the summer.
Brad Elam, DL 41 apps, 1goal, 9asts, 1mom, 7.22 Loyal back who can deliever crosses too.
Curtis Davis, DC 1(6)apps, 6.20 Backup, marking and tackling are good, heading is poor.
Ryan Townsend, DC [i]47apps, 1 goal, 7.28[i] The loyal Aussie, always present, always a proper game.
Tommy Welch, DC 48apps, 1asts, 1mom, 7.23 The only player who played every game.
Neil Jenkins, D/M L 0(7)app, 6.14 Poor, backup, leaves.
Michael Davidson, WB/M L 3(1)app, 1asts, 6,00 Backup, can stay another season.

Midfield:

Richard Fox, DM 9apps, 1asts, 1mom, 7,11 He's a backup, but played well enough in the few games he played in.
Kevin Gilligan, DM 3(1)apps, 7,25 Joined in january, looking to be a good player, maybe 1st choice as DM
Sam Hall, DM 36(1)apps, 1goal, 1asts, 7,32 1st Choice DM, played very good and is only 18 years old.

Neil Fry, ML 1app, 1asts, 7,00 Contract running out, is leaving.
Steven Ravenscroft, ML 15apps, 2 goals, 4asts, 7,33 Good backup, the 22yo has signed a new contract few months ago.
David Senior, ML 1app, 1 goal, 7,00 Young, new backup. Had a good debut, staying at least 1 more season.
Nicolas Matthews, MC 1(3)apps, 1goal, 1asts, 6,75 Contract running out, is leaving.
Michael Bunn, AM RC 20(5)apps, 1goal, 5asts, 7,00 Started as a backup, since the Owen sell he got into the squad and did well as AMR and AMC.
Luke Caulfield, AM R 30apps, 3goals, 3asts, 1mom, 7,10 Winger, has to bring more assists in the upcoming season. 3 Assists in 30 games is too low.
Andrew Quinn, AM RC 5app, 1asts, 1mom, 6,80 Contract is running out, he's leaving.
Kevin King, AM L 30app, 2gls, 5asts, 2mom, 7,20 Best left winger, also has to improve in the upcoming season.
Simon Weatherstone, AMC 17(2)app, 1asts, 6,89 The 28yo is considert a squadplayer, but can leave if we can sign a better one.

Strikers:

Kyle Allcock, ST 0(5)apps, 2glas, 6,60 New signing, can stay for 1 more year
Andrew Appleby, ST 4(10)apps, 2gls, 1asts, 1mom, 6,71 Backup, can leave if a good bid comes in.
Tony Boto, ST 41apps, 16gls, 11asts, 4mom, 7,17 Was a backup, did get into the team after a few injuries and never left.
Jon Daly, ST 21(2)apps, 11gls, 2asts, 4mom, 7,26 Good striker, too bad his injuryprone is high. Hopefully he doesn't get injured this much next season.
Tom Greaves, ST 6(10)apps, 3gls, 6,69 Backup, can leave if we get a better striker
Brian Oliver, ST 23(6)apps, 21gls, 2asts, 4mom What a season for the 16yo. He's looking to get a good transfer if he keeps playing like this.

Unused players:

John White, GK. 16yo
David Webster, MC, 16yo. Is being retraind to become a winger.
Paul Ellis, D/WB RL. 18yo Going to join the first team next season
Tommy Price, M RL, 17yo. Maybe into the first team.

Season stats:

Cup: played 6 won 3, drew 1, lost 2, scored 11, conceded 6
Cards (both league and cup): 28 yellow, 1 red
Average attendance: 916 (1008 in league)

retired_merri13

Going to use another format to review the games we play, maybe it's a little short for FMS standards, let me know then

Pre-season 2008/9

Thanks to the big money after I sold Owen the board gives me 200k transfermoney and a big salarybudget. They ask a safe midtable position in the league. In return they've upgraded the trainingsfacilities too, although I'd demanded that when I negiotiated a new contract with the club.

On the day the transferwindow opens we release Swift, Quinn, Matthews, Worsnop, Fry and Caulfield on free transfers. I manage to sign Marcus Gayle, a 37yo Jamaican ex-international, on a free transfer. Gayle is going to be a player/coach, since he's a D LC, AM L, ST he can play anywhere on the pitch. Brian Oliver was sold to Doncaster for 110k (20% sell-on) but is leaving after this season.
Later in july John Owen, a 15yo ST joined on a free transfer. Lewis Allesandra joined 2 weeks later, also a ST, but this one is 19yo. Tommy Tejay-Sie, a 19yo DM joined 1 day after Alessandra.

The friendlies:

Bradford - Scarburough 0-2
Welling - Bradford 1-1
Bradford - Dumbarton 1-2
Llanelli - Bradford 2-0
Aylesbury - Bradford 0-1

retired_merri13

August 2008

With a awaygame to Harrogate we'll start the season. A comfortable win with Daly and Boto scoring for us, the hosts got one back in the dying seconds. Our first homegame was against Northwich. We played good, but a very poor 2nd half saw us losing. The following awaygame to Hucknall was an embarresment, Oliver scoring our only goal, where the hosts managed to get four. Home against Barrow we were seeking a win, but Townsend red card after 3 minutes shattered our chances. Till halftime we kept it on a draw, after the break Barrow countered (!) to a undeserved win.
The month ended with an away game to Lancaster. Oliver scoring his 2nd goal of the season, but his only goal was nothing compared to the 4 the Lancaster players managed to score.

Harrogate 1-2 Bradford PA Boto (2), Daly (52)
Bradford PA 0-2 Northwich
Hucknall 4-1 Bradford PA Oliver (42)
Bradford PA 0-2 Barrow Townsend s/o (3)
Lancaster 4-1 Bradford PA Oliver (19)

League Table:

20. Bradford PA 5-3

To try and improve the squad bit Phil Collins (AM/F C) and Tony Duncan (DC) join on a free transfer and Martin Riley (DC) was bought from Guisely for 65k now and 120k over 24 months.

retired_merri13

September

We kept going like in august, our first game this month home against Hyde was lost. Changing the GK looked a good thing, but a penalty before halftime and another embarresment in our backline cost us dearly. We drop to 22nd place. Away to Alfreton we drew... untill halftime. The only goal Alfreton scored was enough for our 6th straight loss. Next up ws Hinckley who paid us a visit and went back home with 3 points. Daly managing to score for us, but Hinckley scored three.
Away to Woodford Utd we finally managed to get a win, but it was in the FA Cup. Maybe we can build on this win. Weatherstone and Boto scored for us. One week later, at home against Marine, we finally got back in the league. Daly being the king in ruining chances, but he did score the penalty we had. This win finally sees us leaving the bottom in the league. The 7 lost in a row is a new Conference North record, but I don't feel like it's something to be proud of.

Bradford PA 0-2 Hyde Utd
Alfreton 1-0 Bradford PA
Bradford PA 1-3 Hinckley Daly (19)
Woodford Utd 0-2 Bradford PA FA Cup 2nd QR Weatherstone (22), Boto (80)
Bradford PA 1-0 Marine Daly (17)

League Table:

21. Bradford PA 9-6

retired_merri13

October

The month started away to Frickley, Daly kept his great form from the least match and managed to miss 8!!! shots on target. Frickley scored their first shot, so we drop back into the last place. In the next FA Cup QR we faced Radcliffe Boro, but both teams failed to score so we're going to try and beat them on their ground. The replay was another embarresment.
In the league once again we failed to score, but Burton didn't score either. The draw saw us moving up 2 places in the league, but we're still in the troublezone. Away to Gateshead it was the usual story, losing, playing worthless. We've now failed to score 5 games in a row. The next opponnent was high flying Nuneaton. With Daly back in the team (hoping I teased him by letting him rot in the reserves for a month) we managed to score... four goals :eek: Nuneaton only got one in the last seconds of the game.

Frickley 1-0 Bradford PA
Bradford PA 0-0 Radcliffe Boro FA Cup 3rd QR
Radcliffe Boro 1-0 Bradford PA FA Cup 3rd QR replay
Bradford PA 0-0 Burton
Gateshead 3-0 Bradford PA
Bradford PA 4-1 Nuneaton Daly (21, pen70), Owen (32), Bunn (85)

League:
20. Bradford PA 13-10

retired_steffani

Makes it a bit easier to follow Harwin good stuff :thup:

retired_merri13

Thanks Daniel. Much easier to wrote too

November

Another poor start to the month, Shrewsbury banging in four against us. We hoped to get some morale back in the FA Trophy 2nd QR match, but Herne Bay (at 20-1 for a win) managed to keep up with us, even worse, we drew luckely in injurytime. The Herne players earning themselfs a replay at our turf. Back home we showed some of the class we had last year, Bunn, Daly and Oliver scoring to get us through. Vauxhall visited us next and they also were beaten by a surprisingly well playing Bradford, Boto and Oliver scoring. Finally a win in the league.
FA Trophy 3rd QR saw us facing Hinckley, we fielded a B team and lost, didn't care too much. With 2 leaguegames remaining this month, we tried to build a decent form there. It went well, both Stafford (A) and Worksop (H) were beaten by us and we finally managed to crawl out of the relegationzone and we've climber into the top of the "current form" ladder in the league with our WLWWW in the last 5 games.

Shrewsbury 4-0 Bradford PA
Herne Bay 1-1 Bradford PA FA Trophy 2nd QR Oliver (90)
Bradford PA 3-0 Herne Bay FA Trophy 2nd QR replay Daly (45), Bunn (66), Oliver (69), Daly missed penalty (66)
Bradford PA 2-0 Vauxhall Motors Boto (55), Oliver (82)
Bradford PA 0-1 Hickley FA Trophy 3rd QR
Bradford PA 3-1 Worksop Boto (1), Bunn (85), Owen (90)
Stafford Rangers 1-2 Bradford PA Weatherstone (31), Boto (61)

League:
16. Bradford PA 17-19