retired_swmchick2006

Good start! :thup:

retired_troan

Thanks attjen, can't help thinking the side are at the start of a downward descent though.

January
The re-opening of the premier division's transfer window wasn't to see another bid come in for either Howarth which was fantastic news for the Maidenhead board. In a season where it was getting increasingly likely that nothing extraordinary was to happen, the future was what they needed to think about and with any luck, Gordon Howarth might be eligible to play in either the next season or the season following.

3rd January 2005: Maidenhead 1 Redbridge 2
There were no major problems pre-match for the Maidenhead team who looked for a rebirth of sorts. In the 14th minute, Redbridge's Wayne Vaughan found himself free after a Jennings mistake and though his shot was poor, it rebounded unluckily off Nick Hart and got accredited as an own-goal.

Just after half-time, a clearance from Howarth was picked up by Chris Perkins for Redbridge who started a good team passing move, finding Wayne Vaughan again who this time required no assistance from the keeper to score and put Redbridge 2-0 up. The Maidenhead answer came swiftly as Richard O'Connor was pulled down on the edge of the area. Ben Townsend took the free-kick which found the diving head of Robert Saunders. Unfortunately, Maidenhead couldn't grab another and the match finished 2-1 to the visitors.

8th January 2005: Margate 3 Maidenhead 1
Margate had been at the top of the table since very early into the season and this would be a tough match seeing as Margate didn't seem to have "bad form". As early as the third minute, Ben Townsend under large pressure had to concede a corner. John Keister crossed in for Aaron Barnett who put Margate 1-0 up very early on. Chris Elsegood was having a good game for Maidenhead standing in at left-back for Barrie Matthews and made an interception to send the ball to Jamie Cook in the 33rd minute. Cook crossed in and found Robert Saunders who seems to have been practising his diving headers as this was his second goal by that method in a week. The sides went in 1-1 at half time.

In the second half, Jamie Cook lost out to Margate captain Darren Annon who played the ball to Rocky Baptiste. Baptiste thought about the shot himself but instead put through the running Pat Gradley who powered it past Michael Watkins in goal. There was time for another too in the 80th minute as Saunders was beaten to a 50/50 ball with Annon. The ball found its way to Moses Jjunju, freshly off the bench for Margate who sidefooted it in from close range to close out the game at 3-1.

11th January 2005: Maidenhead 1 Eastbourne Boro 0
Though the side hadn't been doing too well recently, midfielder Robert Saunders had been getting up to the box and scoring a few and today he scored his third goal in as many games with a volley that deflected off Eastbourne's Sam Kanu on its way past the helpless keeper. Andrew Wright got himself off on around 30 minutes for a second bookable offence and so rather than risk anything, Maidenhead played defensive with 10 men and picked up the three points.

15th January 2005: FA Trophy 3rd Round - Accrington 0 Maidenhead 4
This by all accounts was a large cup upset as Accrington were a league above Maidenhead and Accrington hadn't been having too bad of a season. However, with their minds on silverware perhaps this season, Maidenhead took the lead early as Rob Paris guided a corner onto the head of Marc Goodfellow to make it 1-0 after two minutes. A solo run from Jamie Cook was able to beat the keeper in the 22nd minute and Cook was cool enough in front of the empty goal to double Maidenhead's lead. In the 39th minute, Richard O'Connor found himself in a scoring position and duly obliged by making it 3-0 to Maidenhead.

In the second half, the game was quiet until the 72nd minute when Nicholls found himself in a position of one-on-one with the keeper. Going on recent form, neither Nicholls nor the keeper would probably be expected to win the confrontation but Mark Nicholls took the shot before the keeper reached him and the ball dropped into the net to complete Maidenhead's 4-0 romping.

19th January 2005: Grays 2 Maidenhead 1
The match stayed quiet for almost all of the first half but as the Maidenhead minds began to wonder to the dressing room, Grays attacked and Michael Watkins brought down Wesley Daly in the penalty area. To redeem himself somewhat, Watkins made the save from a poor penalty but the rebound was put in by Grays striker Dean Brennan.

