retired_karamelkel

Cheers Barman... That Frank can sure spit can't he?


Neither team wanted to do much in the sleet and cold. Both sides had a number of chances, but failed to make hay while the ice came down. Action was up and down the pitch as players tried to make a break. Finally, half an hour in, Kavanagh took an Asser pass and buried it into the goal to give the home side AXFC the 1-0 lead. At the half, I subbed in Durkin for an extremely fatigued Asser. We managed to stop Scarborough from doing any damage in the second half. For their part, our opposition seemed to decide that they weren’t going to really try and gave up. The result was a turgid second half that saw the minutes tick by slowly. We finally left the pitch with the 1-0 win. Our next game was against our London rivals, Barnet at Underwood.

The three days til Saturday passed by quickly. That afternoon, London was in the grip of near-gale force winds. In addition, the pitch and the stadium were wet and the pitch was damp, but at least, it was warmer than it had been. Still, no one really relished playing in those aforementioned conditions. All the regulars, with the exception of Moran and Apilinga, who were replaced by Lynch and Mark Smith respectively, were penciled in on the lineup card. Just fewer than 2000 fans turned out for the derby.
Both teams got a few chances in the first half, but the goalies prevented anyone from taking advantage. Play was up and down, as the two teams sought to find an offensive rhythm. AXFC got two breaks in the half. First, on 9, Lynch pounced on a loose ball and put it back to give us the 1-0 lead. Second, at the half-hour mark, Barnet’s right back Hendon made a vicious challenge on Kirkwood and was ejected from the proceedings. Now a man up, we spent the rest of the half protecting our slim lead. The second half shot my plans all to hell. Five minutes in Goodwin was ejected for pushing a player and in addition, the referee gave Barnet a penalty. I sent in Durkin to replace a hapless Duffy and reorganized the formation. Saunders nailed the penalty to tie the score at 1-1. Ten minutes later, Hawes scored to give Barnet the 2-1 lead which they maintained long enough to win the game. We were simply punch-less. The loss put us in fifth place. At least we had a week before having to face Accrington on Saturday February 1.

The day following the Barnet match, I appealed the three game bans on Goodwin and also bitterly complained about the ref to the media, which earned me a rebuke from the FA, They dismissed my appeal, so Goodwin was out for three games.

February marched in and with it came the Saturday afternoon game. We hosted Accrington. London was suffering the usual February weather, which meant rain and wind. Our pitch was soaked through. All the regulars got the nod for this one. Everyone was fit and ready to go. Nearly 2300 fans saw us put the game way early.

We came out shooting accurately. Ten minutes in, we scored our first goal when Fuff took a Kavanagh corner and calmly potted the shot to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. A few minutes later, Kavanagh scored a goal himself to make our lead 2-0. Since Accrington seemed not be in the game, I signaled my team to play defensively. We ran out the clock on the first half, with nary a protest from Accrington. However, by ten minutes into the second half, they had tied the game back up with goals from O’Brien and Homer. They were getting way too many chances. We pulled ahead on 80 as Duffy took an Asser pass and banged it in to give is the 3-2 win. At that point, Kirkwood limped off the field and was replaced by Bradley. We held our lead for the final ten minutes and got the win. We now had week and half off before traveling to Stevenage on Wednesday evening February 12.

On February 4 Clark Fennelly returned to full practice after recovering from his groin injury. Fraser Smith was sent back down to the reserves.

Wednesday evening, two days before Valentine’s Day, we traveled to Stevenage for a Conference tussle. The weather was lousy, sleet and cold made the game not fun to play. All the starters except for the suspended Goodwin (replaced by Reilly) and the injured Kirkwood (replaced by Bradley). 1312 fans braved the conditions to watch a game that must have kept them warm with heartburn.

Neither team managed to get many chances. That really didn’t mean much as we opened the scoring five minutes in when Moran headed down a ball for a wide open Speight who nailed the half-volley to make the score 1-0 in favor of AXFC. We spent the rest of the half pressuring Stevenage in their half and making their defense work overtime. Thus, even only getting three shots, we managed to do well. The only time the home side threatened us was on a couple of counter-attacks. One of those came late in the half as Bapiste sent a cross in that Bradshaw gathered in and put it past a diving Browne to tie the game 1-1. The second half saw both teams ramp up the offense. Both teams were aggressively seeking goals and taking good chances, though Stevenage still seemed to be still counter-attacking. It worked for them as Watson drilled a shot in to regain Stevenage the lead at 2-1. At that point I subbed in Lynch for Moran and Todd for Apilinga. The fresh players seemed to make a bit of difference, though as the game ticked on, I figured it probably wasn’t our night. On 84, Asser managed to land a free-kick into the goal to tie the game 2-2. That’s were the score stood at the final whistle. We were holding onto fifth place in the Conference as we had a game on Saturday at home against Dag and Red.

Saturday afternoon in London was a drizzly day, but at least the pitch was dry and the temperature was reasonable. The same lineup was slated to start this game with one exception, Fennelly started in place of Asser. Nearly 2900 fans were willing to get wet to see these two teams play.

It was a midfield slugfest. Neither team got many chances. Attacks were far and few between. We only had one measly off-target shot to our credit. Dagenham did a bit better and they took the very early lead two minutes in when Myall drilled a surprise shot past Browne. They retained the lead throughout the first half. We looked extremely shaky and it showed. We came out much better in the second half, amassing chances, but they were mostly off the mark. Dagenham did a great job of snuffing our attacks. I subbed in Durkin for Apilinga and Fanning for Bradley at 72. However, we failed to do anything in the last twenty minutes and we lost, at home, 1-0. That loss put us, AXFC. Now in sixth place, we would face Halesowen at their place next Saturday afternoon.

Saturday February 22, 2003 arrived soon enough. We traveled to the Grove in Halesowen. Conditions were great, cool and dry. All the regulars except for Goodwin, who was still suspension and Kirkwood who was still injury, earned the start. Reilly continued to fill in for the former and Fanning got the nod for the latter. 835 fans turned up to see a competitive match.

Both teams came out playing defensively. Neither team got many chances, though action was spread across the field. The defense and the unwillingness to make a mistake ruled the half. As a consequence, the score at halftime remained 0-0. The second half continued this trend. We started getting shots off, but we were very inaccurate. Halesowen were playing the counter-attack and succeeded ten minutes to the final when Giddings took a pass from Burke and nailed the shot in to give Halesowen the 1-0 wins over AXFC. Given that Halesowen was fighting a relegation battle, it was no wonder they had more fire than we did. We had a chance to redeem ourselves the following weekend with a game at Yankee Stadium versus Tamworth.

March began with a Conference game for us. We had an afternoon game against Tamworth at home in London. All the regulars got the start, as Goodwin and Kirkwood returned to the match pitch. It was a pleasant day and all conditions were good. 2224 fans saw a cracking match.

AXFC started out well when on 4. Speight dribbled in, weaving around defenders like cones and potted his shot neatly to give us the 1-0 lead. The action didn’t stop there. Both teams were playing well and putting shots on goal. Tamworth tied the game on 18 when Marsh centered a ball that Sylla headed past Browne. We kept attacking, and it paid off at the half-hour mark. Duffy lobbed a ball that Moran ran onto and sent screaming into the net to regain AXFC the 2-1. Tamworth themselves kept attacking as we tried to hold the lead. They succeeded in knotting the game at the close of the half. Sylla had a hand in the goal when he crossed to Walsh at the far post and who headed the ball into the net to make the score 2-2 at the half. It was an appropriate end to an exciting half. It was just a shame that this game wasn’t on national TV. The second half was more of a midfield slog. Both teams slowed the pace and started getting sloppy with shot selection. We pulled out a win on 69 when Asser buried a direct free-kick into the Tamworth goal to give us the 3-2 win. At that point, I sent in Bradley for Kirkwood and Todd for Apilinga. Over the next twenty minutes, we managed to hold onto the lead and seal the win. We had a national TV game the next weekend at Halifax.

retired_karamelkel

The board met on March 2 to commend my performance and discuss the finances which were not good. We still had a roughly 87,000 pound profit for the year, but we were still nearly 300,000 pounds in overall club debt.

Saturday morning at the Shay in Halifax was cool and dry. All the regulars got the starting nod. Nearly 1150 saw a rather frustrating first half for the home side.

Both teams were making good attacks, and taking good shots. It was more luck than anything else that we went ahead of Halifax at 24 when Moran headed down a ball that Kirkwood blasted the ball in to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. The rest of the half was spent holding off an increasingly-frustrated Halifax. They were cracking shots at goal, but Browne was on-form. We held on to that slim lead during a dull second half. Our win kept us in 6th place with nine games left in the Conference season. Our next game was in three days on Tuesday evening at Yankee Stadium vs. Farnborough.
The evening of Tuesday March 11 in London was a slightly chilly night at Yankee Stadium. Most of the regulars were selected in the lineup except for Apilinga, Moran and Speight, who were all slightly unfit. They were replaced by Mark Smith, Gary Lynch and Lee Bradley respectively. Just over 2500 decided to spend their evening at the park.

We controlled three games from the first minutes, taking the early lead five minutes in. Lee Bradley volleyed in a pass from Mark Smith to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. We increased that lead just free minutes later. On 18, Lynch snagged a rebound and blistered it past Harpur in goal to give us the 2-0 lead. We dominated the rest of the half. Farnborough were never really in the game properly and we had our way. We continued to play exceed well in the second half. We added our third goal on 58 when Bradley took a Chandler cross and blasted it past a standing Harpur. We continued to blast away, as did Farnborough, but Browne was on and he handled all the shots well unbelievably, especially to the screaming fans, we added a fourth goal on 82 when Fuff chipped a pass to Kirkwood, who dribbled in and sent the ball into the net to cap a 4-0 victory. This was our best game by far this season. We had four days to enjoy the win before heading to Rochdale for the weekend matchup with the second-placed team in the Conference.
If the rain in Rochdale wasn’t bad enough on Saturday afternoon wasn’t and enough news worse came just before the game when word circulated that we had drawn the harshest ref in the league. I told my players to play their regular game. I was prepared for the worst and I was prepared to scream to the media til I was fined if need be. All the regulars drew the start and I wished them luck as they went out. To say I had foreboding about this game would be an understatement. Just over 2500 fans showed up.

We actually got the scoring at nine minutes when Speight leaped and headed in a Kavanagh throw-in to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. That was the last, and only shot we had at the Rochdale goal. Not that Rochdale was playing brilliantly, they weren’t, but they were holding the ball better than we were. They attacked three times and got results twice. First, their forward McEwilly blasted a rebound back through Browne to tie the game 1-1 at the half-hour mark. Late in the half, on 39, McEwilly nailed a penalty to give the home side the 2-1 lead. We improved slightly in the second half, getting two more shots, both on-target. We cashed in on one of those on the hour mark when Kirkwood teed up Asser, who took the ball and cut through the Rochdale defense and buried the shot in low to tie the game 2-2. We managed to hold off a ferocious attack by the home side and we escaped with the 2-2 draw. Our next match was a home game against Chester on the next weekend.

Saturday afternoon in London was a cool, drizzly day. At least the pitch at Yankee Stadium was in good shape. All the regulars got the nod for this game. Some the regulars were starting to get nervous. They knew that their play down the stretch would determine whether they were with AXFC next season. Cutting time was almost at hand

Just over 2400 braved the rain and turned out for the contest.

We started out inauspiciously as Chandler pulled up lame on 12 and was replaced by Durkin. Three minutes later, Moran fired a shot into goal to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. A few minutes after that, we scored again on 23when Moran laid the ball off to an onrushing Kavanagh who cracked a beautiful shot into the goal to give us the 2-0 lead. At this point Chester collected their wits about them and began to string together some attacks. They were remarkable efficient with their shots, getting 90% of them on-target. That helped them to score on 34 when Higgins slashed and burned our defense to pull Chester back 2-1. Ten minutes later, Higgins again cut through the defense off the dribble and passed the ball off to a wide open Brodie, who sank the shot to tie the game at 2-2. The second half was all about us trying to score and Chester trying to preserve the draw. On 62, I sent in Todd for a struggling Apilinga. We continued to pelt the Chester goal, but to no avail. At 75 I sent in Lynch for Duffy and shifted Moran to RMC so that Lynch could play AMC. The deadlock was broken on 84 when Moran headed in a Lynch free-kick to make the score 3-2 in favor of the home team. We staved out the last minute rush by Chester and won out. That win put us in fifth place with 36 games played. Our last game in March would take place the next weekend at Hereford on the 29th.

Chandler was done for the year as it turned out he had suffered a torn groin muscle. He would have to start getting ready for the 04 season. Friday March 28, the transfer deadline, passed without much notice by AXFC.
Saturday afternoon in Hereford was pleasant enough as it was dry and cool. Durkin took Chandler’s place as the regular at left back for the remainder of the season. As such, it was all regulars who got the nod for the game except for Apilinga, who had played badly last game. He was replaced by Mark Smith, who was making a serious case to be a first-team regular next season. Just over 1500 fans came out to show their support for the home side.

