retired_karamelkel

Wednesday morning was cold, 27 degrees, but agreeably dry. I put in all the backups for this meaningless Trophy game at The Lawn against Forest Green. This was one of those no-win games. Win and you add another game to your schedule, lose and fans get irritated because they think you should beat the soft competition. You get screwed either way. Fewer than 400 fans saw a clunker of a first half.

The first half could be described in one phrase, “Missed opportunities.” Each side had four shots and each only hit one. By this time it seemed we should be used to these early morning games, but we weren’t and it was frustrating to watch. AXFC didn’t do anything worthwhile until late in the first half as injury time neared. Purcell collected a Chandler free-kick and put it into goal to give us the 1-0 lead. Coming out of the break, the Forest Green offense began to pick up. They started putting shots where they were supposed to be and giving Brook some trouble. Grayson put in a goal on 66 to tie the game 1-1. We, on the other hand, couldn’t do squat. Granted, we had our hands full with Forest Green’s offense, but we failed to even try a chance in the second half. Still, the net result was another damn draw during regulation. All we could hope and pray for was for this to be resolved in overtime. Decided it was too, as Luke Jones and Grayson scored at pair of goals in the 90’s to give Forest Green the 3-1 victory. I was not disappointed. I was just glad to have the cup season dispensed with for the year. We could now focus on the Conference season, which would resume on Saturday at Barnet in London.

The afternoon at Underhill was a dry and chilly, the temp being in the high 30’s, day. All of my regular starters were fit for this game with Barnet, which was a good thing as the boys in orange were leading the Conference. The nearly 2000 fans got what they wanted from their home side in the first half.

Barnet came out and blew us away in the opening minutes, but it was us, AXFC, who opened the score line on 12. Young went on a weaving run that culminated in a blistering goal that gave us the 1-0 lead. Barnet barely blinked as they continued to put a ton of pressure on us. On 16 they opened their account with a nice strike by Graz Olli off a Breade pass. Three minutes later, the got a corner and Rowland swung the ball in for Hope, who rose up and banged in the header to give Barnet the lead: 2-1. We couldn’t make the most of our chances for the rest of the half. Then on 39, Bradley, who had missed a header, shoved Grazolie in frustration, and was immediately rung up and sent off with the red card. So, coming out of the break, we would have to score two goals being a man down. Not good odds. But, on 48, Gordon collected a Mutchell near post cross and buried it to tie the game 2-2. We hunkered down on defense after that. Barnet kept peppering Browne with shots, but he and the defense held on. We also managed to attack the Barnet defense enough to keep them honest. We didn’t score, but we kept them busy and preserved the 2-2 tie. This was a pretty good result against the league leaders in their park. With the draw we retained out hold on 5th place in the table. We also got the next week off as we didn’t have a game again until Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium against Scarborough.

retired_karamelkel

The week was over in a flash as there was little team news over the course of the week. The AXFC reserves won 1-0 and Real Madrid used the new transfer system to their benefit, signing three high profile players on the 15th. But we were more concerned about local matters ion that afternoon as we had a game with Scarborough.

The afternoon at roofless Yankee Stadium was cold in the high 30’s, but dry. All the regulars got the nod for this game. The nearly 2000 strong crowd saw a defensive struggle in the first half.

Neither side gong many chances in the first half, but what chances they did get weren’t wasted. On 8, in our one shot of the half, Howard took a Bradley lay-off and drove it low into the bottom corner to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. We shifted to defense then and spent the rest of the half trying to keep Scarborough from doing damage. The opposition was not having much luck against us at first. They missed their first two chances by wide margins. Then they retreated for a bit, regrouped and began to put pressure anew on our defense. Though they didn’t get many shots out of their late half surge, they only needed one and they got it on 40 when Baker managed to elude Howard and put a vicious shot past Browne to tie the score 1-1. At the break I noticed the trainer was going over Todd’s leg. When I asked what was wrong, the sawbones replied that he thought Todd had a shin injury. Though Todd insisted that he was perfectly capable of playing, I put Fennelly in his spot for the second half. The second half was essentially the same as the first half, except in reverse. This time it was Scarborough who scored first. On 55 they were awarded a corner and they mad the most of their chance when Ormerod rose high to drive home a header of a floating ball to give the visitors the 2-1 lead. We were a bit disconcerted by the ease which he has scored, but all was forgotten five minutes later when Howard took a Fennelly pass, moved on his marker and volleyed the ball into the net to make the game a 2-2 tie. There the game remained in the last half hour of the match. Scarborough scattered a few shots that posed no significant threat to us as we ran out the clock on a 2-2 draw. Once again, we got the week off before traveling to Woking for a Saturday afternoon game on the 22.