In the second half, John Nutter for Grays received a dangerous ball from teammate Dennis Oli. Nutter was composed enough to score and the game looked safe from then on. In the dying minutes, Maidenhead's pressure on the Grays goal paid off as Ade Olayinka, the Grays centre-back cut out a pass from Jamie Cook. Unfortunately for him, it ended up going over the line past the despairing keeper.. but Maidenehad couldn't maintain the pressure and lost this match 2-1.

22nd January 2005: Cambridge City 1 Maidenhead 0
A rather second-string side had to play in this match, including defender Bryan Smith who was making his league debut. Jamie Cook was also celebrating his 200th career league match which got him a large cheer as his name was read out before the match.
The match itself had little to break open the bubbly for as the only goal came in the 33rd minute. Cambridge striker David Sadler got the better of Ben Townsend initially in the air and then skipped past a tackle from the recovering right-back before scoring past Watkins. The rest of the game just ebbed away and Maidenhead had lost another league game, falling to 11th in the table.

29th January 2005: Maidenhead 4 Havant & W 1
One of the merits about the Conference South as a league is that there is so much inconsistency amongst the top clubs that it's always possible to pick up a victory from time to time. Francis Howarth scored his second professional goal in the 8th minute as he was fed by Andrew Wright and unleashed a winding shot into the net. The shock of the goal seemed to put the visitors on the ropes until they lost it all with three goals coming in the 36th, 37th and 39th minutes. Mark Nicholls scored the first after a great off-the-ball run was spotted by Goodfellow. Nicholls turned provider for Robert Saunders just a minute after with a superb assist that couldn't be missed and the third came when Havant defender Neil Sharp got above Mark Nicholls to a Barrie Matthews cross and the ball bounced off his head over the keeper.

Michael Gordon scored a late consolation goal for the away team to add slightly more credibility to what wasn't a bad team performance but the day was Maidenhead's as they picked up some much needed points.

retired_troan

2005 was to continue in a rather bad way for Maidenhead, who were fast dropping down the table from the dizzy heights they once achieved. However, the victory at Havant & Waterlooville might have served some sort of purpose in raising morale. The morale would have to stay strong though, for a tough home match against St. Albans.

1st February 2005: Maidenhead 2 St. Albans 2
A point gained as each side enjoyed a lead before it was cancelled out. Richard Harris' fifth minute goal was nullified by two St. Albans goals just before half time. Peter Holmes, who had a part to play in the first goal grabbed one for himself later on in the match to make Maidenhead unbeaten in two!!

5th February 2005: FA Trophy 4th Round - Maidenhead 1 Hereford 4
Though the quality of Accrington provided no troubles in the previous round, it was clear that Hereford who were battling for promotion to League 2, were a class above Maidenhead. The away team went up 3-0 in 21 minutes with goals from Casey-Bertram and Brown (2). A further goal from Casey-Bertram made the scoreline even more one sided but Richard O'Connor grabbed one back in the 90th minute after charging in at the goal like a raging bull.

The result of that match ended interest out of the league for the rest of the season. The only possible interest in the cups was that Mark Nicholls remained the FA Cup's top goalscorer with 10 goals from 4 games.

9th February 2005: Welling 0 Maidenhead 0
It was becoming apparent who the top sides of the division were this season, and Welling would certainly be one of those teams contesting the four playoff places that the league had to offer, maybe even the main promotion spot as well. However, for their 16 shots in this match, only four went on target and Nick Hart was a match for all of those. Maidenhead can be happy with a point.