Hereford decided that the best tactic to use against us would be to play defensively. Accordingly, they badly did anything on offense, getting only one shot for the half. On the other hand, we, AXFC, got plenty of chances and most of those were right on target. Unfortunately, Hereford keeper Alan Watts was enjoying the best day of the season. He made three spectacular saves to deny our forwards. We continually pressured Hereford, but Watts refused to crack, which meant halftime arrived with no score. By the hour mark this had all changed. Two minutes into the restart, Smith sent UN a corner that Goodwin headed home to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. We effectively sealed the game off on 61 when Speight struck home a Kavanagh throw-in to give us the 2-0 lead. Hereford never challenged us in the remaining thirty minutes, though I did have to replace an injured Fuff with Fennelly on 67. With this easy victory, we were ready to face Gravesend in London the next weekend.

That weekend, Liverpool beat Chelsea to win the League Cup. On March 30, I received a nice surprise. I won the Manager of the Month award for March. The board was happy with my work, but finances remained a grave concern as we now had a debt load of over 350,000 to deal with.

The afternoon of Saturday April 5 was a dry and cool day at Yankee Stadium. All the regulars, except for a still-injured Fuff were named as the starting eleven for the game. Reilly took Fuff’s place in the lineup. Just over 1800 came for the game.

Much like the last game, we came out firing in the first half. We got plenty of shots and managed to put most of them on-target. Action was spread out evenly through the entire pitch as Gravesend showed more attacking nerve than Hereford. Still, AZFC didn’t have to worry much about Gravesend, just about ourselves as the forwards couldn’t get the ball past the Gravesend keeper, who was on-form. With five minutes to go in the half, Duffy managed to put us on the board when he nailed a shot off a Kavanagh corner. At the half the score remained 1-0 in favor of AXFC. The second half was a completely different story. Both teams opened the throttle, firing shots one after the other. Gravesend proved to be sterner stuff than most of our recent opposition, they scored three straight goals: Thompson on 53 tied the game with a blast off a Pinnnock corner. Piscopides put Gavesend ahead 2-1 on 68 when he got space to receive a low cross from Pinnock. The last Gravesend goal came on 72 when Alimi broke down our defense and hit a scorcher into goal to give Gavesend the 3-1 lead. While all this was going on for the visitors, we were trying our best to score, but we failed as the Gravesend keeper remained on-form. I sent in Bradley for Speight on 74 for naught. We did score once more on 80 when Kirkwood banged in a Moran header to make the final 3-2 Gravesend. The loss spoiled our outside bid for the Conference title, but at least the pressure was off. Furthermore, the fans couldn’t complain that they hadn’t seen an exciting match. As it was, we only had two days until our next match, an away contest at Northwich Vics.

In a nice gesture, John Browne was selected to the All-Conference team by his peers, the first AXFC player so honored.

Monday evening in Northwich was drizzly and cold. The only regulars to draw a start were Goodwin, Asser and Speight, every other position was filled by a backup. I wonder if that’s the reason the Conference Pooh-Bahs schedule these tight evening matches that ensure that backup players get games. Who knows? We under 850 fans were there to support Northwich.

I though the game was over fifteen minutes in. Northwich’s Teather headed in a Stevens comer on 6 and on 15 Teather passed into the area to a wide-open Whitehead, who calmly potted the shot to give Northwich the commanding early 2-0 lead. However, that was the last anyone heard from the Northwich offense for the rest of the half. Meanwhile, my AXFC side begins to regroup and began to get plenty of chances starting twenty minutes into the game. The attacks began to pay out on 34 when Lynch buried a rebound to pull us back one, making the score 2-1. Then, late in the half, we got a corner and Mark Smith directed a floating comer that Asser headed into goal to knot the game at 2-2. The second half was a holding action. Northwich finally broke our defense on 75 when Thompson headed in a goal to give the home side 3-2. Near the end of time, Speight limped off the field to be replaced by Fanning. Northwich sealed the win in injury time when Wright let loose a blast that an agitated Brook merely waved at to make the score 4-1, our worse loss of the year. To be fair, we had a ton of shots, but we were unable to do much with them and Northwich made us pay for that. Our next match was against league leaders Woking at Yankee Stadium. Speight’s injury would shelve him for three weeks, effectively ending his season at this late date.

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon in London on the 12th of April as we prepared to face Woking at Yankee Stadium. All the regulars save for Speight, who was replaced by Bradley, were selected for the lineup. Just over 2000 watched we take on the Conference leaders.

We got a surfeit of chances in the first half and we were remarkably efficient with them. However, Woking was very good in defense and in goal and they prevented us from doing much damage. For their part, Woking only got off three shots and missed all three. The upshot was that the half was dominated by the two team’s defenses. However, play was spread out evenly over the entire pitch and neither dominated the ball. Still it was AXFC who got on the board first, albeit late in the half. Bradley was pushed by Woking defenseman Thomas and we were awarded a penalty. Moran took it and his aim was true to give us the 1-0 lead at the half. During the break U outlined the strategy for the second half (defensive play) and sent them back out with the lineup intact. We clung ferociously to our slender lead during the second half. The watchword was defense. Woking seemed content to help us out. They weren’t getting their myriad of chances on goal and the home crowd thought we had the game in the bag. On 66, I subbed in Smith for Apilinga and Fanning for Kirkwood. The fresh energy brought a new vigor to our play, but, giving Woking’s ineptitude, perhaps we became just a bit too casual. On 80, Nicholls put in a low cross to a breaking Foyewa, who buried the tying, shot to make the game 1-1. Woking ran out the clock and escaped with a draw/ our next game was two weeks away at Southport. Despite the draw, we held onto fifth place in the Conference.

After that latest round of games, Gravesend was relegated, despite having three games to play. Shrewsbury would be rejoining the Conference, just having been relegated with three games to go in the Third Division season. The next week saw nothing but injuries. Both Apilinga and Asser would be out for a time, but the hope was that they would be able to return for the final game of the season. In the Vans Trophy Final, Grimsby beat Luton 1-0.

The afternoon of Saturday April 26 was a drizzly day at Haig Avenue in Southport. Most of the regulars got the start, but Apilinga, Asser and Speight were all still injured, meaning that Smith, Fennelly and Bradley drew the starts at those positions. Just over a thousand folks were at the park to watch their team try to avoid relegation.

Southport had a lot more riding on this game than we did and it showed in the first half play. They were playing determined football, focusing on defense and counter-attacking. Their defense continually swallowed our rather impotent offense. Southport also took more care with their chances. While we gunned down the pitch and shot wildly at their keeper, they patiently built up an attack in midfield and bided their time til they could strike quickly. That they did near the end of the half when they moved with lightening precision. Sullivan gathered in a long ball, broke down the AXFC defense on 44 and buried the shot to give Southport the 1-0 lead at the break. The second half was frustrating for us. We were getting good shots throughout, but Southport’s goalkeeper Keith Gardiner was playing inspired and he and his defense kept us off the scoreboard. Ten minutes to the end I made a triple substitution, putting in Fanning for Bradley, Lynch for Moran and Todd for Duffy to no avail Southport was determined to get their 1-0 win and they did. As I said earlier, the game meant more to them than to us. We would finish the Conference season with a game against Telford at Yankee Stadium on the following weekend.

On May 1st, the board pronounced them happy with my performance, but had grave concerns about the financial situation, which had gotten bad again.

The last match day of the Conference season was clear and dry in London where we were to play Telford. The race to promotion from the Conference was only a two horse affair this year. Rochdale led with 81 points and Woking had 80. Both were playing away on this day. Rochdale at Stevenage and Woking at Scarborough. Rather than worry about that, I worried about our last home game. All the regulars got the nod and a couple of them knew if was likely to be their last game with AXFC. Only just over 1600 fans came out for the game, a sure sign that this game was worthless.

With nothing at stake, both teams just played soccer. There was no strategy to consider, no long term implications to worry about. Just 22 men playing a game they loved. On 27, Speight picked up a rebound and put it back in to give us, AXFC, the 1-0 lead. However, Telford made adroit use of counters, getting goals from Mills on 33 and Brown on 44 to give Telford the 2-1 at the break. During the intermission, we saw that Scarborough and Woking were in a 0-0 draw and that Stevenage was beating Rochdale 2-0. If this held up, Woking would be the champs. During the break, I made a rather gutsy trifecta substitution, putting in three guys who were likely playing the last half for AXFC, Brook, German and Todd... I could only hope their last was their best. It wasn’t and Telford’s Moore added two more goals in the second half to make the score 4-1 Telford by game’s end. At least the season was done with. Woking held on to win promotion whilst Southport and Burton Albion joined Gravesend in going down to lower-league obscurity. We were awarded 85K ponds for finishing 6th in the final Conference standings.

retired_karamelkel

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * American Exiles Football Club - Saturday 3rd May 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adamson, Carl - - - - - - - - ---- - Apiliga, Moses 37 (1) 0 0 0 5 1 0 1 6.71 - Asser, James 42 (1) 10 0 0 12 0 0 5 7.14 - Bradley, Lee 6 (5) 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 6.91 - Brook, Robert 5 (1) 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 - Brown, Steven - - - - - - - - ---- - Browne, John 43 0 50 0 0 0 0 3 7.02 - Campbell, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Campbell, Thomas - - - - - - - - ---- - Chandler, Jeremy 36 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 6.89 - Chapman, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Cooper, Craig - - - - - - - - ---- - Cooper, Gordon - - - - - - - - ---- - Dodds, Paul 9 (1) 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.40 - Donnelly, Darren - - - - - - - - ---- - Duffy, Chris 44 (1) 3 0 0 3 1 0 0 6.49 - Duncan, James - - - - - - - - ---- - Durkin, Neil 10 (9) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.58 - Evans, Lee - - - - - - - - ---- - Fanning, Colin 3 (4) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.43 - Farid, Shuvo 4 (3) 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.43 - Fennelly, Clark 7 (7) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 - French, Scott - - - - - - - - ---- - Fuff, Glen 40 4 0 0 1 3 0 0 6.60 - German, Dave 19 (1) 2 0 1 (1) 2 0 0 0 6.65 - Goodwin, Gerry 15 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 6.93 - Gordon, Malcolm - - - - - - - - ---- - Jones, James 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---- - Kavanagh, Gary 29 3 0 0 5 2 0 1 7.00 - Kelly, Darren - - - - - - - - ---- - Kirkwood, Glen 40 8 0 0 3 2 0 1 7.15 - Law, Gareth 3 (7) 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.70 - Lissa, Ciarame - - - - - - - - ---- - Lynch, Gary 5 (5) 5 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.90 - Mason, Kevin - - - - - - - - ---- - McMahon, Jack - - - - - - - - ---- - Moran, Sean 22 (12) 9 0 2 (2) 5 3 0 2 6.68 - Powell, Neil - - - - - - - - ---- - Reilly, Jim 17 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.35 - Richardson, Richard - - - - - - - - ---- - Sadler, Adam - - - - - - - - ---- - Shaw, Bob - - - - - - - - ---- - Smart, Barry - - - - - - - - ---- - Smith, Fraser 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.33 - Smith, Mark 6 (1) 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 7.14 - Speight, Richard 15 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.33 - Stannard, Wayne - - - - - - - - ---- - Taylor, Brian 14 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 6.14 - Todd, Mark 3 (14) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.47 - Truman, Danny - - - - - - - - ---- ************************************************** ********************************************** English Conference - Saturday 3rd May 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Woking 42 14 3 4 43 26 9 9 3 41 30 81 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Rochdale 42 15 1 5 37 22 10 5 6 34 24 81 3rd Barnet 42 13 6 2 33 17 9 6 6 32 25 78 4th Dag & Red 42 13 5 3 40 19 9 4 8 32 32 75 5th Chester 42 15 3 3 51 24 6 5 10 35 47 71 6th AXFC 42 14 1 6 38 27 6 7 8 25 25 68 7th Scarborough 42 11 5 5 21 9 7 7 7 16 14 66 8th Morecambe 42 11 4 6 34 25 8 4 9 33 35 65 9th Stevenage 42 9 6 6 40 29 8 6 7 37 40 63 10th Tamworth 42 10 7 4 29 19 6 6 9 21 29 61 11th Telford 42 9 9 3 27 18 7 3 11 32 36 60 12th Northwich Vics 42 8 6 7 35 31 7 4 10 25 31 55 13th Halifax 42 10 4 7 35 32 6 2 13 27 34 54 14th Exeter 42 9 7 5 36 27 4 5 12 25 39 51 15th Farnborough 42 10 5 6 38 27 3 6 12 27 42 50 16th Canvey Island 42 5 9 7 32 31 7 3 11 26 40 48 17th Hereford 42 6 5 10 25 36 6 6 9 23 34 47 18th Accrington 42 8 5 8 28 28 3 6 12 21 41 44 19th Halesowen 42 7 5 9 27 34 4 3 14 14 27 41 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20th R Southport 42 5 6 10 26 35 5 4 12 21 34 40 21st R Burton Albion 42 6 4 11 28 41 4 6 11 24 38 40 22nd R Gravesend 42 3 5 13 29 42 6 4 11 28 35 36 </pre>

retired_karamelkel

The housecleaning began the day after the season ended. Brook, Durkin, German, Duffy, Todd and Kirkwood were released, along with a couple of reserve players who were never going to make the grade. The board wasn’t happy with the releases, but we had guys in the reserves ready to take over those spots, along with two Bosmans. In addition, I had decided to carry a 25 man first team next season, instead of the 22 man squad I had been carrying. The extra defender, midfielder and forward would help with depth and enable more guys to get playing time in the reserves. On Saturday May 10, Tottenham beat Blackburn 3-2 to win the FA Cup. In the UEFA Cup, Roma defeated Lyon 2-0. That same day, Manchester Untied won the Premier Division. As May progressed, we again tried to sign Stuart Yong and Paul Byrne to no avail. In the last round of matches that concerned English clubs, Barca beat Arsenal 1-0 to win the Champions League and Rochdale beat Stevenage 3-1 to win the FA Trophy. Now the off-season could really begin, though the fun wouldn’t really start until June 4th, which was when the transfer deadline was lifted for English clubs.

