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For the second time this season, Barry Fry picks up the Manager of the Month award. No awards for Stalybridge again, as the players awards go to Peterborough and Macclesfield. Still, we've got Hull to worry about, in the only cup we're left in, realistically. However, we now have one clear priority, in gaining promotion to the First Division, so it's a much changed side for this game. We line up: Hulse, Lewis, Elgert, Morgan, Johnson, Collins, Toms, Bastow, Cameron, Hill, Barker.

An injury to right back Mike Lewis is unfortunate for the Welshman - it's the second time in his 14 appearances that he hasn't completed the game. It also makes things tricky for us, as it forces me to play Challinor at right back, not a task to which he is particularly suited! Fortunately, Richie Barker scores and both keepers perform well to keep the scoreline 1-0 for the rest of the game. Hull keeper Gary McGlynn just gets the nod for the man of the match award, due to having more work I suppose. As to be expected with such a makeshift squad, it wasn't exactly a flowing performance from us, but with only 882 paying fans it must have felt more like a reserve fixture.

Vans Trophy, 2nd Round North. 1st February 2005.
Stalybridge 1 Hull 0 Barker 19

The Semi Final will bring Notts County to the Bower Fold. Another home cup tie!

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When Saturday comes, it brings 13th place Barnsley to the Bower Fold. It also marks the return of a full strength squad, with the exception of Batty who is suspended. Paul Hulse retains his place after a good solid performance in the previous game. 6489 fans are in the ground, and they witness a complete mullering. Not, as might be expected, by us, but instead by Barnsley. Two late first half goals by midfielder Junior Lewis made Paul Hulse look amateurish, and added to our recent bad run.

Division 2 Game 30. 5th February 2005.
Stalybridge 0 Barnsley 2 Lewis 37,42

So we're down to 4th place, and the only unbeaten home record in the Football League has gone.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Second Division - Saturday 5th February 2005********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2004/5 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Peterborough 30 10 2 4 25 15 11 2 1 35 17 67 2nd Northampton 30 10 5 1 26 10 8 2 4 34 22 61 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Watford 30 12 2 1 27 13 5 4 6 23 20 57 4th STALYBRIDGE 30 8 7 1 28 14 7 2 5 28 22 54 5th Oxford 30 9 2 4 34 25 7 2 6 22 25 52 6th Bristol C 30 8 3 3 24 14 6 6 4 22 21 51 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Reading 30 9 4 2 34 23 5 4 6 28 29 50 </pre>

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It's basically the same team to face Cardiff, after the luxury of a whole week's break. Collins comes in because Acuña is suspended, and Ommel replaces the injured Kitson. The lads know they need to bounce back, and there's no better time to do it than straight away, especially with big spending Cardiff in disarray after a run of three straight defeats.

The old guard of Ommel and Barker up front start off as though they've never been separated. After an initial foray by the home team, dealt with well by Hulse I might add, a looping cross from Richie found Sergio, who outjumped his marker. The keeper saved, and Ommel was tackled as he went for the loose ball, but he got his reward at the third attempt, heading home the resulting corner. We kept pushing, and the Dutchman could have had two, but for his shot striking the post. Then, out of nowhere, came our second goal. And who should it come to, but our so far goalless leftback, Tommy Jaszczun! Picking up the ball on the left corner of the penalty area, he struck a volley so sweet that you have to wonder why he doesn't score every week! It should have been three when a distraught Ommel saw a header ruled out on the half hour mark, apparently for handball.

We certainly looked comfortable at the break, but given our current form I wouldn't put it past us throwing it away somehow in the second half. The half time team talk consisted of me telling the lads I was happy, but not as happy as I would be at full time if we still had three points. This was taken to heart, and from a corner in the first ten minutes, Collins picked up on a loose ball, Challinor's original header having been turned away by the keeper, and notched his first goal for the season. That was that. for the first game in some time, we were comfortable enough to be able to take the foot of the gas and bring on all three substitutes. Best to ingore the fact that the Welshmen had the ball in our net towards the end of the game, as it was given offside anyway. Man of the match to the dutchman. Good result!