12th February 2005: Maidenhead 3 Carshalton 0
This was a match that Maidenhead had to be expected to win, and the good news is that Maidenhead are pretty good at winning the ones that on paper they stand no chance of losing. One man stood out today, and that was Peter Holmes who scored a whole hat-trick from midfield. The first came in the 8th minute which was a sitter, impossible not to score from. He received the ball again in the 44th minute, which he promptly blasted into the top right-hand corner for his second. Holmes then completed his vintage performance (though he did pick up a yellow card and yellow does not make a nice vintage) by running onto an unselfich pass from Richard Harris and slotting it past the Carshalton keeper, who really hadn't had the best of days.

19th February 2005: Sutton Utd 1 Maidenhead 1
It seemed in this match as if Peter Holmes just couldn't stop scoring - well, for the first 25 minutes at least. Holmes bagged the Maidenhead goal but Sutton striker Lewis Gonsalves equalised in the 62nd and the home side were unlucky not to win with countless more opportunities.

During the week, Matt Pollard, a central defender in the Maidenhead reserve setup was sold to Slough Town for 1k. The kid had a future, but promise means nothing really in the short-term and it was cheaper to sell him off than keep him on as a gamble. The club could make use of the transfer fee as it slided into the red.

22nd February 2005: Basingstoke 2 Maidenhead 0
Francis Howarth, in at centre-back made a costly mistake in this match that allowed Basingstoke their first goal as he upended a player inside the box. Douglas knocked in the penalty for Basingstoke to make it 1-0. Later on in the match, David Ray finished off a good team move from the home side to put the game beyond reasonable doubt as Maidenhead crashed to defeat.

26th February 2005: Maidenhead 1 Hornchurch 1
Francis Howarth sat out this match through suspension after collating 5 yellow cards this season. However, that isn't a very good excuse for not winning seeing as for the last portion of the game Maidenhead had a 2 man advantage through two sendings off of Hornchurch players. Mark Nicholls had scored in the 8th minute but Hornchurch equalised in the 73rd minute and no amount of Maidenhead pressure could pay off after that.

5th March 2005: Maidenhead 1 Bognor Regis 0
Bognor Regis going into this match had failed to win in 10 matches and would set an all-time record if they failed to win today. Unfortunately for them, they were an "easy-to-win-against" opponent for Maidenhead, and Richard Harris sure enough was able to score in the 80th minute. It seemed that the tactic of attempting to play Harris and Nicholls together was paying off with one of them likely to score should the other have a dud performance.

12th March 2005: Lewes 1 Maidenhead 0
In a potentially winnable fixture, the decision was made to rest Francis Howarth. It was a poor decision to make as his stand-in Andy Jennings failed to last out the whole fixture and his fatigue let in Lewes' striker Newton in the 86th minute for the only goal of the game. No goals from either Harris or Nicholls, however - this was the last time that Maidenhead would lose for a while.

The ascent back up the table!
15th March 2005: Maidenhead 3 Weymouth 0
Like the match against Havant & W only the month previous, this was a game that Maidenhead might be expected to struggle in as Weymouth were sniffing around the playoff places. A lacklustre first-half performance from both sides helped disguise the skill of the Maidenhead side who came out in the second half and annihilated. O'Connor helped himself to one goal whilst Harris nicked two. Post-match, it was announced that Eastbourne were the first unlucky side to be relegated from the division with 6 games remaining.

19th March 2005: Hayes 2 Maidenhead 3
Three points in the bag for Maidenhead, even before the match started really. The scoreline suggests that it was close, but only for the last few seconds as Maidenhead's early lead through goals from Harris, O'Connor and Jennings was enough to set in place an inpenetrable cushion for much of the game.

Maidenhead were boosted between the last game and the next by a few contract extensions. Two coaches at the club: Billy Gerard and Pete Cooke signed extensions to their deals and midfielder Peter Holmes also seemed to be enjoying his time at Maidenhead sufficiently well as to sign on for more time past the end of the season.