June brought with it the monthly board evaluation. Hays and company were happy with my performance, but the finances were the worst they had ever been. AXFC was now 608,000 pounds in the red. The only way we were going to turn a profit was if we could make the League. On the fourth, Derek Fleming moved to AXFC from Partick Thistle. The 29 yr old Scottish left back would be the regular at that position. On June 19th, Kevin Allan, a 31 yr old Scottish central defender joined us on a free. This move would allow me to send Brian Taylor down to the reserves. Also the Supporters club selected James Asser as the Player of the year. We also received a hundred grand in TV money, though it would not help much. The board were expecting yet another difficult season. They seemed to have no confidence at all in the team. A day later the 03/04 Conference schedule was released. Most of the new teams in the Conference this year were familiar faces. Shrewsbury were back from the League, Aldershot and Nuneaton Borough got another chance to play. The only new face was Hastings Town. As June wound down, we signed veteran defender Colin Vowden from Cambridge College. The move would allow us to send Jim Reilly down to the reserves. My plan was to sign veteran defenders to compensate for how young the projected first team was at every other position.

At the start of July, we signed veteran Martin Teasdale from Caley Thistle, which completed the overhaul of the defense. The board met and were only pleased with my job performance. Mind you, they had just injected 450K into the club coffers, so one couldn’t really blame them for being a bit peeved. On July 5th I opened training camp for everyone. Two weeks of conditioning would begin, followed by two weeks of skill and shooting drills, followed by two weeks of “regular season” practice. On July 10 we added veteran midfielder Gordon Armstrong from Accrington to be the utility midfielder on the first-team. In mid-July we signed our fifth forward 26 yr old Prince Moncrief from Hyde United on a free. A few days later, we completed our first team signings by acquiring utility man Dave Munster from Crusaders and right back Thomas Stewart from Hinckley on free transfers. As a result, the first team squad was now a good blend of youth and experience. In fact, the squad looks like a combination of the two paths of Bob’s “Ages” challenge.

August arrived, bringing the opening day of the Conference in roughly two weeks. Firs, however, the board met to discuss my off-season performance as manager. They were happy enough, but not as enthused as they had once been. Perhaps the reality of running a club had caught up with him. They had sank more investors’ money into AXFC and had yet to see a profit. I didn’t tell the board, but privately I did express the goal of winning the Conference this year. I had built the roster to really compete for the title during the next two seasons. The last few weeks of training camp produced nothing but injuries, including calf stains to both first-team goalkeepers that would cause each to miss a month of action. I didn’t quite trust my reserve keepers, so I went looking for a goalkeeper to bring in on loan. I found one in Derry City’s veteran Allan Gough. We offered a two month loan contract and quitted for his acceptance. We were stunned when Derry rejected out bid, but we simply turned to another option. With our other options getting rejected, and Browne resuming light practice a few days before the Conference opener, we figured Wilkins from the reserves could start a couple of games. A few days before our season opener at rivals Barnet, I posted the first team squad list with regulars in bold:

GK:
John Browne (31 Irish)
Adam Sadler (23 English)

DL:
Derek Fleming (29 Scot)
Jeremy Chandler (31 Welsh)

DR:
Gary Kavanagh (18 Irish)
Allan Davies (31 English)

DC:
Gavin Fuff (28 English)
Colin Vowden (31 English)
Gerry Goodwin (26 Irish)
Kevin Allan (31 English)
Utility Defender- Michael Teasdale (33 Scot)

LMC:
James Asser (20 English)
Clark Fennelly (20 Irish)

RMC:
Fraser Smith (20 Scot)
David Munster (24 NI)

CMC:
Mark Smith (19 English)
Moses Apilinga (24 English)

Utility midfielder- Gareth Armstrong (36 English)

AMC:
Sean Moran (21 Irish)
Gary Lynch (20 English)

Forwards:
Richard Speight (18 English)
Gareth Law (20 English)
Lee Bradley (21 English)
Colin Fanning (30 Irish)
Prince Moncrief (26 English)



Saturday afternoon, August 16th was the opening day of the Conference season. We traveled across London to play Barnet at Underhilll. The day was dry and hot and most of the regulars got the start. Wilkins drew the nod in goal as both Browne and Sadler were unable to play. Nearly 2000 fans came out for the derby.

Barnet looked completely out of synch. They were unable to muster any sort of offense and so spent the half trying to find their way. AXFC, on the other hand, exploded offensively. We had tons of chances and made most of them good chances. Only a good day by the Barnet keeper kept the score down. As it was, we scored twice in the half. Our first goal came on 18 when he pounced on a rebound and stuffed it back in to give us the 1-0 lead. Twenty-five minutes later, Moran had to leave due to injury and was replaced by Lynch just before first half injury-time commenced. During those minutes, Asser gave us the 2-0 lead when he stuffed another rebound past Chatfield, who was having difficultly holding onto the ball. Ten minutes into the second half, despite our defensive play, Speight sealed the win when he headed a Kavanagh to make the score 3-0 AXFC. On 60, I pulled Fraser Smith for Fennelly. The move did nothing to stop our flow as ten minutes later, Law volleyed in a Fuff pass to make the score 4-0 AXFC. Then, things got a bit strange. I used my last sub ton bring on Bradley for Speight on 72. Then on 83 Law limped off the field, which put us down to ten men as all the subs had been used. Never mind that, on 84, Lynch broke down the Barnet defense with his feet and blasted a shot in to make the score 5-0 in our favor. To this point Barnet had yet to even take a shot in the game, but then they started taking advantage of their extra man. Koppinger scored a nice consolation on 85, but it really was too late for Barnet, though they put on a few nice attacks toward the end of the game. We walked out of Underhill with a rather convincing 5-1 victory that announce our arrival as Conference contenders. Our home opener was Tuesday evening against Accrington.

The injuries suffered during the Barnet game weren’t overly severe. Law was out for two weeks with a twisted knee and Moran a few days with a leg contusion. The next day, former Leeds youth product JP Mills joined the team. He would get the RMC staring spot, which meant Fraser, went back to the reserves.

Tuesday arrived quickly enough. We were excited to start our home opener, though a full lineup was not going to happen. Most of the regulars did start, but Wilkins, Apilinga, Lynch and Bradley drew the nod. Mark Smith got the start at RMC. Conditions were ideal. It was balmy and dry and I hoped for a good-sized crowd. Just over 2000 showed up, a slightly disappointing size as I had expected at least half of the stadium would be filled.

We continued our good play from the last game. We got our chances in the first half, and got them on target. The Accrington keeper and defense were doing nicely, so we were kept off the board. Accrington played defense for most of the half and thus, only threatened once on offense, which was an easy save for Wilkins. We just didn’t get the breaks during the half. The second half was almost a carbon copy of the first as we continued to pound Rusty Tucker, who stubbornly refused to yield a goal. Accrington was playing for the draw and continued not to do much offense. At 68, I subbed in Fanning for Speight, but the move failed to spark a goal. The time was winding down when Tucker parried an AXFC shot that Lynch pounced on and blew by Tucker in the net to give us the 1-0 win. We were leading the league now and had played well in two games so far. I was hoping that we could keep it up. I was also hoping that the injuries would start clearing up soon. Our next game was against Scarborough on the following Saturday afternoon.

A few players did return from injury. Saturday afternoon at the McCain Stadium was hot, wet, steamy and damp. So, not the best, but could be worse. Most of the regulars got the nod for this one including new RMC JP Mills. Fanning got the nod for the injured Law and Wilkins continued to hold down goal. Nearly 3000 fans turned up to watch a rather dull half.

The first half was a midfield battle, though we constantly pressured Scarborough, but we were unable to get anything going on the goal as we only had one shot on goal. Scarborough countered a couple of times, manufacturing a couple of shots late in the half. They were unable to cash in however, and tat the half; the score remained 0-0. At the break I subbed out Moran and Fanning, who were both extremely fatigued. They were replaced by Lynch and Bradley respectively. We came out sizzling in the second half. We poured pressure on the Scarborough D, but keeper Robert Wilson held up well. We kept at it since Scarborough weren’t troubling our defense and the boys in red finally cracked on 82, JP Mills sent a ball in for the run of Lynch. Lynch was in the open and shot quickly, getting the ball past Wilson to give us yet another late 1-0 win. We next had a home date with Halifax in the evening of August 27.

Yankee Stadium on Wednesday evening was cool and dry. Great conditions to play ball in. Browne returned to the starting lineup which meant the only regular still out was Law, who was replaced by Fanning. Fleming was unfit and was replaced by Chandler. Otherwise all the others in the lineup were regulars. Fewer than 2000 fans came out to the park and watched an offensive show.

Defense was a dirty word in the first half. Both teams raced up and down the pitch taking plenty of shots. Halifax had a bunch of chances, but were not particularly accurate, which had to be a relief for Browne in his first game of the season. We had had fewer chances than our opponents, but we were far superior at hitting the target. Still, the Halifax keeper was on-form and we were unable to get the score going until late in the half. On 41 Moran took a lob from Mills and drove it past Jon James to make the score 1-0 AXFC. Halifax came back one minute into the second half when Irvine broke through our defense and spun the ball past Browne to make the game level at 1-1. There the score remained though both teams continued pelt the goals with many a shot. Shooting percentages were even worse this half, so either goalkeeper was under serious pressure. I sent in Bradley for Fanning and Munster for Mark Smith on 75. The subs failed to spark the offense and the game ended as the 1-1 tie. We next had a game against newcomers Hastings Town in their ballpark on the next Saturday afternoon to wrap up the August portion of the schedule.

We made pudding out of the Hastings Town reserves, defeating them 5-0 at home. On the Friday before the first-team match, reservist James Duncan missed training and was promptly fined a month’s worth of pay. Naturally, he though this was unfair, but I ignored his complaints. I did not tolerate unexcused lateness or absence from practice.

On Saturday afternoon we were at the Plot Field in Hastings. The day was cool and dry, lovely weather indeed. Most of the regulars got the start except for Moran and Mills, who were deemed unfit for the game and were replaced by Lynch and Munster. Law was still out and was replaced by Bradley. Just over 1300 Hastings faithful came out to the grounds.

We put our stamp on the game early. On 8, Smith took a corner and sent the ball to Fuff, who gathered it in and shot true to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. We continued to put a great deal of pressure on the home side, keeping the ball in their third of the pitch and taking many a chance. However, goalkeeper Virat Vaughan, a 12-time Thai national team member, kept us off the score-sheet for the remainder of the half. For their part, Hastings was content to play defense and only took one shot all half. We effectively sealed our win an hour into the contest. On 63, Asser collected a loose BAL, sticking it back into the net and on 66, Speight headed in a Fleming ball to make the score 3-0 AXFC. Following that, I pulled Speight from the game in favor of Moncrief and followed up on 70 by subbing in Moran for Lynch and Fennelly for Bradley. None of these moves made the slightest bit of difference. We ran out the clock on our win with little protest from Hastings. Our next game was in two days on September 1st against Stevenage at Yankee Stadium.

I won the August manager of the month award, not a great surprise considering our performance.

retired_karamelkel

Monday evening at Yankee Stadium was a cool clear night. The storyline for this game was provided by Stevenage’s Ricky Bapiste, who had just set a Inference record in his previous game by scoring five goals in that contest. He would be starting against us, though hopefully too tired to cause much of a threat. We started mostly backups for this game except for Browne, Fuff, Vowden, Smith, Mills and Moran. Nearly 2600 fans came to watch a rather tired side. It was nice that the fans were finally noticing that we were second in the league.

