Emm

Lower League Mangotsfield were our opposition in the 2nd Round Qualifying for the FA Trophy. They didn't even attempt to play football and just set out to kick us out of the game. The ref wasn't having any of it and after only 10 minutes, had already booked 4 Mangotsfield players. They didn't calm down and within half an hour they were down to 10 men. We led at half time through a close range header from loanee Peter Jones but the real story was the 7 cards the referee had shown to the home team. Maybe their scout had watched us against Kettering and thought that's how we always play. Despite our numerical advantage, we couldn't get the vital 2nd goal and our wastefulness in front of goal was punished with 10 minutes left. Nine of the Mangotsfield players were booked but they still lived to fight another day. I'm not happy and let the players know it .

The replay is a different game entirely. After witnessing our inept performance at first hand, lower league Mangotsfield decide that they don't have to kick us off the park as they can just play us off it . They still get stuck in but not one of their players is booked as the ref lets the game flow. They take a first half lead and as we squander chance after chance, I get the feeling that this may not be our day. Peter Jones is one of the few who seems up for the fight and grabs the leveller just after half time with a good header. We push for the winner but Mangotsfield hold out through 90 minutes and then a further 30 of extra time.

The match goes to penalties and my heart sinks. Penalties :eek:! We miss more than we score so we're stuffed!

Mangotsfield won the toss and elected to take theirs first. An attempt to heap more pressure on our young players in front of their own fans. It was a well thought out plan but it backfired spectacularly. Nicky Eyre saved the first and with regular penalty taker Chris Matthews showing a maturity beyond his 16 years we took the lead. 1-0 :thup:.

They screwed their next penalty wide and sub Jamie Smith put us 2-0 up with a well struck effort :thup:.

Nicky Eyre saved their 3rd and even though centre back Kevin Morgan spooned his over the bar, we were still in control :thdn:.

Nicky Eyre stood strong once again and the pressure told as the Mangotsfield player balooned the ball over the bar :thup:.

We were through to meet Burton Albion in the next round. Despite injuries to Gary Leach, Dave Adams and David Thomas, things were on the up.

The two cup games in and the extra time and penalties had taken their toll on the players. Even though we were in the next round the players confidence had been knocked severly.

Emm

I made wholesale changes for the next game which again was in the FA Trophy, this time against Burton Albion. Eyres kept his place and so did striker Peter Jones but that was it. The boys were down and I did not want to risk them with a cup game so soon after their recent scare.

Once again my decision making was spot on as we ran out comfortable 3-0 winners. Experienced ex Bee Adam Miller captained the side and opened the scoring. He then set up Peter Jones for our 2nd, before leaving the field to write his MOM award recieving speech. Jones grabbed our 3rd and his 2nd to finish things off and we were through to the next round.

After such a performance, I found it hard to change the team and so went away to Chelmsford full of optomism. Chelmsford are currently 2nd in the league and we have dropped to 5th, but we have games in hand due to our replayed cup game. It's a tight game full of attractive passing football. They take an early lead but we hit back with a Peter Jones goal on the half hour to score his 4th in 3 games. They are back in front just before half time from the penalty spot. Big Tony Jackson commits a professional foul and is shown a red card to boot. Then they make it 3-1, 2 minutes later. We are down but not out and play some great football after the break with only 10 men. Skipper Miller scores for the 2nd game in a row and 16 year old Steve Pearce, (making his league debut as a sub), almost grabs us a point but is denied with a great save by the home keeper.

A loss but a very good performance :thdn: :thup:.

Emm

November 2014 recap.

League Away. Eastleigh 1 Grays 1. Goal, David Thomas. Red card, Ben Saunders.

FA Trophy 2nd Qualification Round Away. Mangotsfield 1 Grays 1. Goal, Peter Jones.

FA Trophy 2nd Qualification Round Replay Home. Grays 1 Mangotsfield 1. Grays win 2-0 on penalties after extra time. Goal, Peter Jones.