2nd April 2005: Maidenhead 0 Weston-super-Mare 0
If any side deserved to win, it was probably Maidenhead on todays performance yet the cutting edge in front of goal was elusive for the front line and Maidenhead's usually goalhungry midfielders. Maidenhead found themselves after the match with 6 points to make up between them and the lowest playoff place from 4 games left to go.

9th April 2005: Thurrock 1 Maidenhead 3
Earlier in the season, Thurrock had been a bit of a troublesome opponent but it was a very different scenario today. Ben Townsend scored a penalty just before the break, whilst Peter Holmes and Marc Goodfellow managed one each afterwards. Tresor Kandol, who scored one last time was on hand to score again but it only served as a consolation goal, and not a very good consolation as Thurrock dropped out of the race for the playoffs.

Away from the pitch, the manager of Maidenhead United seemed to be doing something right as speculation had been rife for a possible swoop from another club to take him on as manager. On the 14th, Lincoln City who lay 20th in League One had parted ways with their manager and offered the Maidenhead Head Coach a job for the rest of the season and beyond. In the end, it was rejected publicly so that the team could get ideas out of their head of a wayward coaching staff.

16th April 2005: Dorchester 2 Maidenhead 3
This match was Marc Goodfellow's 100th career appearance but he could only manage 33 minutes before having to be substituted with a niggle. At this point, Maidenhead had been down a goal but the match was levelled through a Robert Saunders strike not long after the substitution. A good spell for Maidenhead in the third quartile of the match provided two goals courtesy of the leagues second top goalscorer Mark Nicholls, and despite Dorchester scoring one last goal, the win was Maidenhead's, and the team went to within one point of the Playoff berths.

After this set of matches, it was announced that Bognor Regis were the second team to be relegated. Margate on the other hand had created such a lead that confirmed them a playoff place at least. Going into the next match, Maidenhead's opponents Bishop Stortford were unbeaten in 14...

23rd April 2005: Bishop's Stortford 0 Maidenhead 1
Stortford put up a good fight, but as Maidenhead came out freshest from the half-time break, Robert Saunders was able to catch the keeper with his head still in the dressing room for the solitary goal of this fixture. Post-match, Hayes became the third and final team to be relegated from the division whilst Grays and Welling also confirmed themselves as at least playoff teams. Maidenhead were still one point behind the teams in the playoffs, but on the last day of the season, it would be between Hornchurch, Newport County, St. Albans and Maidenhead for the final two places with only a point separating them all. Interestingly enough, the fixtures were laid out as follows:

St. Albans Vs Hornchurch
Maidenhead Vs Newport Co

Is the suspense killing you...?

retired_troan

The end of the season

The possibilities were more mouthwatering than an extremely large watermelon (pips still left on, there's something about the seeds that makes fruit just ever so slightly more appealing, am I alone in that testament?). Should St. Albans beat Hornchurch, then they would be promoted along with Maidenhead if they could win or draw against Newport County. If Hornchurch beat St. Albans, then Maidenhead and Newport County would both have to win if they wanted to go up. A draw in the Hornchurch and St. Albans match would leave the same result needed from the two other teams (apologies if those aren't all accurate, I'm going on retrospect here and I'm 45% sure that my figures don't work out properly.).

So without further Udo Onwere: (little pun on Maidenhead's backup central midfielder, promise it won't happen again!)

30th April 2005: Maidenhead Vs Newport County

Maidenhead Team:N Hart, B Townsend, B Matthews, F Howarth, A Jennings, U Onwere, A Wright, P Holmes, R O'Connor, M Nicholls, J Cook.

Newport County Team:R Freestone, L Phillips, S Morgan, D Jones, G Jones, J Bowen, A Williams, D Peters, N Davies, J Moralee, A Ahmed.

First Half:
In the 9th minute, Mark Nicholls found himself taking the ball around Roger Freestone. Freestone tracked back and so Nicholls lifted the ball to Udo Onwere who was denied well by the returning keeper. Minutes later, Richard O'Connor won a freekick but blazed the ball over the bar. Towards the end of the half, Mark Nicholls was causing problems again and Freestone had to pull off a good parry to keep the scores level. The half had been dominated by Maidenhead, and over in St. Albans - the home-side were 1-0 up. At the moment, Maidenhead were on their way to the playoffs.