Both sides seemed to be tired and unmotivated. Everyone was attacking, but neither side seemed to be able to finish, or even get a shot off. Action was all over the place, but defense ruled. Neither goalkeeper had much work as there wasn’t a single shot on goal. Therefore, the score remained 0-0 at the break. The second half saw both teams pick it up offensively, but this time the goalkeepers were ready and prevented any damage. At 75, I subbed in Lynch for Moran to see if the offense could be sparked into action. It couldn’t, but we got a cheap goal on 81 from Mills, who pounced onto a rebound and sizzled it back in to give AXFC the 1-0 win. We remained in second pace behind a red-hot Rochdale team that had won six straight. Our next game was on Saturday afternoon at Farnborough.

The board was delighted with our start to the season, but concerned about the finances, which were hovering around the 250K debt mark. Prior to the game, we released Lissa, who we thought might develop into something, but never did.

It was a scorcher at Farnborough on Saturday afternoon. It was easily above 95 on the thermometer and a hot wind was drifting through the stadium. All the regulars made their first start as a complete unit. Only about 900 fans decided to swat the game out.

The game was a bit sloppy from the beginning. We scattered a few shots here and there, putting pressure on the Farnborough defense. We kept the ball in their third for a good third of the half. We managed to open things on 27 when AXFC won a corner. Mills swung the ball in and Moran headed it home for the 1-0 lead. We added another goal in a burst of confidence on 36. Speight headed down a ball for Asser who dribbled in and banged a shot to give us the 2-0. Farnborough wasn’t able to muster any offense the rest of the half and we retained the lead going into the intermission. During the break the trainer advised me that Mark Smith looked like he had a shin bruise that was paining him. Therefore I subbed Smith out and brought in Munster for the second half. I also told the boys to play defensively from here on out. We continued to scatter shots in the second half, doing minimal damage to the opposition. Farnborough decided to go into a shell and not come out. The half passed swiftly and fifteen minute in the end I pulled off Law and Fleming, replacing them with Bradley and Fennelly. We tacked on another goal on 77 when Mills sent in another corner, this one headed in by Speight to give us the 3-0 win. We were rolling at this point in the season. We next had a Tuesday evening match at home versus Shrewsbury.

The air was much cooler on the evening of the 9th as we got ready to play Shrewsbury at Yankee Stadium. Most of the regulars were fit enough to play. The only backups in the starting eleven were Lynch for Moran and Bradley for Speight. Just over 2800 fans crowded in to watch us dominate Shrewsbury. It was clear that we were on-form as a team.

We answered the opening bell with a flurry of shots. We got chance after chance after chance, putting all but three on the goalkeeper. We controlled possession and forced Shrewsbury to focus on defense, which limited their offensive output to one shot. With all the chances were getting, we were bound to score and we did on 23 when Asser sent a ball in from the left to Bradley who potted the shot to give AXFFC the 2-1 lead. Bradley wasn’t done scoring as he bailed a rebound in first half injury time to give us the 2-0 lead. We were so dominant that nobody noticed the goose egg that Fuff was laying in central defense. He was pulled off for Fennelly at the half. The second half saw us continue to overwhelm Shrewsbury, who were now merely trying to hold on to their sanity. On 56 and 66, Gary Lynch reserved Bradley’s scoring pattern by first betting a rebound and then by taking a corner from Mills ten minutes later to give us the 4-0 win. All I could say to the performance was, wow, we were really playing good ball at the moment. I could sense a new swagger this season, almost like my knew that they could control the game and win, no matter the opponent would be Exeter away on Saturday afternoon. Our convincing win had put us in first place in the Conference.

Saturday afternoon in Exeter was another windy 90+ scorcher. This time a heat wave had swept England and as a consequence, the pitch was parched and baked. It looked downright ugly. Fuff was the only regular not to make the starting lineup and he was replaced by Goodwin. Just over 2000 showed up for a dull first half.

Exeter failed to take a single chance in the first half and AXFCC only got three. That’s the story of the half right there. Both teams kept turning the ball over in a defensive struggle. We did get the early goal, however, as Law hit a vicious shot off a Fleming ball to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. The rest of the half was a slog. We opened the floodgates during the second half, all three goal being added roughly ten minutes apart. On 65, Mark Smith scored his fist ever goal for AXFC when he hit a nice shot off a Kavanagh header. On 75, Speight redirected a parried ball back past Grant. Lastly, five minutes later, Lynch went on a spectacular run with the ball from our half and ended it with a blistering shot to give AXFC the 4-0 win. Armstrong and Moncrief played the lat ten minutes in place of Smith and Speight. We continued to hold on to first place via goal difference against Rochdale. Both teams had 25 points, or seven more than the third placed team.

Saturday afternoon at the Grove in Halesowen was warm and dry. All the regulars got the start except for Moran, whose poor performance in the last match kept him out. Lynch took his place. Just fewer than 900 fans came through the turnstile.

We showed an offensive-mind game early, getting a surfeit of chances and making most of them count. Halesowen too, got a few chances, but they were unable to do much with them. The star of the half for AXFC was Asser, who notched a goal on 27 when he broke down the defense off the dribble and planted a low shot into goal to give us the 1-0 lead. Asser again broke the defense a few minutes later when he put in a high hard one that gave us the 2-0 advantage. Goals were certainly easy to come by this year. At the break I sent in Bradley for a potentially-injured Speight. Bradley iced the cake for us on 57 when he headed in a Vowden cross to make the score 3-0. We took our foot off the gas then and fifteen minutes to thee game’s conclusion, I subbed in Moran for Lynch and Munster for Smith. Our next game was three days away on Tuesday evening, when we were slated to face Nuneaton Borough at Yankee Stadium.

Our win against Halesowen turned out to be a club record setting sixth win in a row. One roster move was made during the run-up to Tuesday evening. I named Lynch as the regular at AMC. He was clearly out-performing Moran and was more naturally fit than Moran. Moran would do better as the backup. Tuesday evening brought the first truly cool evening in the autumn. It was dry as well, so all in all, these were ideal conditions at Yankee Stadium. Several regulars got the night off, including Fleming, Vowden, Asser, Mills and Speight. They were replaced by Teasdale, Allan, Fennelly, Munster and Bradley respectively. Nearly 3000 showed up to watch the contest. I was pleased to see that the winning was finally producing better crowds. It was about time.

We made a dynamic start as we had in many of the games in our winning streak. We fired shots without hesitation or care and forced Nuneaton to play back on their heels. We opened the scoring on 22 when Munster took a pass from Kavanagh on the right and buried the shot in to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. Five minutes later, Kavanagh laid the ball off to Law, who ran forward and smashed the ball into the net to give us the 2-0 lead. The rest of the half was uneventful as our defense kept Nuneaton off the board. Armstrong came in for a fatigued Munster at the half as we prepared to play defensively for the rest of the game. The second half was an offensive gem late, but the first half-hour proved to be dull. Then, on 72, Lynch broke down the defense and scored to give the home side the 3-0 lead. At that point, I subbed in Moran for Fennelly and Davies for Kavanagh intending to run out the clock. But Nuneaton had other ideas. They ratcheted up tier attack in a hurry. Powell appeared to score a mere consolation off a rebound. However, with one minute left in regular time, Harris took a Dunkley pass and hit a fine strike past Browne to make the score 3-2. That last couple of minutes were frantic; as the visitors gamely tired for the draw, but we hung on to win. We retained the top spot with the win, but Rochdale was keeping pace. Both of us had identical 10-1-0 records and both of us were now nine points ahead of the third-placed team. This year was quickly shaping up as a two-horse race. We had a home game next against Northwich Vics the following Saturday afternoon.

England was really suffering an Indian summer. The tempter in London was roughly 90 degrees and the wind was whipping through the stadium. In addition, the pitch was baked brown. In short, this was not normal weather for September 27. All the regulars got the nod for this game. Nearly half the seats at Yankee Stadium had a body filling them.

Eight minutes into the contest Gary Lynch went down and I replaced him with Moran. We opened the score line two minutes later when Mills, passing up a good shot, slipped the ball to Speight, who promptly buried the ball into the top corner to make the score 1-0 AXFC. We added another goal within three minutes of our last one when Moran headed in a floating cross from Fleming to give us the 2-0 lead after just 15 minutes of play. We shifted to a defensive mentality, letting Northwich control the pace of the match. They spent the rest of the half patiently building up play, which paid off on 36 when Thompson nailed a volley off a Whitehead flick to make the score 2-1. Both sides amped up play a bit in the second half, but neither team was able to convert their chances. Action did flow up and down the pitch, with plenty of excitement, but the goalkeepers earned their pay and kept the 2-1 score to the final whistle. Our next match was home contest against Chester on October 4.

Lynch had suffered a twisted ankle and would be out for three weeks. At the end of September, the monthly awards were announced. I won the Manager of the Month award for the second straight month and Speight became the first AZFC player to win a monthly achievement by bagging the Young Player of the Month award. The board met and pronounced themselves delighted with my performance. They cited the growing turnstile numbers as the reason. Even the finances weren’t as bad as usual as we continued to make a profit for this fiscal season, though we were still 400K in overall debt. On the morning of Friday October 3, I got a surprise phone call. Dillingham was making a bid for Bob Shaw. I told them I’d sell if they made the bid ten times higher. Later that day, the FA Cup Qualifier. Rd. was drawn. We were slated to face Hendon, a fellow London team, at their pitch on Claremont Road.

Saturday afternoon in London finally resembled fall. It was cool, wet and pitch was damp as we prepared to face Chester at Yankee Stadium. Moran took his old spot in the lineup along with all the other regulars. Just over 2800 crowded into the park for the first match of October.

Chester shocked us on 6 when veteran midfielder Butterworth headed in a Heckingbotham corner to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. We were stunned, but regrouped quickly as we were handed a penalty by a usually lenient referee ten minutes later. Moran converted it to tie the score 1-1. From that moment forth we pounded the Chester goal trying to break the deadlock to no avail. Steve Wilson was having a good day in the Chester goal and made a couple of great saves. For their part, Chester focused on defense and only attacked a couple of times. We were dominant, but couldn’t break an inspired Chester team as we went into the half still knotted at 1-1. Three minutes into the new half, we broke the tie when Moran hit a rebound back past Wilson to give the home side the lead 2-1. We settled in for a defensive battle as Chester surged ahead. They got another corner on 78 that Combs headed past Browne to retie the game at 2-2. Before Chester could get back on defense to hold onto the draw, Law took a Kavanagh cross on 79 and smashed it in to give AXFC the lead back and the win at 3-2. With the win, we remained ahead of Rochdale on goal difference. Both of us had 37 points, 12 points more than third-place Shrewsbury had. Our next game was in a week against Morecambe at their place.

retired_karamelkel

Gillingham made a final offer of 250K for Shaw, which I accepted. Shaw quickly came to terms with them and the deal was consummated in the middle of the week. The deal lightened our overall debt to just over a hundred grand. Towards the end of the week, reserve defender Steven Brown turned up late for training and was unrepentant about it, which earned him a pink slip.

Saturday afternoon at Christie Park in Morecambe was cool and dry, good soccer conditions. All the regulars got the start as Moran continued to fill in for Lynch. Just over 2100 Morecambe faithful watched their team not get the breaks in the first half.

Morecambe out played us in the first half. We had finally reached the point where complacency had set in. We allowed the home side to attack us at will an only exceptional play from Browne kept them off the scoreboard. Our attack was virtually non-existent, but we managed to score goals with our only two chances of the half. On 18, Mills got open after taking a Smith pass and put in a nice shot to give AXFC the undeserved 1-0 lead. We tacked on another goal at the half-hour mark when Mark Smith turned on a ball from Vowden and smashed it in to make the score 2-0. At the half, I sent in Armstrong for a limping Fleming. The second half again saw Morecambe outplay us, but our lead was too great and it held up nicely. On 74 I sent in Bradley for Law and Fennelly for Moran, who was streaking up the pitch with his lousy play. We ran out the clock with ease and got away with three points that we shouldn’t have.
FA Cup Saturday arrived and we traveled to Claremont Road to face Hendon in the Qual. Round. Most of the regulars, except for Moran, were penciled in on the lineup card that was handed to the ref prior to the game. Munster took the AMC spot in place of Moran. The weather couldn’t have been better as it was cool and dry. Just over 3000 crammed the park.