FA Trophy 3rd Qualification Round Home. Grays 3 Burton 0. Goals, Adam Miller, Peter Jones (2).

League Away. Chelmsford 3 Grays 2. Goals, Peter Jones, Adam Miller.

The Grays board are delighted with my performance :thup:.

The club recorded a loss of £11.33K last month but I put that down to not having a single league game at home last month.

We've dropped down the league to 6th place but have 2 games in hand on both Chelmsford and Havant & Waterlooville who are 6 and 5 points ahead respectively. H & W are starting to struggle a bit. Their small squad is in need of a rest and they have now gone 3 league games without a win.

Emm

Barnet recap.

Barnet are on the up. Although they are still near the bottom of League 1, they only suffered 1 loss in 6 outings last month and have secured an F A Cup 3rd Round visit to Sheffield United to head the Championship by 7 points evan at this early stage of the season.

Emm

Eastbourne Boro recap.

Eastbourne Boro have had a reasonable season so far. Obviously there are no league results to view but they have played 8 cup games. They battled through to the FA Cup 1st Round, accounting for Boreham Wood, Dover and Marine (after a replay) on the way, before getting hammered 4-0 by Sutton Utd.

They are also out of the FA Trophy. They beat Bracknell North before losing to 1-0 Hyde Utd.

As you would expect, Yemi and Thyer have both been in the goals. Thyer has scored 5 in 7 appearances and Yemi has nothed 4 in 8.

There has been a major restructuring going on at The Prory. 23 teenagers have joined the club and a number of more experienced players have also arrived to provide stability. Len Smith has either gambled on these players firing the team back into the Conference South and recouping his money through promotion, or has found a pot of gold from somewhere. There certainly wasn't the money at the club to support this wage bill last season. They are currently paying out an astronomical £6680 per week :eek: :kris102:! I hope to God that they have found a Sugar daddy, but fear that even if they do get promoted, we could be seeing the beginning of the end :thdn:.

Emm

Margate are only one place below us in the league so it is important to at least come away from the game with a draw. Striker Ben Saunders becomes the 4th Grays player to have a penalty saved and we lost a tight game 1-0. Their keeper richly deserved the MOM award. After the game I tell the players that I am pleased with the performance if not the result in an effort to keep morale up :thdn:.

The loss sees us drop down the table to 10th and that night I slept fitfully. Sinister faces haunted my dreams and when I awoke, my wife told me that I had been calling out names in my sleep.

"No Terry I'm sorry. I'll do better".

"Iain! No Iain, not the tongue!".

"Formy, not the face. Please don't hit me in the face".

Emm

We've had it tough recently, but 4 of our last 5 league games have been away. 7 of our next 8 games are home though and one of them sees us play host to Team Bath in the FA Cup 1st Round. I would hope that come 4th January, our league position is better than it is today.

Lewes are our first visitors in this run. They are in 6th place and above us in the league. Some of my squad are tired and I rotate accordingly. 16 year old Gary Peters is included in the match squad for the first time. He has found the net 13 times for the U18's this season, and has just reached 16 so can now play for the seniors. Peter Jones gives us a 1st half lead, (to make it 6 goals in 6 games) and then man of the moment Gary Peters, grabs a goal on his debut after coming off the bench. Lewes hit back but to make it 2-1 but we play the game out in comfort. We're up to 6th in the league and still have games in hand on all but one of the teams above us :thup:.

Our next game is also at home and sees Welling welcomed to The Rec. They have lost their last 3 games which have all been at home so their condidence shold already be pretty low. Peter Jones continues his recent run of good form and makes it 7 goals in 7 games with another header to give us an early lead and Mark Hughes Snr makes it 2-0 just before the break after great work by young Gary Peters. Jones gets his 2nd of the game just after the break to make it 3-0 and we are running riot.Centre back Chris Charles scores his first goal for the club to make it a comfortable 4-0 victory. We're up to 3rd and still have a game in hand on the top 2 :thup:.

Against Team Bath in the FA Trophy, we completely play them off the pitch in a very one sided game. We don't manage to score however and they somehow eke out a draw that gives them a home replay :thdn:.

In the away game we gift them an early goal, before young Gary Peters levels things with a close range header. We hit the woodwork twice, before Gary White's poor back-pass gifted them a winner in the dying moments. I am not amused !

After the dissapointment of the cup we are back to league action and welcome Chesham to The Rec. Mark Hughes Snr opens the scoring with a deflected free-kick, but as they say, 'they all count'. Jones seals the win with 5 minutes to go with a rare goal that isn't a header. It's his 10th of the season. It finishes 2-0 but the game was very even and Chesham were unlucky not to get a point.

Emm

Our single league game on the road during this spell sees us travel to AFC Wimbledon. They're struggling in 21st in the league at present but the Manager is new this year like me and I am sure he will turn things around. They haven't scored in the last 3 games but by the same token have only conceded 3 gaoas in their last 6 games. I am expecting this one to be decided 1-0 either way.

Before the game I recieve a call from The Burton Albion Chairman Ben Robinson. He wants me to take the managerial job at Eton Park at £80 pw on a 3 year contract. To be honest the job isn't very appealing. Burton are 21st in Conference North and have a small squad, the majority of whom are no spring chickens. In addition to this, the clubs perilous financial situation concerns me. I don't take long to mull it over and tell him thanks but no thanks.

It's a very tight affair with defences on top and reaches the break with no score. Ben Saunders comes off the bench at half time and puts us ahead with a far post header. I cahange to 4141 and try to close the game out. With 10 minutes remaining, Ben Saunders is brought down in the area. He gets up to convert the penalty himself and we take a 2 goal lead. Hughes needlessly gives aay a penalty in the 95th minute, but even when it goes in it is too little too late.

Hitchen are our next visitors and they are a team in trouble. They have a small squad that is further depleted by injuries and fatigue. Their best player is out with a long term injury and they are 2nd bottom in the table. They haven't scored in their last 5 games and have gone 15 games without scoring more than one goal in a game. Defensively they're doing okay, 2 clean sheets in last 2 games and haven't conceded more than one goal in any of their last 7 games. let's see if we can change that.

We've now won our last 4 league games and the press are starting to notice us. I preferred it when we were just collecting points and not getting any headlines. Now I'm being offered jobs and my players are attracting the attention of bigger clubs. Battersby and Hall, (two 2nd half subs), combine in 72nd minute to allow Battersby to score his first goal for the club and break the deadlock just when I thought we were heading for a 0-0. That's how it stays :thup:.

Emm

December 2014 recap.

League Away. Grays 0 Margate 1.

League Home. Grays 2 Lewes 1. Goals, Peter Jones, Gary Peters.

League Home. Grays 4 Welling 0. Goals, Peter Jones (2), Mark Hughes Snr, Chris Charles.

FA Trophy 1st Round Home. Grays 0 Team Bath 0.

FA Trophy 1st Round replay Away. Team Bath 2 Grays 1. Goal, Gary Peters.

League Home. Grays 2 Chesham 0. Goals, Mark Hughes Snr, Peter Jones.

League Away. AFC Wimbledon 1 Grays 2. Goals, Ben Saunders (2).

League Home. Grays 1 Hitchin 0. Goal, Gary Battersby.

The Grays board are again delighted with my performance :thup:.

The club made a profit of £7.16K last month :thup:.

Emm

We are now sitting 3rd in the league. We trail Havant & Waterlooville by 4 points but have 2 games in hand and Eastleigh by 1 point and have 1 game in hand.

Pos....Team...............................Played.W on....Drawn.Lost...For...Against.Diff.... Points..
1st.....Havant..............................25.... ....13.........8........4......35......20.......15 .........47...
2nd....Eastleigh..........................24...... ...11.......11........2......26......10.......16.. .......44...
3rd....Grays Athletic....................23........13........4. ........6......34......21........13........43...