Second Half:
The half was uneventful for at least 20 minutes until Peter Holmes was able to pick out Richard O'Connor whose volley was dangerous.. but off-target. Onwere soon afterward made an identical shot which glared wide just as badly as O'Connor's. In the 85th minute, Francis Howarth who had moved out to the right as a tactical change was moving up and down the right wing and swung in a high ball into the area which Freestone had to commit to. Luckily for Newport, he connected to the ball and it was punched away to safety. As the time ticked down in both matches, nothing else happened and St. Albans and Maidenhead took up places 5 and 6 respectively of the playoff berths.
Maidenhead 0 Newport County 0

At the very top of the table, Margate had secured the win of the division but it hadn't really been in doubt as Grays, the only team able to challenge them had lost. In the playoffs, Welling would play Maidenhead and Grays would play St. Albans and it certainly wasn't long for the teams to prepare for the most important three matches of the season.

5th May 2005: Welling Vs Maidenhead

Welling:C Mitten, M Lee, A Probets, L Watts, C Skelton, G Lay, J Day, G Street, P Booth, A Birchall, A Tait.

Maidenhead:N Hart, B Townsend, B Matthews, F Howarth, A Jennings, M Nicholls, J Fowler, P Holmes, M Goodfellow, R Harris, J Cook.

First Half:
On the 14th minute, Marc Goodfellow unleashed a shot that was saved by Mitten but not dealt with properly by Probets. Goodfellow won the ball back and crossed in for Nicholls who headed into the net. 1-0 to Maidenhead. Shortly afterward, Peter Holmes took a freekick, passing the ball to the feet of Richard Harris. Harris then took the ball and shot at goal, just glancing the top of the crossbar. On the 36th minute, Tait released Street for Welling but Hart was equal to the incoming player and Francis Howarth dealt admirably with the parried shot.

Second Half:
On 60 minutes, Peter Holmes and Richard O'Connor (on for Jamie Cook) linked up well together but Holmes put the final effort wide. Holmes had another chance to score three minutes later, but this time he put Goodfellow's through-ball over. Tommy Tyne, the Welling substitute managed to steal through the Maidenhead defence on 65 minutes, but Nick Hart saved the shot and held onto it well. Just 1 minute later however, Phil Collins, another Welling substitute and former Genesis singer popped up at a corner and headed past Hart to level the leg. Mitten made back to back saves in the 76th minute from Nicholls and Harris, and then Tyne averted danger in the face of the attacking Howarth. The final whistle blew on 94 minutes, and the sides entered the second leg with honours even.
Welling 1 Maidenhead 1

The playoffs have no presence of an away-goal so Mark Nicholls goal didn't really serve any purpose, other than to make the tie all square. After the match, a media representative approached the manager and quizzed him on Francis Howarth being one of the hottest young prospects in football. No comment was made, in the hope that reduced publicity would avert possible manouevres for the star defender. The second-leg came around quicker than a Christian Aid collector..

8th May 2005: Maidenhead (1) Vs Welling (1)(first-leg scores in brackets)

Maidenhead:N Hart, B Townsend, B Matthews, F Howarth, A Jennings, M Nicholls, J Fowler, P Holmes, R O'Connor, R Harris, M Goodfellow.

Welling:C Mitten, M Lee, D Slatter, L Watts, C Skelton, G Street, A Probets, G Lay, J Day, A Birchall, P Booth.

