November 2005
It was important for the sake of morale, that we got another win under our belts as soon as possible. For our home league match with
Kettering, young striker
Michael Byrne was away on international duty with the Welsh U-21 side. It was a blow to lose such a talented young player, but although replacement
Steve Oleksewycz couldn't in all honest claim to have the eye for goal that Michael does, nevertheless with just two minutes gone against Kettering he had sent us into the lead. That seemed to buoy our confidence and
Danny Boshell was totally controlling the midfield. Six minutes into the second half Boshell got the reward for all his hard work as he netted a second and the points were ours.
Although we were out of one cup, there was still another one to be played for in the shape of the FA Trophy. With a 1st round home tie against
Beaconsfield, we felt confident this was a match we would win. Which was indeed the case, as four different scorers saw us ease to a comfortable and morale boosting 4-0 triumph, and a 2nd round tie at home to Osset Town.
Back in the league, and a hard fought match with
Altrincham saw us come back from losing a 9th minute goal to gain a valuable 2-1 win thanks to a late strike from
Byrne six minutes from time. Although the team was playing well enough in spells, and I couldn't really fault anyone for their efforts, nevertheless when a player of decent quality becomes available you have to take him. Young Irish midfielder
Ciaran Ryan had been transfer listed by Bolton. There was no way we could afford the 21 year old's asking price, so instead we have taken him on loan until the end of the season.
Half an hour into his debut away to
Alfreton, it was
Ryan who sent us into the lead. A brace from
Gary Jones sealed a comfortable win, and it looked as if we had gotten over the slight blip in our form. With Boshell and Ryan running the midfield, I feel we will be very hard to beat now this season. And yet, no sooner do you think that, than it all goes horribly wrong.
In that silly story about Green, he seemed to have inordinate luck in cups. In reality though, I seem to have the opposite.
Osset Town are a side we should probably beat ninety nine time out of a hundred. Today though was that one time, and despite a late
Ciaran Ryan goal to make the scoreline a little better, nothing could hide how awful we were as we crashed out of the FA Trophy with a 2-1 home defeat. At least, as the saying goes, we can now concentrate on the league.
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