Division 2 Game 31. 12th February 2005.
Cardiff 0 Stalybridge 3 Ommel 8 Jaszczun 21 Collins 54

That's better! And the board are pleased as well. It doesn't alter our league position though.

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Cameron in for Mackie is the only change for another Tuesday night game. Notts County visit, as the Vans Trophy winds up towards it's conclusion. County are as eager for this as we are, though, and it's obvious that it's going to be tight tonight. It also marks a confrontation of the Barker brothers, with Chris Barker lining up for the visitors. Most of the play is Notts' in the first half, and Dean Reynolds had the ball in the net just after the quarter hour mark, but it was ruled out for offside, following the recent trend in our games.

Second half, and the story was very similar. We were gradually getting pushed further and further back. Our young midfielders were tiring, so Browne and Mackie were brought on, hoping to break out of our half with fresh legs and pace. Whether Notts saw this as a weakness or not, I don't know, but they decided to throw everything forward in the last 15 minutes. The goal came eight minutes from time, Joakim Jensen rising highest at a corner.

Vans Trophy, Semi Final North. 15th February 2005.
Stalybridge 0 Notts County 1 Jensen 82

Oh well, there's still the league to play for, and at least that spells the end of low attendances. Only 882 showed up for that game! If losing to the Nottingham outfit wasn't bad enough, our league match with them has to be rearranged because of the next round!

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Mackie is back, as are Kitson, Batty and Acuña, for the visit of Wycombe. It's another match we should be getting points from, as the Buckinghamshire side are languishing in 18th. In our last meeting, though, we were done by strikes from Grainger and Emblen. Both are in the side again today.

There's no such battle from Wycombe at the start of this game. Dave Kitson is keen to be back in the side, and whan Ommel gets the ball in from wide right, he's up above the keeper to head home. Batty had a bit of work to do before Friars set Harris up and the young midfielder added another goal to his growing tally. We had another one of those strange referees today, though. First he gave our Chilean a yellow card for a push at one of our corners, and later on he was to have a big say in the game again. At 2-0 down, Wycombe start to come out and fight, and Batty is called into a couple more decent saves, plus one which he can do nothing about which flicks off the crossbar, before half time.

You get the feeling that we need the third goal, just in case Wycombe start hitting the target with any regularity. It came soon after the break, and it came from Sergio Ommel, with thanks to Kitson who had hit a shot which keeper Taylor couldn't deal with. That's his 10th goal of the season, just one behind the mark Leo reached before his departure. The referee's second piece of comical intervention came when he awarded Wycombe a penalty, a good while after play had moved away. Emblen scored the spot kick, and I was glad we had got the 3 goals! Finally, the referee topped off his performance in duet with Wycombe defender Steve Jenkins. After booking the Welshman for a bad challenge, Jenkins unleashed a verbal assault on the official that usually would be sufficient in itself for a sending off. However, on this occasion it just merits a talking to! Still, at least we get the three points, and Ommel gets the man of the match award.

Division 2 Game 32. 19th February 2005.
Stalybridge 3 Wycombe 1 Kitson 9 Harris 22 Ommel 51 / Emblen 71(pen)

Peterborough, Northampton and Watford continue their winning runs, so we gain no ground upwards, but every win we get is one closer to securing that playoff place. A booking for the Chilean in the last game takes him to 10, and a two match ban will follow at the beginning of March. It also occurs to me that he hasn't been jetting off much recently. Sure enough, he tells me that he's not getting a look in for the national side at the moment. Although obviously upset at being spurned, he seems to take some consolation in the fact the national side aren't doing much better without him. They reached an all time low with a 5-0 hammering at home by Ecuador in October, whilst managing to snag only their 4th point of the qualifying campaign in November with a 2-2 draw against Venezuala. With eight games remaining, they are bottom of the 10 team table, and a full 11 points away from the playoff place.

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Unchanged for a midweek league visit to Wales. Wrexham to be precise. They're 9th, and we hammered them at the Bower Fold. Of course, they've improved a little since then, and their season is gradually getting better. Seems Teddy Sheringham isn't such a bad manager! I spy scouts in the posh seats again. The word is they're from Carlisle and are looking at Chris Morgan. Get yer dirty Cumbrian mits off!

The Carlisle scouts would have liked the telling ball that Morgan put into the box on the quarter hour mark, but it was the header down by Darren Mackie that made it easy for Ommel to score again. The big dutchman seems to be having a run of form at the moment. A Kitson chance soon afterwards and a couple of Friars efforts summed up the rest of the half attacking wise. Incidently, whatever happened to that run of form that Friars had earlier in the season? Just before the break Jaszczun hobbled off with a knock which will need the attention of the physio after the game.

With Browne on for Friars, we looked to hold out in the second half. Wrexham hit the crossbar on the hour, and hit a shot wide right on full time, but we could also have extended our lead. A fairly even half, to be honest. But, 1-0 it stayed, and Mackie got the man of the match award.

Division 2 Game 33. 22nd February 2005.
Wrexham 0 Stalybridge 1 Ommel 15

Another Welsh double. And at last a slip up from Watford to allow us to move third. The board are pleased (again!) and the good news just keeps on coming, with the physio reckoning Tommy J will be back in time for Saturday's game.

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Much amusement in punditry circles as Swindon Town appoint unknown Miles Bloke as manager. You can imagine the jokes. Hilarity aside, we travel to Sixfields for a promotion battle with a Northampton side who have held on to Peter Weatherston against all the odds. Weatherston and strike partner Jamie Forrester have 35 league goals between them, which sort of explains their league position. Jaszczun has recovered from his initial injury, but a reaction meant he missed training and isn't fit for the game. In comes Elgert, and there are other changes as well. Harris is due a rest so in comes Cameron, and Friars has a spell on the bench to give Browne a run.

It's not a pretty sight, as neither side want to give an inch, and both teams look to defend as a priority. Our offside trap works like a dream, and keeps the fast Northampton attack at bay more than once, as they take most of the play through the middle period of the half. Our first real attempt comes in the 40th minutes, when Browne dribbled upfield, finding Mackie in the area, only to see the Scot put his shot wide.

Challinor and Morgan had done such a good job in marshalling Weatherston for the entire first half that Kevin Broadhurst takes him off at halftime, replacing him with homegrown youngster Justin Georcelin. Not bad when you can bring someone off the bench who has ten goals for the season! Such is the depth of Northampton's goalscoring abilities. By the time the half is ten minutes old, we're starting to cause the Northampton defence some problems. Kitson in particular is causing veteran Billy Mercer to pull off some saves. Cameron, underperforming inexplicably again, is replaced by Friars on the left. Batty is holding the fort at the back, with Forrester and Georcelin resorting to long shots now, and we think we've got the lead when Kitson fires a shot in which the keeper parries and then turns the rebound round the post. There was no way Northampton were going to win though when defender Matthew Joseph got himself sent off for a professional foul on Acuña. Could we win it? Yes we could. Dave Challinor picked up a loose ball from a Mackie freekick and hit one goalbound with his foot for a change. The celebrations were emphatic, as we brought to an end Northampton's 15 match unbeaten run.

Division 2 Game 34. 26th February 2005.
Northampton 0 Stalybridge 1 Challinor 85 (Northampton's Matthew Joseph sent off, 85)

The only sour note of the game was a last minute injury to Bill Browne. The youngster will only miss a few days training though.

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Manager of the month for February is Watford's Kevin Brock. 4 wins from 5 got him the award, enabling his side to stay on a par with us. Players awards go to Reading and Barnsley lads, meaning another month without reward for Stalybridge.

And so to Old Trafford. It seems like an age since the first leg, but being 3-1 down does detract from what otherwise would be a huge occasion. Still, I tell the players to enjoy the occasion and get used to the feel of the big time crowd. Who knows, in a few season they could be playing at venues like this regularly!

They call it the theatre of dreams. As we walk out to face over 61000 fans we can only dream. Dream of the money, the quality of players, the support, the stadium. What the heck, we only need to win 3-1 or better! Martin O'Neill clearly thinks his side did enough in the first leg, as it's a totally different team out there today. Only Chadwick, Zidane and Scholes could be classed as household names, the rest of the team having only a handful of appearances between them. The last minute instructions from the coaching staff are to go out and play our natural game. Acuña is tasked with keeping Zidane as quiet as possible, with Morgan detailed to mark Scholes.

Everyone is well aware that the Old Trafford faithful can really get on their sides back if they think they're not putting in enough effort in. They like to be entertained, and they don't expect upstart sides from the second division to cause them any problems. After a potentially nasty moment when the feisty red haired Scholes squared up to his marker Morgan, the Trafford crowd were appeased with a first ever goal for Danish under-21 forward Mads Timm. The home side looked to slow things down, probably expecting to showboat for the rest of the game, but my lads had other ideas. Ten minutes after the opener, an Elgert cross was flicked on by Kitson, and Sergio Ommel put the ball away, silencing the majority of the crowd. They could have been back in front straight away, but an extravagant penalty appeal by Zinedine Zidane was ignored by the referee. Acuña was doing a good job in keeping Zidane under control, but he could do nothing about the neat forward ball by the frenchman which was flicked on by goal scorer Timm and fell at the feet of Scholes. His first effort was smartly saved by Batty, but the veteran keeper could do nothing about the second shot. Again the Premiership leaders looked to slow the game down, and everything pointed towards a 2-1 halftime score. However, in the last minute of play Mackie was hacked to the ground. He got up and swung a quick freekick into the box. Ommel headed it down, and in strode big Dave Challinor. A fine stage to score his 5th goal of the season!

So, 2-2 at the break, and we were looking at a completely different game now. If, and it's a big if. If we could get another goal early in the half we could really put Manchester United under pressure, as just one more goal would make us winners on away goals. Maybe my enthusiasm during the break was a mistake, as it seemed to take all the enjoyment out of the game for the players. They tried to push forward straight from the restart, but as would be expected against high quality opposition, most attacking attempts resulted in long balls into the box. Roy Carroll in the United goal soaked these up, and each time set his side up for a counter attack. It was from one of these attacks that Dean Harris made a desperate attempt to stop Chadwick getting a shot on goal. It was a forwards challenge, and after consulting with his assistant, a penalty was awarded. Paul Scholes sent Batty the wrong way and that was our chance over. It had only been the smallest of chances, in what otherwise was a lost cause. On came Bastow and Barker, but this time the home team succeeded in tieing up play, and there was very little action for the rest of the game.

In a very sporting gesture, the Old Trafford crowd applauded the Stalybridge players from the pitch. At least we'll have that to remember from the day. And the money, of course.

League Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg. 2nd March 2005.
Manchester United 3 Stalybridge 2 Timm 7 Scholes 33,55(pen) / Ommel 19 Challinor 45 (Manchester United win 6-3 on aggregate)

A quiet word with the chairman the following day revealed that we could expect to receive over £680,000 in gate receipts from our visit to Old Trafford. No wonder he was smiling like the preverbial Cheshire cat.

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So, now we really do have to concentrate on just the league. It's a big game to concentrate on next, too. League leaders Peterborough are the visitors to the Bower Fold. Their form has suffered a little since they offloaded Leon McKenzie to Birmingham for £800k. They still have Francis Green, now on 18 for the season, but they are not such a formidable challenge. Only one change in the first eleven for us, as Collins starts due to the Chilean's suspension. A couple of new faces on the bench too, including John Willoughby, who has been smashing them in from all angles in the reserves. Signed in the same year as Cameron, could he be about to make his big breakthrough?

I guess the Stalybridge faithful have run out of money, as only 5918 come into the ground for this fixture. Conditions underfoot are very wet, and it's clear that we're going to see some extravagant sliding challenges during the game. In what is set to become an appalling display, the referee completely fails to take this into account. By the time we get to ten minutes, Friars and Collins have already received yellow cards. It's all Peterborough, with the league leaders only missing the final touch to take the lead on two or three occasions. Francis Green was the man to blame for missing the best of the early challenges. Having forced a save from Batty with the first shot, he made the keeper sprawl again from the rebound. With the keeper finally beaten, he put the second rebound wide. When we did finally break out, play moved up the field and we won a corner. Up steps Harris, swings the ball in, header from Collins, 1-0. Simple as that. It couldn't have been any more against the run of play. The league leaders were rattled, and when Matt Elliot pushed over Kitson a few minutes later, Mackie stepped up and buried the freekick from 20 yards out. Nice. But again, Jason Batty was adjudged to have brought down a Peterborough attacker in the box, so before half time the visitors had got one back through that man Francis Green. There was still time for action at both ends, corners from Harris causing trouble for the Peterborough defenders, and a yellow card for Matthew Gill.

Two minutes into the second half, and the referee is at the centre of the action again. This time it's Peterborough captain Matthew Elliot who is getting his name taken. Six minutes later, he's giving Collins his marching orders, for a dubious foul which again was more down to the conditions than anything else. That was the cue for us to reorganise. Johnson came on to play a makeshift anchor role, and we set ourselves to defend. Willoughby came on to try and support the attack with pace from midfield. We need not have worried, however. Four minutes after Collins' dismissal, the referee produces a straight red card for Paul Arkle, apparently for dissent! Yellow cards for Burns and Harris summed up the referee's performance, whilst there was no further action involving the players, who all seemed too scared to actually put the foot in. Jason Batty got the man of the match award, despite the penalty, and the league leaders were sent packing.

Division 2 Game 35. 5th March 2005.
Stalybridge 2 Peterborough 1 Collins 13 Mackie 22 / Green 40(pen) (Stalybridge's Lee Collins sent off, 53. Peterborough's Paul Arkle sent off, 57)

Chatting with Barry Fry after the game, we both agree that the referee's performace was dire. We also agree to put in a joint complaint to the FA. For once, they listen. Whether they will review either of the red cards remains to be seen. As far as the league is now concerned, only 5 points separate 1st place Peterborough from 4th place Watford, with Northampton and us sitting in between, whilst there is a 13 point gap back to Oxford, sitting just outside the playoff zone. One of our ultra successful coaching team may be leaving us in the near future. Crystal Palace have offered Craig Madden a contract, and I suspect he'll take it.

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Not surprisingly, the FA contradict themselves again. Having agreed that the refereeing in the Peterborough game was poor, they refuse to overturn Collins' ban. More suspensions for us to deal with then! There's almost a full division 2 programme in midweek. Only six clubs aren't involved, because of Vans Trophy fixtures. So I get to sit back and watch Sky Sports Extra to keep up with the scores. Peterborough continue their recent bad run, losing 1-0 at Macclesfield. Northampton are one of the teams not playing, whilst Watford leapfrog us with a 5-0 demolition of Cardiff. It's going to be quite tight at the top!

There's also a fairwell party for Craig Madden, all before settling down to prepare for the visit of 20th placed Kidderminster. Jaszczun returns, but no other changes to the team for this game. Kitson and Ommel both had early chances to open the scoring for us in the first ten minutes, but the first goal was destined to go against the run of play. Route one football out of the Kidderminster defence found Graeme Coutts behind our back line. He made no mistake for his 15th goal of the season. The lead lasted six minutes, until Christopher Doig barged Friars over in the area and Ommel converted the spot kick. With Kidderminster now attacking again with their route one approach, this game wasn't looking as easy as it might do. Kidderminster, and particularly Igors Stepanovs, were all too keen to press the self destruct button though. Two yellow cards in just over ten minutes for the Latvian centre back reduced Kidderminster to ten men, and their attacking advantage to approximately nil.

Kitson didn't come out for the second half, complaining of a knee injury, and it was his replacement Richie Barker who took advantage and got himself back on the scoresheet ten minutes in, Friars once again claiming the assist. Credit to the ten men of Kidderminster; they didn't let us run away with the game, and the 6462 fans had to make do with just the 2-1 scoreline. Friars took the man of the match award.

Division 2 Game 36. 12th March 2005.
Stalybridge 2 Kidderminster 1 Ommel 16(pen) Barker 55 / Coutts 10 (Kidderminster's Igors Stepanovs sent off, 39)

Peterborough get back to winning ways, and Northampton continue their run, but Watford go from the sublime to the ridiculous, following up their 5-0 home win with a 3-2 defeat at 19th place Wycombe. So we're clear in third again, and with a game in hand. If only Northampton and Peterborough would lose another couple of games!