First Half:
In the fourteenth minute, Goodfellow played a delightful ball into Richard Harris whose run cleared every last defender. The fans all jumped up as he got to one-on-one with the keeper, but the shot went wide. In the 18th, Jamie Day provided Street with a chance that he couldn't beat the diving Hart with. No Quality Street on this occasion for Welling. However, since Welling couldn't score from open play, it seemed as if the only way they might score was from a penalty. Ben Townsend kindly gave them one as he pushed over Day in the box. Day got up, struck the penalty and the net bulged as the ball got placed to the wrong side of Nick Hart. 1-0 to Welling. In the 36th minute, Richard O'Connor who had been working on his free-kicks came closer than he has been for a while, only just putting the ball over. Right on the stroke of half-time, Nicholls found himself in the right place at the right time, in front of goal and scored a peach to re-level the fixture 1-1.

Second Half:
In the 57th minute, Peter Holmes initiated an attack and was very unlucky not to beat Charlie Mitten in the Welling goal. The same scenario happened not long afterwards, and this time Mitten was less equal to it but still managed to complete the save. Bradley Pritchard, on for Welling, latched onto a Tait cross in the 74th minute and repaid his manager's confidence by scoring. 2-1 to Welling. It looked like Maidenhead would be going out.. but a last gasp long ball over the top from Andy Jennings found Mark Nicholls on the break, who skipped past the keeper and scored a big pressure shot. The tie was level again, and the match would go into extra-time..

Extra-Time
Marc Goodfellow had the first clear-cut chance, but his shot went over to the disappointment of Harris who provided the assist. The rest of the period saw nothing special at all and the match went to penalties. In the other game, St. Albans were victorious over Grays and would be watching this shootout intensely..

Penalties
The first taker for Welling was Jamie Day, who you will remember had already scored in normal play from the spot. This time however, the nerves got to him and the shot went over the bar. Peter Holmes couldn't swing the match in Maidenhead's favour as his shot was saved by Mitten. How ironic that a keeper called Mitten might have safe hands. The Welling captain, Lew Watts did exactly the same as Jamie Day by missing, and it was up to Richard O'Connor to get the shootout off the mark, which he had no problems doing. Allan Tait missed Welling's third, whilst Barrie Matthews was able to score Maidenhead's to give them a two-goal advantage. Bradley Pritchard needed to score, and he did, but Ben Townsend was unable to win the game with his as it hit the post and rebounded back. Paul Booth, Welling's last penalty taker had the same sort of pressure..but Hart did enough to put him off and the shot went wide, sending Maidenhead into the Conference South Playoff Final.
Maidenhead 2 Welling 2 (3-3 on agg., 2-1 on pens.)

In the midweek, Gordon Howarth turned 16 and now became duly eligible to play in league competition.. which included the playoff matches. Rather than risk a player with little match experience, the Maidenhead manager decided to put Gordon on the bench with his brother, who was touch and go on whether he could last a whole 90 minutes.

14th May 2005: Maidenhead Vs St. Albans

Maidenhead:N Hart, B Townsend, B Matthews, A Jennings, R Paris, J Fowler, A Wright, P Holmes, R O'Connor, M Nicholls, M Goodfellow.

St. Albans:M Bunn, D Williams, S Cousins, C Campbell, B Martin, L Charles, B Walshe, D Sarll, T Davis, L Opara, N Gough.

First Half:
In the 12th minute, Mark Nicholls found the way open towards goal. As he got closer and closer and closer, the feeling that he might miss got larger and larger. But, all that feeling didn't matter..as Nicholls put Maidenhead 1-0 up early on. In the 34th minute, Nicholls put St. Albans further up against it with a blasted shot from Goodfellow's cross. Tom Davis had a chance for the losing side, but his effort rebounded back off the crossbar so far back that it almost left Maidenhead with a counter opportunity. Darren Sarll also had a chance but his headed effort at goal went wide.