The game was a contest for all of ten minutes. On 3, Kavanagh threw in a pass to Speight, who, finding himself open took a shot and scored to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. Eight minutes later, Asser got a rebound and put it past Woodman to give us the 2-0 lead. Eight minutes after that, Speight scored again when Kavanagh threw in another ball towards him and he volleyed it in for his second goal and the 3-0 lead. After that, we just played defense as Hendon gave up. They had one shot all game. At the half, I put in Fanning and Teasdale for Law and Fleming respectively and then on 80, Fennelly for Smith. Speight completed his hat-trick on 83 when he and Kavanagh hooked up on another throw-in. The final score was 4-0. The only spark of life for the home side was at the beginning of the second half when Hardy was ejected for punching Kavanagh in the face. Obviously, Kavanagh didn’t let it affect his play. We would resume Conference play on the following Saturday when we would face Aldershot at home.
On Saturday evening, Watford called in a bid for Smith. I told them to make the offer ten times what it was since they were a First Division club with good finances. On Sunday, the first round of the FA Cup was drawn. We would face non-league side Moor Green at Yankee Stadium. Watford thought my price for Smith was ridiculous and refused to pay it, dropping their interest in him.

Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium was dry and cool. Lynch was finally recovered enough to reclaim his AMC spot and joined all the other regulars on the pitch. Nearly 2700 filled the Yank for this one. It seemed like the crowds were finally coming out in droves to see us.

Aldershot got things going on 11 when Tilson got himself open for a pass and smoked the ball past Browne to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. That lead didn’t hold up long as we same back to score on our very next possession when Lynch put back a rebound to tie at 1-1. On 23, we took the lead when Vowden smashed in his first ever goal for us to give AXFC the 2-1 lead. Ten minutes later, Law found Speight open and lobbed the ball to him. Speight obligingly headed home the pass to make the score 3-1. By this time we had taken complete control of the game. We were shooting well and had the edge in possession. Aldershot merely looked disorganized and confused. They weren’t putting up much of a fight. At the half, I sent in Fanning for Speight. We played lockdown defense in the second half, which was slightly spoiled on 79 when Lynch again pulled up lame and Moran took his spot. In injury time, Smith smashed in a goal through the top corner to make the final 4-0. We had now been unbeaten in 15 game s straight. Aldershot had never really looked like they were the game. With the win, we finally pulled ahead of Rochdale on points. Lynch would be out for two weeks with foot damage, but our next game wasn’t scheduled until two weeks hence against Telford at New Bucks Head, so there was a good chance he’d be fit for match.

To no one’s great surprise, I won the September Manager of the Month award. The board was containing to praise my performance, particularly the high fan counts. Even the club finances were improving as we were now only 130,000 pounds in debt. In the week prior to the Telford game, reservist James Duncan turned up late for training and thought my reprimand was out of order. Therefore, he was released as I don’t tolerate much malcontent-ness.

November 8 duly arrived and we traveled to Telford, at team who had always given us trouble. Our last game against them, as you’ll recall, saw us get pasted 4-1. Conditions were normal, cool and dry. All the regulars got the start, including newly fit Lynch. Just over 2000 came out to see if Telford could halt our unbeaten streak.

Telford simply outplayed us from the beginning. We were flat and uninspired. Our attack was anemic as we couldn’t push the ball past midfield. Meanwhile Telford was heaping shots and pressure on Browne. He proved his mettle by conceding only one goal to the home side on 25 when Mills managed to round him and put a chance in to make the score 1-0 Telford. AXFFC was so awful, that, by rights, we should have been down by more than one goal at the half, but as it was the score remained at 1-0. We remained unable to crack the Telford defense in the second half. We did put some shots on target, but Graham Potter stopped any from going in. At 65 I sent in Bradley for Law and Armstrong for Smith, but the subs made little difference as we crashed to out first loss of the season. We remained in first place, though we were now once again, tied with Rochdale on points. The following Saturday was FA Cup day so we got a bit of break, facing Moor Green at home.

To make things more fun, we were entered into the Vans Trophy once again, drawing a home game versus D2 side Swansea. A couple of days later, the FA Trophy round was drawn. In that competition, we would start with a game at Accrington. On November 12, Speight went down for a month after suffering a groin strain in that day’s practice. I wasn’t sure who would replace him, but it looked like all three backup forwards would now get games.

FA Cup Saturday was cool and wet, with the pitch being rather damp. I fielded a full strength lineup for the game against Moor Green with Bradley taking Speight’s spot. Nearly 3800 crowded into Yankee Stadium to watch the contest.

To tell the truth, it was hardly a fair contest. We simply overmatched our non-league opponent. We pounded their keeper with 8 of 9 shots and scored on four of those in the first half alone. Lynch opened the books with a shot off a Kavanagh pass. Lynch added another goal four minutes later with another drive off a Kavanagh cross. Vowden chipped in his contribution on 21 with a header off a Mills corner and lastly, a half hour into the game, Asser found Law in the area and Law broke down the defense to plant a wide open shot that made the score 4-0 AXFC. With the game won by halftime, I pulled Mills and Fleming at the half for Armstrong and Teasdale. The boys in Green got a few shots in the second half after getting nothing in the first, but they were never a real threat. We kept the ball at midfield and ran out the clock to earn a berth in the second round. The second round draw placed us against Swansea at Yankee Stadium. But, our more immediate concern was the FA Trophy match versus Accrington on the next Saturday morning.

We traveled to Accrington on the 22 of November. It was cool and drizzling at the Crown Ground. The starting eleven was comprised entirely of backups since this was not a game I particularly cared about. Besides, the backups needed some game time in order to remain reasonably sharp. Nearly 900 fans turned out for a very dull first half.

You could tell AXFC had put out a backup lineup. We got a few chances, but were unable to do anything with them. For their part, Accrington was playing defensively and only took one shot at Sadler, our goalkeeper. Thus, the ball spent the vast majority of the half being kicked around midfield and by the break; neither team had managed to score. Accrington produced some chances in the second half, but failed to capitalize. We continued to miss spectacularly as well and the result was a dismal second half that saw no scoring or action. Because of the 0-0 draw, we would have to replay the game at Yankee Stadium. The replay would take place on the following Wednesday. The winner would go on to play Telford at New Bucks Head in the Third Round.

Replay day at Yankee Stadium soon enough. I continued to use the backup lineup. It was a cold, dry morning. Just fewer than 850 saw the most boring half of my brief managerial career. Neither team got a shot period, though action was pretty much evenly spread over the entire field. The second half would have been the same story except that Accrington’s Ben Smith converted a penalty ten minutes into the second half to give the visitors the 1-0 win. I wasn’t disappointed as it meant one less competition to worry about. We would return to Conference action on the weekend with a game against Dag and Red at Victoria Road.

Saturday afternoon in Dagenham was a nice day. It was dry and cool and ideal. All the regulars were rested and fit for the resumption of Conference play. Just over 1500 fans saw their home side perform cooly under pressure.

We should have had at least a 3 goal lead over Dag by virtue of the 12 shots we aimed at them during the first half. Instead, thanks to good defense and inept finishing, we had to settle for just a one goal lead. We put tons of pressure on Dag in their own third of the pitch. They managed to do a bit of counter-attacking, but it went for naught as Browne kept his nerve. AXFC got the line goal of the half at the half-hour mark when Lynch flicked a header forward to an open Fuff, who slammed home the shot to make it 1-0. At the break in play, I subbed in Moran for a limping Lynch who was still bothered by his injured foot. The second half was all Dagenham. They put pressure on us for a change and we hard a tough time coping. We kept our heads and played solid defense, but our offense round to a halt with only one shot the entire half. On 64 I sent in Fanning for Law, but the move made no difference. Still we were on the brink of snatching a 1-0 win, when in injury time, Browne knocked a ball into the path of Brown, who obligingly put it back in to steal the 1-1 draw. The single point dropped us to second place behind Rochdale, who had won their game. They would have to get a new manager though, since Steve Parkin took the vacated Torquay job, so their was no guarantee that they could continue to play well. Nevertheless we once again put aside the Conference season, this time o play Swansea in the FA Cup second round.

On November 30, the board met and decided to throw 3.4 million pounds into AXFC’s coffers. That left me with a whopping 800,000 pounds to spend in the transfer market. I decided to spend as little as I could. I filled out the trainers and the scouting department before making any other use of the money. December began with a jovial board meeting as they continued to be delighted with my performance. With the new investment in the club, we now had 3.2 million in the bank. By the end of the week, we had filled out the scouting department and the training personnel.

FA Cup Saturday was a dreary and rainy afternoon in London and it was cold as well. At least the pitch in Yankee Stadium was dry as we prepared to face Swansea. All the regulars got the nod for this important game. We nearly had a complete sellout as 4977 fans jammed the park.

Swansea was a D2 team and they showed their advanced skill just five minutes in when Holmes took a cross and put it past Browne to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. After that, both teams started to take plenty of chances at regular intervals. Despite the fact that AXFC put immense pressure on Swansea, their veteran keeper Andy Marshall refused to yield a goal and so the opposition remained ahead by halftime. We contained to hammer away at Marshall during the second half, but the man and the Swansea defense showed iron will and courage in dealing with our 12 for 17 shooting. At 65 I sent in Munster and Fanning for Mills and Law, but it didn’t dent the outcome. Then, on 70, rolling the dice, I sent in Moran for Bradley and moved Lynch to Bradley’s spot. As the last twenty minutes drained away, we continued to get no joy in our attacks. The fourth official added the time and the game went into that. At the beginning of the added time, Kavanagh got a header from Fanning and the young Irish lad dribbled in and potted the tying shot. We now had a draw in hand. Then, the next possession down, Munster fired in a cross from the right that Fanning headed past a shocked Marshal to give AXFC 2-1 lead. Fanning chose a great time to score his first ever goal for us. Then, on the next trip down the pitch, Moran potted a shot to make the final 3-1 AXFC. All three subs contributed directly on all three injury-time goals. We would get a repeat of the game as Swansea would come back in three days for the Tuesday evening Vans Trophy game. We made just shy of 35,000 pounds in gate receipts, a new club record. Even more interesting news broke that evening as Swansea canned Brian Flynn. I felt sorry for hastening his demise, but he really should have led his club to victory against us. We also got a dream matchup for the FA Cup Third Round. We would be facing Chelsea at Yankee Stadium on January 3, 2004.

Tuesday evening in London was dry and the temperature was below freezing. Knowing that a few of my players could use the rest, I gave a good portion of my regulars the game off. Fennelly, Apilinga, Munster and Moran gave the starting lineup an all backup midfield. The rest of the regulars were just fit enough to play. If there was any doubt as to the prestige of this game, it was answered when only 178 dedicated season-ticket holders came to watch. To be fair, the people who didn’t show did not miss much.

Once again, Swansea jumped to a quick 1-0 leads five minutes into the game when Thompson just embarrassed Browne by flicking a soft goal into the net. From there, the game regressed into a midfield war. Neither our opposition nor we got more than two chances in the half. We managed to counter-attack late in the half on 44 when Kavanagh sent in a corner that Fuff headed past Andy Marshall to tie the game 1-1 at the intermission. At that time I pulled Moran for Lynch and Kavanagh for Teasdale due to fatigue. By the time the second half ended, it was clear that Browne had had the worst game of his professional career. He let in two more easy goals to Thompson and Evans, so that by 70, the game was effectively over. Teasdale got a goal on 82 to make the final score 3-2 Swansea. After the game I delivered a sharp reprimand to Browne for his lack of concentration. To add injury to insult, Lynch had injured himself again and would be out a week. His contract was up at the end of the season and neither he nor Fennelly was going to be resigned. We would have our third home fixture in a row on Saturday afternoon as we hosted Barnet in Conference play.

retired_karamelkel

Saturday afternoon in London was windy and rainy, but at least the temperature was back up to “cool.” All the regulars except three got the nod for the derby. The exceptions were Browne, replaced by Sadler, Lynch, replaced by Moran and Speight, replaced by Moncrief. Just under 4300 were at the stadium despite the weather.

Barnet jumped to the quick 1-0 lead when Clark slapped a shot past Sadler. However, Mills answered on 12 to tie the game 1-1. After that, play settled down. Both Barnet and AXFC took few chances, but when they did, they were good shots. Play went smoothly, with neither team gaining much of an advantage. At halftime, the score remained 1-1. The second half saw our offense explode. On 49, Moncrief headed a ball down for Moran, who buried the shot to give AXFC the 2-1 lead. Then, twenty minutes later, Moran completed his brace when Law fed him the ball to give AXFC the 3-1 lead. At that point, I sent in Munster for Moran, Fennelly for Asser and Bradley for Moncrief. Despite playing defensively with no intention of running up the score, our offense continued to trouble Barnet. Five minutes after coming onto the pitch, Bradley scored a quick goal when Harding let the ball slip from his fingers. Then, on 83, Fleming crossed in a hanger from the left that Bradley headed into the goal to give him two goals and AXFC the 5-1 win. Barnet were stunned by the clock-cleaning as we served notice that we were ready to run the Conference table again. With the win, we took back first place from Rochdale via goal difference. We had yet another home game next, on December 20 vs. Canvey Island.

It was a wet and cold day as we prepared to face Canvey Island at Yankee Stadium on the afternoon of December 20. Every regular was fit for battle as Speight was finally recovered from his injuries. Nearly 3400 came out to watch a frustrating first half.

Canvey Island’s keeper Patrick Martin was on top form that Saturday. We kept attacking his goal with regularity, mostly getting our shots on the button, but the young Irish lad was in the zone, stopping us with ease. We were unable to break through. Canvey, knowing their best chance was a draw, dropped back on defense to help out Martin. As a result, their offense consisted of two off target shots. We went into halftime still scoreless. At the half I sent in Armstrong for a tired Asser. The second half was a reprise of the first. No matter how much pressure we put on Martin, the lad took it stoically. On 68 I sent in Moran for Lynch. The next 20 minutes were pure frustration for AXFC supporters as they watched Martin handle everything but the kitchen sink. I merely paced the sideline, watching in admiration. I’d take a scoreless draw; it was the least that the kid deserved for his efforts. However, in injury time, Martin made a mistake, he pushed a Law shot away, right into the path of Moran, who calmly scorched the return past a diving Martin to give AXFC the 1-0 win. Our next match would be the following weekend at Rochdale that would decide who the favorite was going into the second half of the season. Both teams had 50 points.

During the week we announced that we had resigned James Asser to a contract extension. So far, of the players whose contracts were expiring, he was the only one we had resigned.

The most important game of the year arrived and we traveled to Sportland in Rochdale to play it on an ill-looking Saturday afternoon. The grounds were wet, the pitch damp and the air cold. All the regulars were fit and I sent them out to warm up and reminded them of the importance of this game to our second half chances of making the League. Perhaps it was fitting that we wore our red uniforms for the first time this season. Only about 2500 fans turned up to watch this decisive game.

As twas expected, both teams were reasonability matched. Neither took a real advantage in the first half although Rochdale had a slight edge in possession and had one more shot on target than we did. To balance the ledger, ewe managed to put lots of pressure on the Rochdale defense when we had the ball. This led to the first goal of the match 22 minutes into the game, Asser lobbed in a pass from the left that Lync smoothly gathered, beat his marker, and volleyed into the goal to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. Rochdale didn’t panic, they merely worked the ball into our third, where Howells, managed to break our defense off the dribble and potted the shot to tie the game on 34. The 1-1 tie held up for the rest of the half. We continued to put pressure on the Rochdale defense, which held up well. On 59, I subbed in Moran for Mills. Five minutes later, Lynch got a rebound and blasted it back through to give AXFC the 2-1 lead. Rochdale were unable to do much damage and so with the win in hand, we took sole possession of first place. Our next match, away at Accrington would take place on Tuesday evening on December 30. That match would represent the halfway point of the Conference season.

The three days leading up to the match were eventful. Paul Mortimer, a veteran Scottish midfielder agrees to move to AXFC on a Bosman after the season was over. We also made a bid for Paul Rodden, a 21 yr old forward who plied his trade with Albion Rovers. The young lad wanted to move to a bigger club and wanted first-team status, so we put in a 10K bid. Contract talks with Rodden broke down quickly because of status issues and so we resolved to try again later. A couple of more AXFC players had expiring contracts. Apilinga would not be resigned, but we tried hard to extend Speight’s contract. The young man, however, refused to re-negotiate for the time being.

Amidst all this player activity, Tuesday evening arrived and we went to the Crown Ground in Accrington. It was warmer than usual for a December evening, but that cheery thought was tempered by the rain and wind that descended onto us as we stepped onto the pitch. Since this was a mid-week fixture, several of the regulars were unfit to play a starting role. So it was that Chandler, Teasdale, and Goodwin joined Fuff in defense, Fennelly, Apilinga and Moran jonnie Mills in midfield and Bradley joined Law upfront. Nearly 2400 Accrington fans came out to the game were they saw their side play rather ineptly.

By five minutes in, AXFC held a 2-0 advantage over the home side. First, Moran had nailed a penalty awarded on 4 and on the very next AXFC possession Bradley headed in a Mills ball from the right. At that point, not wishing to run up the score, I told the boys to play defensively. Accrington failed to marshal any kind of attack and kept the ball at midfield for most of the half. On 45, Mills sent in another ball from the right on a rare attacking sortie for AXFC and Bradley headed it in to get a brace and to make the score 3-0. At the half, I sent in Munster for a fatigued Teasdale. Ten minutes into the second half, Munster headed a ball down for Mills, who took a vicious cut at it and sent if past a dazed Tudor to give AXFC the 4-0 lead. Again, we spent most of the half trying to run out the clock and on 77 I sent in Lynch and Fanning for Moran and Bradley. We got one more goal after that, as the Accrington keeper was mired in a nightmare of a game. On 88, Browne took a goal-kick that bounced around for a while before Law picked it up, took off with it and buried it into goal to make the final a rather embarrassing 5-0 victory. It was a great tune-up for our FA Cup match against Chelsea on Saturday.

The end of December was good for us. I won the Manager of the Month award and left back Derek Fleming won the Player of the Month award. Even better was that Fleming in an interview with the local press, cited me as a key contributor to his award-winning form. January brought with it, an extremely favorable board meeting. We also brought up two reservists, midfielders Carl Adamson and Fraser Smith, both of whom were ready for first team trials in the second half. To make room on the first team squad for these two young men, Apilinga and Armstrong were released. Adamson would backup Smith at the CMC spot and Fraser Smith would serve as the utility midfielder and AMC. The board wasn’t happy over the Armstrong release, but they let it happen anyway. All attention now focused on the looming match with Chelsea. I was curious to see who they put out on the pitch.

Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium was a mad-house. The joint was jumping. It was a breezy cold day. All the regulars for us were primed and fit to go. It looked like Chelsea brought in a number of their “A” players, the ultimate mark of respect. Duff and Cole were injured, so they weren’t there, but it appeared everyone else was. Chelsea was in the 4-5-1 Norway formation so it went: Cudicini in goal, Mills, Bridges, Terry and Gallas in defense, Geremi, Van Der Vart, Lampard, Park and Gronjker in midfield and Mutu all by his lonesome up front. This was indeed a scary lineup, but it was beatable in my opinion. We would have to play a perfect game, while they had an off-day, but it was possible.

We stunned Chelsea in a hurry on 2, when Lynch gathered a loose ball, and then beat Bridges off the dribble to plant a shot into the goal to give AXFC the 1-0. For a few minutes, Chelsea seemed to be disoriented, but they gathered their wits about them and began to pour pressure on our defense. They dominated the game, if not the score line and on 31, Parker broke through to whiz a shot past Browne to tie the game 1-1. That’s the way it was when the game went to halftime. At the half, I subbed in Bradley for a struggling Law, who was just unable to cope with the defense that was facing him. The second half saw Chelsea continuing hammer away at Browne with shots, but the Irish veteran kept his poise. He handled everything thrown at him. On 58, I sent in Munster for Speight. Then, we caught a break as Danny Mills was red-carded for taking out Lynch with both feet. That left Chelsea with none upfront, which eased the pressure on us considerably. At that time, I sent in Moran for JP Mills. As it was the game wound down after that with no real action. We were happy to take a 1-1 draw and a replay at Stamford Bridge. After all, we had the moral victory. It must have been galling to Premierships and European darlings Chelsea to get a 1-1 draw with a lowly Conference side. Our next game was a Wednesday evening contest against Tamworth at home. In order to keep my regular eleven fresh for the Chelsea, the backups would take the next couple of games.

Wednesday evening in London was dry and it was below freezing. At least there was no wind chill to worry about. Backups comprised the entire starting lineup for us. Just over 2660 fans turned up to watch us get our asses kicked in the first half.

We got the chances in the first half, but were unable to finish any of them. Meanwhile Tamworth got few chances, preferring to play defense, but they made the most of what that got, turning both of their on-target shots into goals. First, Byrne dribbled in, faking out Fraser Smith, and blasted the ball low to give Tamworth the 1-0 lead over AXFC on 24. We continued to try to tie the game, but poor finishing did us in and Tamworth added another goal, a shot by Dryden, which gave them the 2-0 lead at half. During the intermission, I told the lads to attack more in the second half, but made no subs. The second half continued to be a nightmare for Sadler as he let in two more goals on 72 and 78 to give Tamworth the 4-0 lead and eventual margin of victory. Despite my orders to attack, the AXFC side still couldn’t finish off a shot. Still, we managed to move the ball well and the lineup, which would play again on Saturday at Halifax.

On Saturday we traveled to Halifax to take on the 5th placed team in the Conference. Conditions were good, dry and just above freezing. Once again, I threw a lineup of backups into the Conference fire. That would leave the regulars well-rested for the Wednesday game at Stamford Bridge. A crowd of nearly 1500 came out to witness the match.

The backups were far more competitive against Halifax than they had been against Tamworth. While we allowed the home side to get plenty of chances, Sadler was far better in goal that he had been previously. We were also far better at offense, but we still were unable to score a goal. Even with the lack of offense displayed by both sides, the game still flowed up and down the pitch, with neither team holding the edge in possession or field position. The only downside to the half was that Teasdale pulled up with an injury on 8 and had to be replaced by Davies. The second half was a dull affair. Again, neither team could finish off the other. As a result, the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Not our best game, but better than a loss. The only thing bad about the draw was that it allowed Rochdale to catch up with us in points again. We were still ahead by virtue of goal difference, but, at least, the regulars would be fully fit for the Wednesday evening showdown versus Chelsea.

We traveled to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday the 14 for our FA Cup Third Round replay against Chelsea. All the regulars were primed for this match and it didn’t hurt that the weather was accommodating for January, high 40’s and breezy. Chelsea fielded virtually the same lineup as they had in the previous game, except that Duff and Melchiot were added. We would be facing the largest crowd we had ever seen, nearly 42400.

For all the hype and buildup the first half was not a brilliant game by any stretch of the imagination. Chelsea was superior but they spent 60% of the time in midfield. Both sides only had two, off0target, chances. It was obvious that Chelsea was getting ready to unleash their fury in the second half. I knew it was coming and I hoped my players would keep cool. To that end, during the break I subbed in Fraser for Mills, who had let the enormity of the game get to his performance. I also told the boys that it was time to attack. It came as predicted, but the veteran AXFC defense and goalkeeper were calm and composed as our midfield completely went to pieces. Mark Smith and Asser had to be lifted on 58 for Moran and Fennelly. We were unable to generate any offense, so we gamely hung on, hoping to get the game to penalties. As it was, the hour and a half of regular time ended as a scoreless tie. In extra time, Lampard finally broke through with two goals to give Chelsea the late 2-0 win. They had shot 7-17 and were bound to score at some point. We could now look forward to an easier time against Scarborough at Yankee Stadium three days later on Saturday afternoon.

Saturday morning in London was a gusty, warn day. Our match against Scarborough was the national Conference Game of the Week. We started mostly backups for this contest as most of the regulars were still unfit from the battle with Chelsea. The only regulars to draw the start were Browne and the three regular midfielders. A crowd of nearly 2950 turned up, no doubt to look likes blithering idiots in front of the TV cameras.

We soon showed that our form of late had been an aberration. Our offense had plenty of chances and made the majority of them count. Our defense prevented Scarborough from getting a shot off, though the visitors did control the ball about as much as we did. Both teams kept the ball moving around the pitch so the TV audience wasn’t bored too much. We jumped out in front early on 18, when Bradley took a header from Moran and zinged it into the net to give us the 1-0 lead. AXFC scored again fifteen minutes later when Mills sent in a corner from the right side that Goodwin headed into the goal for the 2-0 lead. At the half both Moran and Fanning looked winded, so I sent in Fraser and Law in their place. Scarborough came out attacking very well in the second half. They out every chance they had directly on goal, but an on-form Browne managed to keep them off the board. Meanwhile, we killed as much time as we could amid the Scarborough forays and managed to close out the 2-0 victory. We next had another home game against Hastings Town the following Wednesday.

On January 21, Hastings Town came to Yankee Stadium for a Conference match. The evening was clear and cold as the players warmed up on the pitch prior to the game. Worse, we had drawn an exceedingly harsh ref to oversee the match, which meant someone was likely to be ejected. All the regulars were penciled into the lineup. Only 2500 fans showed up for the game against the last-placed team in the conference.

As it was, it was a disappointing first half for us. The regulars seemed to have checked out mentally for the day and Hastings took full advantage. On 20, Read took a cross from the right and knocked it past Browne to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. We were unable to answer because we couldn’t get any chances. Our offense was terrible, there was not much player movement and the attacks lacked cohesion. Things got worse for us on the half-hour when Kavanagh pulled up with an injury. We were unable to answer because we couldn’t get any chances. Our offense was terrible, there was not much player movement and the attacks lacked cohesion. Things got worse for us on the half-hour when Kavanagh pulled up with an injury. I sent in Fennelly, the only defender on my bench for him, but the young Irish lad would be playing out of position on the right. We continued to have problems on offense, but things did brighten a bit when Hastings defender Anderson was sent off near the end of the half. We continued to have problems offensively in the second half. Hastings grimly hung onto their precious lead as the clock ticked away. We were getting plenty of chances this half, but few were on-target and we failed to take advantage of being a man up on the visitors. On 57, I sent in Moran for a struggling Lynch. We still mis-fired on our shots, but at least Moran was playing better than the man he replaced. As time wound down, Moran flicked a desperate pass that found Law, who blasted it into the net as injury time expired to salvage the 1-1 draw. The verdict on Kavanagh was that he had strained ankle ligaments and would be out for a month. The backup right backs were suddenly going to find themselves having to play actual games in a hurry, starting on Saturday afternoon at Shrewsbury.

retired_karamelkel

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * American Exiles Football Club - Thursday 1st January 2004********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2003/4 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adamson, Carl - - - - - - - - ---- - Allan, Kevin 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00 - Apiliga, Moses 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.60 - Armstrong, Gordon 0 (6) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.33 - Asser, James 21 6 0 0 4 0 0 1 7.43 - Bradley, Lee 9 (9) 8 0 0 0 1 0 2 7.17 - Browne, John 21 0 14 0 0 0 0 0 7.14 - Campbell, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Campbell, Thomas - - - - - - - - ---- - Chandler, Jeremy 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 - Chapman, Gary - - - - - - - - ---- - Collins, Chris - - - - - - - - ---- - Cooper, Craig - - - - - - - - ---- - Cooper, Gordon - - - - - - - - ---- - Davies, Allan 2 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.33 - Donnelly, Darren - - - - - - - - ---- - Evans, Kevin - - - - - - - - ---- - Fanning, Colin 5 (7) 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 7.00 - Fennelly, Clark 4 (7) 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 7.00 - Fleming, Derek 20 0 0 0 4 0 0 1 7.55 - French, Scott - - - - - - - - ---- - Fuff, Glen 24 3 0 0 2 3 0 0 7.04 - Gallagher, John - - - - - - - - ---- - Goodwin, Gerry 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.75 - JP Mills 20 4 0 0 9 1 0 1 7.40 - Kavanagh, Gary 23 1 0 0 11 0 0 1 7.65 - Law, Gareth 20 6 0 0 4 1 0 1 7.30 - Lynch, Gary 13 (6) 12 0 0 0 0 0 1 7.26 - Mason, Kevin - - - - - - - - ---- - McColl, James - - - - - - - - ---- - McMahon, Jack - - - - - - - - ---- - Moncrieffe, Prince 3 (2) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.40 - Moran, Sean 13 (9) 11 0 2 (2) 0 0 0 1 6.95 - Munster, David 7 (6) 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.85 - Naylor, Phil - - - - - - - - ---- - O'Connor, Liam - - - - - - - - ---- - Powell, Neil - - - - - - - - ---- - Robson, Russell - - - - - - - - ---- - Sadler, Adam 3 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 6.67 - Smart, Barry - - - - - - - - ---- - Smith, Fraser 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8.00 - Smith, Mark 23 3 0 0 2 0 0 2 7.00 - Speight, Richard 16 9 0 0 1 0 0 5 7.56 - Stannard, Wayne - - - - - - - - ---- - Teasdale, Michael 5 (3) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.50 - Truman, Danny - - - - - - - - ---- - Turner, Harry - - - - - - - - ---- - Vowden, Colin 23 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 7.26 - Wilkins, Robert 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7.33 ************************************************** ********************************************** English Conference - Thursday 1st January 2004********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2003/4 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st AXFC 21 9 1 0 25 8 9 1 1 29 4 56 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Rochdale 21 10 0 1 22 7 7 2 1 21 10 53 3rd Halifax 21 6 3 1 19 12 5 3 3 17 12 39 4th Shrewsbury 22 5 2 4 19 13 6 3 2 19 12 38 5th Dag & Red 22 6 4 1 17 9 5 1 5 13 13 38 6th Stevenage 21 6 3 1 20 8 4 4 3 23 15 37 7th Canvey Island 23 6 3 2 16 11 5 1 6 19 19 37 8th Morecambe 21 6 1 4 13 9 4 2 4 12 9 33 9th Tamworth 22 7 2 3 24 15 3 1 6 12 18 33 10th Scarborough 22 5 1 4 14 9 4 4 4 14 15 32 11th Northwich Vics 22 6 3 2 14 7 2 5 4 13 18 32 12th Telford 22 8 0 3 18 10 1 5 5 9 18 32 13th Nuneaton Borough 22 7 3 2 18 15 2 2 6 9 23 32 14th Barnet 21 9 0 2 24 12 1 1 8 10 24 31 15th Exeter 23 7 1 4 22 15 2 2 7 11 21 30 16th Farnborough 23 5 1 6 21 21 2 0 9 11 20 22 17th Chester 21 3 4 3 22 25 2 1 8 10 22 20 18th Halesowen 22 1 5 5 14 20 3 1 7 12 16 18 19th Hereford 22 4 1 6 12 17 1 2 8 10 18 18 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20th Aldershot 22 3 2 6 6 15 1 2 8 5 21 16 21st Hastings Town 22 2 3 5 7 18 1 3 8 10 27 15 22nd Accrington 22 3 3 5 11 18 0 0 11 5 23 12 </pre>

retired_karamelkel

The Gay Meadow in Shrewsbury was buffeted by strong winds as we went through our pre-game warm-ups. Most of the regulars were unfit to play, so backups took many spots. The only regulars to earn the start were Browne, Vowden, Fuff and Law. The 1300 fans that turned up were treated to a defensive struggle.

As seemed to be of late, our offense struggled to look respectable. We failed at that modest goal, only getting one shot off during the half. Shrewsbury attacked our goal with slightly better accuracy, but it still wasn’t anything to write home about. The vast majority of the half was spent in midfield, with both teams trading possession often as each team tried to break the deadlock. Neither team was able to break it however, and the first half ended the way it had started, a 0-0 tie. The second half was as bad as the first for AXFC. We were simply unable to muster any offensive punch whatsoever. We had two more off-target chances in the second half. Shrewsbury, realizing that we were impotent on offense, began to press their advantage and peppered Browne with a number of shots. Finally, on 72, Rodgers took a lob from Warner, broke through our defense and drove the ball past Browne to give Shrewsbury the 1-0 win. The triple substitution I made at 77 failed to turn the tide and we limped out of the Meadow with a loss, somehow, we remained a point ahead of Rochdale, though the margin was even thinner than normal since we had played 26 games to Rockdale’s 25. Meanwhile, the Conference schedule continued to offer no respites as we had a home match against Hereford in four days on Wednesday evening.

The Hereford game arrived quickly, at least it was at Yankee Stadium so no travel was involved. The evening was cool and windy. Most of the regulars were fit enough to play; with Teasdale filling in at right back for the injured Kavanagh Nearly 2850 fans filled the stadium for this contest.

We quickly proved that our slump of late was not a cerement trend. On 3, Fleming sped up the pitch with the ball and sent in a cross from deep on the left to a racing Mills on the opposite side. Mills jumped and blasted the header past the hapless keeper to give us the 1-0 lead. Eight minutes later, AXFC took the 2-0 lead when Lynch blasted a rebound past the Hereford keeper once more. After that, we settled down to play superb team defense as we bottled the ball in midfield. Hereford failed to launch a single attack against us. We went into the half feeling confident once more. At the break I sent in Adamson in for a tired Teasdale. Mills moved back to take the right back position while Adamson lined up alongside Mark Smith in midfield. The second half was nothing special. We still played superb team defense and shut out Hereford completely. They did not even attempt a single shot all game and never threatened as we ate clock. On 77, I sent in Bradley for Speight. The move affected nothing and we were easy winners. Our next game was on Saturday January 31st at home against Farnborough.

Conditions weren’t the best on the last afternoon of January. The wind was blowing rather hard, the grounds were wet and the pitch soaked through. At least the temperature was in the 50’s which was reasonably warm for this time year. A few regulars sat out the match due to unfitness. Chandler, Fennelly, Fraser Smith (Mills) and Bradley (Speight) were all penciled into the starting eleven. Nearly 2800 fans crowded into the park. We were drawing nice crowds these days, a perk of leading the division.

We continued our offensive revival in unusual fashion. We were having difficulty scoring, so we just made the Farnborough keeper earn his paycheck by bouncing balls off his body. The man was keeping the sheet clean, but was paying a price to do so. Farnborough themselves got a couple of chances, but were unable to do much with them. The ball was bandied about I midfield for about half of the first 45 minutes. We finally broke the Farnborough keeper on 41 when Lynch gathered a loose ball caused by a tackle and singed it past Harpur to give AXFC the 1-0 lead at the half. During the intermission, I subbed in Moran for Fraser Smith at RMC. We continued to pound Harpur with shots during the second half, but the South African lad kept us from adding to our lead. Meanwhile, Farnborough began to string together some offense, making Browne work on our side of the pitch. Browne was more than equal to the task and kept the visitors off the board. On 73, I sent in Adamson for Fennelly. On 88, Lynch added another goal, pushing back a rebound to make the final score 2-0 AXFC. We now had a two week vacation before having to face Exeter at Yankee Stadium on Valentine’s Day.

February started with rave reviews from the board. Our finances are in terrific shape for entry into the League, if that occurs. That same afternoon Carl Adamson requested a private meeting with me. He told me bluntly that he wanted to move to a bigger club and asked to be transfer-listed. I acceded to his request since the bloke wasn’t a large part of our future plans. About a week later, Adamson withdrew his request and wanted to stay. That was fine with me.

Valentine’s Day in London was definitely not a day for a lover’s stroll. The afternoon was drizzly and colder than it had been for quite some time. All the regulars except for the still-injured Kavanagh (replaced by Teasdale) got the starting nod against Exeter. Over 3000 came out to watch the game and they were not disappointed with their holiday treat.

We had an unbelievable number of chances in the first half. We shot 10-14 in the first 45 minutes of play. In addition, we dominated possession by a large margin. Things didn’t start well for the visitors as Tommy Ryan, a central defender, picked up two yellow cards in the first 12 minutes. He was quickly tosses from the game and we began pressing our man advantage. However, Exeter goalkeeper Matt Ghent, a former Aston Villa youth player, was having his best day of the season in the net. He stopped us cold time and time again. Lynch managed to get a pass from Fleming, break down the defense and score on 27 to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. Exeter managed to do some attacking of their own, but nothing that gave Browne much trouble. The second half was a rout. We shot 7-12 for the half and Lynch completed a hat-trick on 59 and 84. The first of the second-half brace was off a Teasdale cross and the second off a Law lob. We didn’t end the scoring there. On 89, Law took a pass from Teasdale and blasted it in to give AXFC the 4-0 win. Rochdale had now played the same number of games as us, but had lost two more than we had. That gave us a four point advantage over them going into our next Conference game on Wednesday evening at Northwich Vics.

Wednesday evening we traveled to Northwich to play the Vics. The night was clear and cool. All but four of the regulars were selected for the starting lineup. The exceptions were Fleming (Chandler), Kavanagh (Davies), Asser (Fennelly) and Speight (Bradley). Three of the four were unfit and the fourth, Kavanagh was still bothered by his sore ankle ligaments, though he was close to a hundred percent. Just over a thousand crowded into the stadium to watch the game.

We did not start out that entire well. We got a few chances and made them count, but Brian Rogan refused to concede a goal. While AXFC were struggling, the Vics were playing reasonably well. They held the edge in passion and were attacking well, getting a number of chances, though they weren’t the most on-target of shots. All they needed was one shot on-target try and they got it on 23. Wright hammered in a Beasley corner on 23 to give the home-side Vics the 1-0 lead. Though we tried, we couldn’t equalize and went into halftime still tailing by a goal. The second half was slightly more successful for us. We began putting together a more attacks and chances. The Vics went into a shell to protect their lead and we took advantage, but Rogan continued to be a stone wall. On 60, Law pulled up with an injury and I subbed in Moncrief for him. We kept getting chances with no results and on 84, I sent in Munster for a struggling Smith and Moran for Lynch. The subs didn’t change much though we did break through on 88 when Moncrief corralled a loose ball and centered it to an oncoming Fennelly, who lobbed the ball over Rogan’s reach and into the goal to make the game a 1-1 draw. We had little time to recover, having a Saturday afternoon at Steerage. Law would be out for a couple of weeks due to a gashed leg.

The weekend came around before we knew it. Stevenage was a sodden mess as the grounds were wet. At least it was cool. Not only did we have pleasure of playing on wet turf, but we had drawn a harsh ref, meaning someone was likely to be tossed from the game. I could only hope it was a Stevenage player and not one of us. All but three regulars were penciled into the starting Evelyn. Kavanagh (Teasdale) and Law (Fanning) were still injured and Smith (Adamson) was slumping as of late. Just over 2000 Stevenage faithful attended the game.

We started out well, getting an early goal less than ten minutes into the game. On 9, Lynch gathered in a loose ball and fired it into the net to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. The rest of the half was rather quiet. Both teams tried attacks that were spoiled well before good shots were possible. The defenses ruled the pitch and neither side was able to put together many chances. Some excitement was caused near the end of the half when a Stevenage forward was ejected for kicking the ball away after an offside cal. Even I, the opposition manager, though that was an unfair call and resolved to complain about the referee later. The seconds half was a holding exercise as neither team continued to be unable to put much offense together. Stevenage were just trying to stay in the game and they accomplished that with ease. We had checked out of the game and were just trying to eat up the clock and take the win. At 84, I sent in Bradley for Fanning, but the offense remained tepid. Stevenage rallied late, when Huckerby raced up the pitch and slotted a shot past a shocked Browne during injury time to scrape a late 1-1 draw. The draw left us tied with Rochdale on points with 72 each, though we held the decisive edge on goal difference. We would have our third straight away match the following weekend at Nuneaton Borough.

We complained about the ref to no avail. The FA stood by the man’s idiotic decisions. Late in the week we signed Monaghan’s defender Che Bunce on a Bosman. The Kiwi international would be a good backup for our central defenders next season. Bunce became our second Bosman signing for next season.

On February 28, we traveled to Manor Park to take on Nuneaton Borough. It was a dry cool day, perfect for this time of year. Kavanagh was finally fully recovered from his ankle injuries and thus, the only regular left out of the starting lineup was Law, who was replaced by Bradley. The nearly 1750 fans saw a good offensive show during the first half.
The draw dropped us to second place as Rochdale won their match.
Both teams made the most of their limited offensive chances. The ball spent the majority of the half in midfield as both teams vied for attacking opportunities. Nuneaton got theirs ten minutes into the game when Harris found Eddie Jackson wide open and Jackson tapped in the finish to give the home side the 1-0 lead. AXFC answered just ten minutes later when Fleming sent in a cross from the left that found the head of Lynch, who nodded in his 21st goal of the reason to knot the game one-all. Nuneaton were not discouraged and came right back five minutes later as Harris added a goal to his assist to make the score 2-1 Nuneaton. The sides settled down to a midfield battle after that and the rest of the half was uneventful. During the second half we increased our shot total dramatically as the Borough were focusing on defense. The increased shots paid off early in the half, ten minutes in as Lynch went on a run from midfield and ended by drilling a low shot hard to tie the game again at 2-2. Five minutes later I sent in Munster for Smith, but Munster was unable to make much of a difference. Nuneaton clung tenaciously to the draw and they got the point as their stalwart keeper held up under immense pressure.

March blew in with a glowing review by the board. We opened the schedule with a Saturday afternoon matchup on the 6th as we hosted Morecambe. The afternoon was a cool damp one in London. All the regulars drew the start. Just over 2800 fans came to watch.

We started out well, peppering the Morecambe goalie with a number of shots. We opened the score line on 22 when Lynch fired in a direct free-kick to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. We continued to pour pressure on the visitors, but they stubbornly held on and kept thwarting us. Their tenacity was rewarded late in the half on 44 when Morson dribbled in and planted a shot past Browne to tie the game at 1-1. We came right back on the restart when Mills took the ball raced up the pitch and swung in a pass that Speight headed into goal to give us the 2-1 lead. The second half saw a bit of a reversal. Morecambe started taking more chances. Their increased output paid off just after the hour mark when Martey retied the game 2-2. But, once again, we scored on the restart when Lynch banged in a header off a Speight pass to make the score 3-2. We continued to play well, preventing Morecambe from tying the game again. Bradley went in for Law at 66. We ran out the clock and escaped with a much-needed win. We remained in second place as Rochdale won their game. Our next game was away at Chester on Tuesday evening.

The Morecambe game saw a couple of new club records set. Lynch scored his 21st league goal of the season a new season high. In addition, Lynch passed Howard to become the AXFC career leader in that department. Tuesday evening in Chester was a cold and dry night. Most of the regulars got the night off with Browne Fuff Smith and Law being the only regulars in the lineup. Chester continued to show why they were dead last in average attendance this year as only 854 bothered to turn out.

Chester got off on the wrong foot just four minutes in when Costello sent Law to the deck and was ejected for a “professional foul.” The game turned into a midfield contest as neither team was able to generate much offense. Each team had only two chances. We took advantage of the extra man when Law took a Davies pass and buried the shot to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. But Law must have banged his shin on the play or picked up the knock from Costello. He came off shortly after his goal and was replaced by Fanning. The second half was dull as we couldn’t add to our lead despite getting a bunch of chances. Meanwhile Chester was just trying to survive the game unscathed. The result was a long and tiring half as we nailed down the 1-0 victory. The win put us back in first place as Rochdale lost. Our next game was on the weekend at Yankee Stadium against Halesowen. Law would be out a week and a half with a bruised shin.

The weekend arrived quickly. London was windy and rainy and as expected our pitch was damp. All but two regulars were penciled into the lineup. Law and Vowden were out with injuries and Fanning and Goodwin took their places. Yankee Stadium was about half full for the game.

We dominated the first half. We got it going early when Asser took a free-kick that deflected off the wall and into the path of Goodwin who calmly drove it in low to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. Ten minutes later, we took a 2-0 lead. Kavanagh launched a deep cross from the right that Speight powered into the goal. Halesowen began to get themselves organized and got a goal on 22 from Quigen, who took a cross from Bryan and placed a shot deftly past Browne to bring the visitors within one 2-1. Five minutes later, on 29, Speight pounced on a loose ball and drove it home to give us the 3-1 lead. We continued to pepper the opposition goalie with a number of shots. At the half I put in Munster for Fanning who was tired. We continued to pelt Halesowen with shots but none went for a goal. Halesowen got a few chances but were unable to put them on-target. I subbed in Moran for Lynch and Adamson for an injured Mills on 73. We kept Halesowen off the board. On 88, Goodwin went down with an injury and I had to fill the backline with Munster. The game ended without further incident and we went away with the 3-1 victory. Our next game would be the following weekend at Tamworth.

As it turned out, Mills would be out for a week with a bruised thigh and Goodwin out three weeks with strained knee ligaments. Mills resumed full practice in time for the Tamworth game, but was unlikely to be chosen for the side as it was not fit for match duty.

The weather in Tamworth on Saturday afternoon was cool and dry. All the regulars except for Mills made the start. Munster replaced Mills in the lineup. Just over 2900 fans showed up for the game.

Tamworth came out playing defensively, trying to keep us off the board. They only took one chance all half and it didn’t do much for them. We were having some difficulty breaking the Tamworth D and only managed three shots all half. We did control the midfield and did keep the ball moving around, but we were unable to cash in on any of our chances until midway though the period. On 25, Lynch took a header from Law and volleyed it into the net to give AXFC the 1-0 lead. The rest of the half passed without note as both teams struggled to string together a coherent attack. The second half saw both teams pick up the offensive pace. Chances began to fly back and forth between the two teams as Tamworth started to counter-attack with vigor. We still controlled the midfield and were virtually unchallenged in our own third of the pitch as Tamworth’s counters were snuffed by our defense and Browne. On 66, noticing that we were still having a bit of difficulty attacking, I sent in Bradley for Law and Adamson for Munster. The double sub and an immediate impact as our offense really picked up steam. The move really paid off 75 minutes in when Kavanagh aimed a cross for Bradley, who headed into goal to give the visitors the 2-0 lead. We sealed our win in injury time when Adamson put back a rebound to make the final 3-0 AXFC. Our next game was in a week. We would host Telford. The game saw another new club record set as Cavanaugh’s 13 assists was a new season record.

London on Saturday was warm and dry. The weather was moving into lovely spring weather and everyone was cheerful as we prepared for Telford. All the regulars were in the starting lineup as everyone was fully fit and free of injury. Just over 2100, a small crowd by this season’s standards, came out to cheer on their heroes.

We dominated the game from the beginning as Telford looked dazed on offense. We took advantage of their confusion early on 14 when Mills sent in a corner that Speight nodded into the goal to give us the 1-0 lead. A minute later, &lt;Mark Smith was sent off for pulling the shirt of one of Telford’s players. Even a man down, we dominated, snuffing out Telford’s offense before they could advance very far. We took the 2-0 lead right before the end of the half when Fuff converted a penalty. Though Telford did get a few second half chances, the game was basically over as we played ball control to keep them from being much of a threat. Any hope of a Telford comeback was squashed on 73 when Hunter passed the ball back into his own net to give us the 3-0 lead. At that point I made a triple substitution, pulling Asser, Lynch and Speight for Fennelly, Moran and Bradley. We ran out the clock after that and sealed the win. At this point, with only five games remaining in the season, we were in first place, four points clear of Rochdale. Our next game was in April, an away contest at Aldershot. The game saw another new club record set as Speight collected his seventh man of match award to become the new all-time season leader in that department.

retired_karamelkel

We did make one roster move after the game. I sent Mark Smith down to the reserves so that the 19 yr old, who was not playing well, could revive his form. He would remain in the reserves until further notice, with Adamson taking over the starting CMC role. With forwards Speight and Law both refusing to extend their contracts at the moment, it was a relief to see goalkeeper John Browne sign a new four year deal. Late in the week I was awarded the Manager of the Month award for March and Speight won the Player of the Month award as well. The board continued to be happy with my performance, though they were a bit uneasy about the financial loss that the club took in March, having lost about 70,000 pounds. We still had 3.9 million in the bank however, so the loss was not too unsettling. The main thing was to have enough funds for a stadium expansion if we made the League.

Spring was well and truly in the air as we traveled to Aldershot on Saturday afternoon. There was a breeze running through the stadium and the temperature was a balmy 70. All the regulars got the start for us. There were nearly 2600 fans in attendance, a surprise since Aldershot was bottom of the table at the moment.

The home side was battling desperately to avoid relegation for a second time, so it was not surprising that they came out fired up. On 6, Dobson concluded a furious Aldershot attack by sticking the ball into the net to give them the 1-0 lead. What was more surprising was AXFC’s inability to draw the game level. We seemed happy to keep the ball at midfield and to put no pressure on Aldershot. We only got two chances in the half and did nothing with either one. Frankly, I think the players thought this would be an easy game and when Aldershot surprised them, they simply folded. Aldershot dictated terms the rest of the half, getting a couple more attacking chances, but Browne kept them from doing more damage. We went into the break still trailing 1-0. During the intermission I replaced a clearly unmotivated and unfocused Mills with Munster. The second half saw both teams trying to attack the other with more force. We were still trying to organize our offense and failed to do much for the first 20 minutes of the half. Then, on 64, Munster took a Fleming lay-off and buried it into goal to tie the game 1-1. Just before the restart I pulled Adamson who was not playing up to snuff for Moran. Our offense did not improve over the last minutes of the half as Law looked as shaky as Mills and Adamson had. Still, our defense was working the offside trap to perfection and I felt we might escape with a draw. However, I underestimated the home side’s resolve and watched on 79 as Tilson slotted home a nice goal to give Aldershot the 2-1 victory. They needed it and they earned it. We stayed four points clear as Rochdale lost at home to Stevenage which was lucky break for us. Our next game was in two days on Monday evening when we would face Dag and Red at Yankee Stadium.

On Sunday afternoon Everton won the League Cup over Blackburn on penalties after a 2-2 draw in playing time.

Monday evening in London was cold and there was a shower in progress as we warmed up before the game. Worse, we had drawn a very harsh ref, so I had complete confidence that someone would be tossed from the game. We started an all-backup starting lineup. I hoped that the nearly 3300 fans that came weren’t too disappointed at not seeing the regulars, particularly after the way the first half went.

If nothing else, the fans saw an entertaining offensive show. Both teams got plenty of chances and were putting them on goal. The teams split possession and action was spread all along the pitch. Dag and Red just did a better job of taking advantage of their opportunities in the middle of the half when, when their striker, Michael Turner scored a brace of goals ten minutes apart on 34 and 44 to give the visitors the 2-0 lead. In both cases, Turner had shredded the defense with his dribbling ability before rounding a confused Sadler. We did score a goal in first half injury time when Allan drilled a free=kick to make the score 2-1 at the half. We did get a bit better on offense in the second half, taking advantage of better possession on 71 when Bradley headed a bal down for Fanning, who blasted the ball into the top corner to make the game a 2-2 draw. We kept Dagenham from regaining the lead and got the point we needed. Rochdale won their away contest at Exeter which put them two points behind us with three games to go. We next had Hereford way on the weekend.