We traveled to Woking the following Saturday. The afternoon was brisk and chilly, but at least the pitch was in good condition. All the starters except for Bradley, who was suspended, were penciled in on the lineup card. Kirkwood got the start in place of Bradley. The nearly 1100 fans that jammed the stands of the Kingfield Sports Ground saw a good match.

Woking struck quickly when, five minutes in, Sharpling took a Selley lay-off and buried it past a stunned Browne to give the home side the 1-0 lead. From that opening goal, Woking tried to kill the clock and was generally successful at it. AXFC had a few chances, but we wasted them for the most part. We finally got a break five minutes to halftime when we got a corner. Mutchell sent it in and Thornber rose into the air and nodded it home to knot the score at 1-1. Woking contained their defensives efforts in the second half and was able to stifle our attack. It didn’t help that while we were putting our shots on target, Woking keeper Bayes was stopping them with ease. Frustrated, we kept trying, but time finally ran out and we had to be continent with a solitary point. The draw kept us in 6th place in the standings. We had a quick turn-around this time around as we had Dag and Red away on Wednesday, the day after Christmas. That game would mark the half-way point of the season for us and would signal a roster shuffle.

retired_karamelkel

It's the halfway point in the season, so there are a couple of tables added to the usual update.


Wednesday afternoon at the Victoria Ground was not exactly ideal. A cold, almost freezing, rain fell on us during warm-ups. Most of the regulars were fully fit and ready to play. The only exceptions were Young, Todd and Howard, who were replaced by Lyne, finally and Purcell respectively. Everyone was a bit tense as performance in this game would go a long way towards determining the first team for the second half of the season. Just over 1100 fans braved the conditions and were not disappointed.

Both Dag and AXFC came out attacking. Defense was on nobody’s mind as the two sides flowed up and down the pitch and letting fly. Possession was split almost equal and both teams had near misses on brilliant plays. In short, it was a pleasure to watch even as on 28, Dag pulled ahead 1-0 when Myall took a low cross from Mustafa and sent it screaming past Browne. We came roaring back ten minutes later when Fatid aimed a free-kick towards Gordon, who headed it in to knot the score 1-all. At the half, my trainer took me aside and said that Purcell had a possible knee injury. So, I put Lyne in the hole and sent in Weddell at LMC to start the second half. We opened the second half attacking the Dag defense, but it held up firm. Every ting we tried failed to make a dent, but everyone on the opposition defense was having a fine half, led by the keeper. On 59, Dag pulled ahead for good when Mustafa scampered up the right sideline with the ball and put it past Browne to make the score 2-1. After that, their defense took over and denied us satisfaction for our 10-14 shooting. Five minutes toward the end, I subbed in Howard for Lyne, but Howard was unable to turn the tide. We lost a 2-1 heartbreaker that proved that sometimes, even your best isn’t good enough. After the game we only had three days to sort out the lineup for the second half of the season. Our next game would be on Saturday afternoon, the 29th against Morecambe.

We signed 24 year old Irish midfielder Glen Wade to play in the first team squad. That signing, plus the halfway point of the season prompted a first team reorganization. A couple of midfielders and a forward from the reserves were ready for a first-team roster spot while some current first teamers were struggling to make an impact. Thus, Fennelly, Fatid, Weddell and Bradley were sent down. James Asser, Apilinga and Gareth Law were called up. As such, the new depth chart read as followed. The defense, AMCs and goalkeepers saw no changes so only the midfield and forwards are listed. With the lineup sorted out, we could focus on the Wednesday afternoon game against Morecambe.

LMC:
Lyne
James Asser

CMC:
Apilinga
Young

RMC
Todd
Wade

FC:
Gordon
Kirkwood
Law
Dallas


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Conference - Saturday 29th December 2001********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Barnet 21 9 2 0 24 7 4 3 3 19 19 44 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Telford 20 5 4 1 22 14 6 2 2 16 13 39 3rd Scarborough 20 6 3 1 17 4 4 3 3 14 11 36 4th Dag & Red 20 5 4 1 16 8 5 2 3 16 11 36 5th Chester 21 5 2 3 19 14 5 4 2 19 12 36 6th Stevenage 20 4 5 1 13 11 5 1 4 16 13 33 7th Shrewsbury 20 8 2 0 20 7 2 1 7 7 17 33 8th AXFC 21 4 4 2 16 12 4 4 3 15 13 32 9th Woking 21 4 5 2 20 14 3 4 3 12 8 30 10th Farnborough 20 5 3 1 19 10 2 5 4 18 23 29 11th Accrington 21 5 1 4 12 10 4 1 6 11 19 29 12th Tamworth 21 5 5 0 15 5 1 5 5 15 24 28 13th Gravesend 21 5 2 3 20 10 2 4 5 18 22 27 14th Morecambe 20 4 2 5 24 22 3 2 4 10 16 25 15th Hereford 21 5 1 5 19 19 2 3 5 12 22 25 16th Aldershot 22 4 3 4 14 14 2 2 7 8 16 23 17th Exeter 20 2 4 4 12 16 3 3 4 11 13 22 18th Forest Green 20 5 1 3 13 13 1 3 7 11 21 22 19th Burton Albion 20 3 2 6 18 26 2 3 4 11 15 20 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20th Halifax 21 4 2 6 14 17 2 0 7 6 17 20 21st Northwich Vics 21 3 1 6 13 14 1 3 7 13 22 16 22nd Leigh RMI 20 2 2 6 13 23 1 2 7 12 26 13 </pre>

retired_karamelkel

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ********************************************** American Exiles Football Club - Saturday 29th December 2001********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allcock, Adam - - - - - - - - ---- - Apiliga, Moses 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.00 - Asser, James - - - - - - - - ---- - Bradley, Lee 15 2 0 0 2 0 1 0 6.67 - Brook, Robert 7 0 7 0 1 0 0 0 6.57 - Browne, John 18 0 24 0 0 0 0 1 6.94 - Burke, Graham - - - - - - - - ---- - Byrne, Matty - - - - - - - - ---- - Chandler, Jeremy 7 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 7.00 - Cooley, Declan 5 (4) 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.44 - Crossan, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Dallas, Andrew 6 (2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.13 - Driver, Stephen 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00 - Duffy, Chris 10 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 6.60 - Durkin, Neil 18 1 0 1 (1) 2 1 0 0 6.33 - Elliot, Dominic - - - - - - - - ---- - Ellison, Gavin - - - - - - - - ---- - Evans, Lee - - - - - - - - ---- - Farid, Shuvo 19 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 6.53 - Fennelly, Clark 5 (3) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.00 - Gordon, Chris 22 6 0 0 3 1 0 1 6.91 - Howard, Jonathan 16 (2) 8 0 0 0 0 0 3 7.06 - Jones, James - - - - - - - - ---- - Jones, Sam - - - - - - - - ---- - Kelly, Darren - - - - - - - - ---- - Kelly, John - - - - - - - - ---- - Kirkwood, Glen 7 (5) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.92 - Law, Gareth - - - - - - - - ---- - Lynch, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Lyne, Neil 9 (5) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.43 - Mallard, Simon - - - - - - - - ---- - McKillop, Daniel - - - - - - - - ---- - Mitchell, Brian 19 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 6.68 - Motaleb, Fharhad - - - - - - - - ---- - Mutchell, Robert 20 0 0 0 6 1 0 1 6.15 - Paisley, Stephen - - - - - - - - ---- - Pomroy, John - - - - - - - - ---- - Purcell, Jason 9 (7) 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.81 - Robinson, Carl - - - - - - - - ---- - Sadler, Adam - - - - - - - - ---- - Skelly, Lee - - - - - - - - ---- - Speight, Richard - - - - - - - - ---- - Thomas, Stephen 8 1 0 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 6.13 - Thornber, Steve 16 2 0 0 1 1 0 2 6.63 - Todd, Mark 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 - Truman, Danny - - - - - - - - ---- - Wade, Glen - - - - - - - - ---- - Ward, Steve 7 (1) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.25 - Weddall, Lee 7 (5) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.33 - Young, Stephen 15 (1) 2 0 0 0 2 0 0 6.56 </pre>

retired_karamelkel

The afternoon of Saturday, December 29 was a clear cold day at Yankee Stadium. Morecambe sat 14th in the league and we were in 8th. Most of the regulars, including the new ones were penciled in for the start. The expectations were Durkin and Thornber, who were a bit unfit. They were replaced by Chandler and Ward respectively. That meant the home fans got a look at the new look lineup. The 1600 strong crowd saw a pretty even first half.

Both teams were matched up fairly well. Possession and chances flowed evenly between the two teams with AXFC getting four shots and Morecambe five. Morecambe were the first team to capitalize in the game as on 24, Sugden took a low cross and smacked a drive past Browne to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. We continued to play patiently, looking for shots and eventually we seized the moment just five minutes later when Gordon tried a prayer off a loose ball and converted to tie the game 1-1. The rest of the half was uneventful as both teams took a couple more shots that caused no damage. At the half I pulled off Lyne, who was not playing well for Young. Both teams continued the attacking style during the second half. As was the case in the first half, the teams flowed up and own taking shots and keeping both goalkeepers working for their pay. On 61, Gareth Law made his AXFC debut replacing Kirkwood. On 69 Gordon headed in a chipper from Young to make the score 2-1 AXFC. The score remained that way over the final twenty minutes as we hunkered down on defense. Morecambe tried to rally, but failed. It was a good win for us and the new first team regulars. Our next game was at Burton Albion a week from Saturday afternoon game on the 5th of the New Year.

The board confidence report came in on January 2, 2002. The board was happy with my performance as manager and not so happy about my GM duties. The club had moved into the “insecure” category financially and the stockholders weren’t happy. But, I had other worries at that moment. I was resigned to losing one of my scouts to a Division One club, but at least AXFC would get 20,000 pounds from the deal as compensation. The only other news was that 16 yr old Richard Speight nailed a hat-trick in the reserve game against Burton Albion.

Saturday afternoon at Eton Park was not promising. A cold rain pelted the players as they warmed up prior to the game. All the regulars save one suited up for the game. The lone hold-out was Lyne, who had struggled in the reserve contest. Thus, Asser was ready to make his debut at LMC. The weather was reflected in the attendance as under 800 showed up to watch a dismal first half.

Neither team was able to do much in the rain. Both teams wasted early chances and seemed more concerned with conserving energy than anything else. For our part, Burton Albion keeper Lee Turner was on form, so our three on-target chances were wasted. BA pulled ahead in injury time at the close of the half when Talbot nailed the shot off a Corbett pass to give the home side the 1-0 lead. The meager crowd was stunned ten minutes into the second half when Corbett added his name in the score-sheet and giving Albion the 2-0 led. They watched their team try to hold on for the win. On 64 I put in Law for Gordon, but it made no difference as we were just too far behind. Howard scored a consolation on 74 when he got free off an Apilinga pass and buried it to spoil Turner’s shutout, 2-1. But we still lost, never a good feeling. We would get a chance to redeem ourselves on Wednesday January 9 away at Farnborough.

retired_karamelkel

We lost Parsons to Norwich on Monday, meaning I had to start the search for a new scout. While I was looking for a scout, I also offered a couple of unemployed coaches’ contracts and released Weddell and Driver, the two player-coaches who were stuck in the reserves. Their release opened up a couple of spots for promising youngsters, should any be found.

If conditions hadn’t been fun for our last match, they hadn’t gotten any more humorous by Wednesday evening in Farnborough. We were scheduled to play in a sleet storm that was in the 20’s temperature wise. The only regular starter held out was Todd, and it was only due to the fact that I wanted to give Wade his first team debut. At lest the young Irish lad's debut would be a memorable one for him weather-wise. Just over 1,000 true fans showed up and were rewarded for their loyalty to Farnborough.

We were just horrible, putting up the worst first half performance year to date. Farnborough were well used to the weather and demonstrated their offensive superiority by attacking at a brisk pace. Our defense was overwhelmed as they tied to hold up, but failed to prevent five excellent chances from the feet of Farnborough players. Howard did open the score line in AXFC’s favor on 23 when he headed home an Apilinga pass, but the rest of the half was all Farnborough. Two minutes after the opening goal, Fenton put a shot pad Browne and ten then fifteen minutes later Poole bagged a pair for the home side. None of this was really Browne’s fault. He had no support whatsoever as the defenders charged with protecting him seemly took the night off. We went into the break down 3-1. I decided to make no changes and see if the lads couldn’t work things out themselves. Besides, I just wanted to get out of the abysmal weather. Poole completed his hat-trick on 62, making Browne look bad in the process. Everyone agreed to kill clock and we left the stadium having been defeated 4-1. Four players, Browne, Mutchell, Mitchell and Lyne had not played well and thus would not be considered for the lineup in the next game, which would take place a mere three days later on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium against Accrington.

retired_karamelkel

Just started my third season play the game, so you lot are doomed to suffer through at least two seasons worth of this drivel.


Our able backers made a 350K cash injection to the club to ease the debt load, but it was not a long-term solution. The only way we were going to make money was by advancing to the League and sharing in the lucrative Sky deal. Saturday afternoon conditions at Yankee stadium were not ideal. The temperature was fine, in the mid-forties, but the wind was blowing hard, making the wind-chill in the 20’s. As noted, none of the players who had played very sub-par got the start. Brook, Cooley, Thomas (Mitchell), Asser, Purcell and Law (Kirkwood) were the backups inserted into the lineup. The home fans, 1800 strong, weren’t happy that their hero Howard was not playing. However, I figured they would be mollified by the results by the end of the half.

It didn’t matter that the wind was blowing; both teams were able to put together a good game on both ends of the pitch. Possession and zone action were virtually equal and both teams were efficient with the chances they got. The fact we had three mores shots on target than they did probably accounted for our lone goal in injury time when Todd got the rebound and put it back to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. The second half saw AXFC dominate even though we were playing defensively. Accrington tied the score 1-1 on 53 with a fine Williams strike. However, on 65, Todd collected another loose ball and burned it back in to regain us the 2-1 lead. Then, in the closing minutes of the game, Law fired a free-kick to Young, who buried the bullet header to make the final score 3-1. We didn’t have another game for a week and a half, when we would travel to Telford on Wednesday evening, January 23.

We signed our new scout over the next couple days and Macleod was assigned to Northern Ireland. I was also trying to sign a pair of coaches as the original two had rejected contract offers. Nick Cusack did sign with us shortly. Tony Chilton followed soon after and the coaching ranks were once again complete. About a week before the upcoming Telford match, we received the news that Duffy was back in full practice. We now decided to keep him in the reserves for a couple of games so that he could regain match fitness, which was lacking on his part.

Conditions on Wednesday evening in Telford were even worse than the previous game we’d played. The wind was howling and everything was drenched and damp, though by game time it had quit raining. The temperature was in the mid-forties and no-one really wanted to be out there. Nevertheless, all the regular starters got the nod. We were hoping to avenge the 2-1 defeat we had suffered to this team earlier in the year. The crowd, numbering just under 1000 saw a game that was dictated by weather conditions.

The teams were roughly equal on the stat sheet for the first half save one, possession. In that category Telford showed a decisive edge along the lines of a 60-40 split. Telford was unable to do much with this advantage, as they only made Browne work with two of their attempts. For our part, we got four chances as well, but ere only able to put one on goal. The net result was that by halftime the score remained 0-0. The second half didn’t improve much from our perspective. At the break I had subbed in Cooley for Mutchell, who had finally tested my patience far enough. The right-back had played his final half for AXFC. He would be released after the game. Both teams’ offense had improved during the second half, but it was Telford who struck the killing blow. On 64, Naylor, buried a shot past Browne to give Telford the 1-0 lead that would end up the final result. They retained it too despite our best try. Purcell came on for Howard, but the Irishman was unable to do much and Telford skillfully ran out the clock on their 1-0 victory. We didn’t have much time to worry about the loss as we had a Saturday afternoon game at home against Aldershot to concern ourselves with next.

retired_karamelkel

As threatened, Mutchell was released after the game for incompetent performance. The board wasn’t particularly happy about shelling out the 45K to buy out the contract, but even they recognized that he had to go. We promptly went looking for a replacement among interested free agents.

Saturday morning in London was a dreary affair much to the disgust of the TV crews who were covering the Conference game of the week. The rain came down in a drizzle and the air was colder, high 30’s, than it had been for a while. Only three starters were declared to be totally unfit for the game and Durkin, Apilinga and Todd were replaced by Chandler, Young and Wade respectively. Cooley took the newly vacated spot at right back. Despite the weather, nearly 2000 fans turned out to see a pretty fair ballgame and there was no doubt that we needed their support in this game.

Aldershot came out hanging back a bit. They were content to establish the tempo of the game and were not taking any risks. This cautious strategy backfired as we, AXFC, pounded the Aldershot net with a few shots. On 30, Kirkwood broke through to take a lay-off from Wade and put it in to score his first goal as a regular starter and give the home side the 1-0 lead. Aldershot responded ten minutes later with their only shot of the half as Moody took a rebound and made it 1-1. At the half I pulled Howard, who might have a knee injury for Purcell. The second half saw us taking a surfeit of chances and even placing them on target half the time. However, Mitten, the Aldershot keeper, was having a great day and he stopped us cold. On 85, I pulled a struggling Lyne for Asser, but the change came too late to break the deadlock. By the end of the game, tempers had flared over the physical play of both sides. Wade threw a punch at Thurston, and the latter nailed Chandler, who was trying to play peacemaker. The ref ejected both players and the game ended a few minutes later. The draw kept us in 8th place. We had a week off before we had to travel to Broadhall Way to face Stevenage.

On January 28, we signed veteran right back Donal Flynn to fill out the first team. Cooley would assume the starting spot at right back and Flynn would back him up. Duffy played well in the reserve match and thus earned his starting first team place again. Todd would shift to the backup RMC spot and Wade, he of the fisticuffs, would go to the reserves. February brought the monthly board meeting. They were happy with my performance, but they commented on the fact that fan interest seemed to be waning. Not much I could do about that except win, which is what I was being paid to do anyhow. January showed us making a profit, but it was a bit deceptive as the money came from a cash injection and not honest-to-God revenue. As it was, we were still 50,000 pounds in the red. I was wondering when our backers would get tired of the losses and pull the plug on AXFC.

retired_perilousfaith

This was a great read, mate

Keep up the excellent writing ^_^

retired_karamelkel

Cheers Fin


Saturday February 2 was not a pleasant day at Stevenage. The afternoon was wet, cloudy and cold in the high 30’s. The omnipresent groundhog was not going to make an appeared on this day, meaning another six weeks of winter. All the regular starters, including the newly reinstated Duffy, got the start except for Lyne and Thurber, who both struggled mightily in the last game. Ward and Asser filled their places. Nearly 1300 fans filled Broadhall Way and they had to be disappointed with their team’s play.

Stevenage came out playing defense. They were so focused on that, they forgot to play offense. They had no chances and, indeed, their stat sheet was pretty empty. AXFC had four chances and were on target three times, but the Stevenage defense prevented us from capitalized on anything until near the end of the half. Asser collected a loose ball on 44, went up the pitch and lobbed a pass to Howard in the area. Howard headed the ball in to give AXFC the 1-0 at the break. I replaced Thurber, whom I’d accidentally write in on the lineup card. As it turned out, Thornber had a possible shin injury. Not wanting to risk the 35 year old any further, I subbed him out for Lyne. The second half was the opposite of the first. Stevenage turned on an efficient offense that harried our defense. We were focusing on tem defense and valiantly tried to hold them off, but eventually, ten minutes to time, they broke through when Bapiste nailed a shot to tie the game at 1-1. That’s how the game ended too. We got the point, but we felt we had squandered a great chance for a win. All we could do was patiently wait for our next game which would be in a week at Chester.

We traveled to the Deva Stadium for the Saturday afternoon game against Chester. The weather was clear and cold and the pitch was in good condition. All of the regular eleven got the nod. For only the third time this season, we broke out the red uniforms. Just over 800 fans showed to watch their team get pelted in the first half.

Put simply, we had nine chances in the first half, but only four were where they should have been. We did get on the board fifteen minutes in when Gordon created space for himself off a Duffy lay-off and blasted it into goal to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. Chester focused on defense after that and their shots were limited to three with Browne only having to deal with one of those. With the amount of possession Chester had, they really should have done more. As had happened in the past few games, the second half was a complete turnaround for our opponents. Chester managed to get a couple of shots off starting at the hour mark. Brodie got one goal then and added another ten minutes later to give Chester the 2-1 lead. At that point I put in Dallas for Kirkwood and Todd for Apilinga and told the side to start attacking. But, none of it did any good as Stamp, the other Chester forward put in his contribution at 90 to make the final score 3-1. The loss dropped us to ninth place and continued our dip in form. We had collected just five points in our last five games. We had a home game against Northwich Vics at home next Saturday on February 16th.