Second Half:
Peter Holmes made a lot of space for himself on 50 minutes, as he made himself available to Mark Nicholls. Nicholls let the opportunity of a hat-trick go by and released Holmes who powered the ball past Bunn for 3-0. Surely the game was beyond doubt now. Bunn was still under pressure for the next few minutes and made a great fingertip save point-blank from Marc Goodfellow's head. But it seemed like the day when just about anyone might score for Maidenhead, and Jordan Fowler managed to get his first ever senior goal in the 56th minute, making the score 4-0. St. Albans changed things about, and in the 73rd minute substitute Miguel De Souza won the ball from Andrew Wright. De Souza was then open for a fightback goal and he made it 4-1. Mark Nicholls clearly had other ideas, and wanted a hat-trick. He put one half-volley over, before minutes later capping off a great performance with a goal in the 83rd minute. Nick Hart was tested once more in the Maidenhead goal, but he saved from Lee Charles and the final whistle blew. Maidenhead were through to the final final final final to face Southport, the Northern playoff champions.
Maidenhead 5 St. Albans 1

Another approach came in for Maidenhead's manager, this time from Notts County who had felt it necessary to relieve themselves of their old manager even when he'd got them to the League 2 playoffs. The financial position was precarious, the wagebill too high and expectations too high for the prospective manager's liking and so he made a rejection.

But there was some very bad news as well between games. Francis Howarth had picked up strained ankle ligaments and would have to miss the final. One of the players of the season, and Maidenhead's big game player was out..

21st May 2005: Final Final Final Final - Southport Vs Maidenhead

Southport:S Dickinson, J Williams, A Mortimer, D Luker, J Burwood, D O'Brien, N Robinson, S Pickford, C Baker, L Mulvaney, T Fearns.

Maidenhead:N Hart, B Townsend, B Matthews, R Paris, A Jennings, R O'Connor, A Wright, P Holmes, M Goodfellow, M Nicholls, J Cook.

First Half:
Danger came in only the 6th minute, as Terry Fearns broke free and tested Nick Hart. Hart was equal to it though, but there would be more to come. Steve Pickford swivelled on the ball and his shot beat Hart, but went over the bar. Such scares didn't scare Maidenhead's centre-backs Paris and Jennings though as the two combined to set Jennings free in the area. You wouldn't have put your house on Jennings scoring.. but it didn't come to that as he was brought down inside the area. Peter Holmes stepped up, one of the men who missed in the shoot-out at Welling. This time however he scored, and Maidenhead had one foot in the National Conference. A cross in the 28th minute from Ben Townsend went a bit wrong, but for the better as it almost caught Dickinson off guard in the Southport goal. Danny O'Brien had a sitter of an opportunity to equalise before half-time but he didn't succeed as Hart made himself tall and saved. There was still another opportunity for O'Brien before the interval but he spurned that opportunity as well, blasting the shot over.

Second Half:
Terry Fearns got up to the end of a Southport free-kick and Hart did well to save and keep Fearns out. But in the 52nd minute, Fearns turned provider and crossed to Lee Mulvaney who scored past the helpless Hart. The match was level. This was only the case for four minutes though as O'Brien shot at Hart. Hart managed to parry but it went straight to Mulvaney who scored his and Southport's second as the advantage swung. John Burwood had a further chance for Southport as he got above Rob Paris but he couldn't direct his header on target. Danny O'Brien had a similar chance to Burwood in the 70th but his miss was just as bad. As time ran out for Maidenhead, Peter Holmes received the ball, swivelled and released a shot. Heartbeats stopped around the ground, in the terraces and on the benches.. the only person's heart who was beating was keeper Phil Dickinson who palmed the ball over. Time ran out, and Maidenhead had lost. Southport were promoted, but Maidenhead had gone all that way for nothing. But it was a big learning experience... and there was always next year!

Southport 2 Maidenhead 1

OK, the next post will be somewhat of a round-up post, before the season starts afresh. And believe me, it's going to be just as exciting..both Howarths will be playing next season! The problem is that you might have to wait a while as I'm in the middle of A-Level exams and appear to be coming down with a migraine. Sympathy for me, and the poor lads at Maidenhead is greatly appreciated :cool: