retired_eneko5613

So we have a fairly pointless trip to Sheffield United to make on the last Sunday of the regular season. A point would secure a third place finish, and a Playoff semi-final against Reading, whilst if we lose and Watford win we will play Bristol City. Unless Bristol City win by more than 3 goals, in which case we will play Watford. Confused? You should be! One player who won't be involved in any of this is Dave Kitson, whose loan deal expired on the 7th. He had a good spell, but I would have liked to see more goals. He's certainly not worth the £825k price tag, but his contract expires next season, so we may see him again eventually.

Dave Kitson (Stalybridge 7/1/05 - 7/5/05) Played 22 Scored 6 Assists 2 Man of the Match 1 Average Rating 7.50

So in for the Blades game comes Richie Barker, and Browne returns in midfield. There's a week off before the playoffs so there should be no fitness problems. A first half penalty, converted by Barker, gave us the lead, whilst the Blades get an equaliser two minutes after the break. Man of the match to Bill Browne in a game from which there are few positives to draw. Another good game for Hulse. Time for Batty to worry about his position maybe?

Division 2 Game 46. 8th May 2005.
Sheffield United 1 Stalybridge 1 Carss 47 / Barker 19(pen)

So we finish 3rd. Not bad, but nothing automatic for third in this league. It's worth £450k, and I dare say the playoffs will bring some more cash in. Swansea pick up the last relegation place despite getting a draw against Barnsley. Our first playoff game will be away at Reading in six days time.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Second Division - Sunday 8th May 2005********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2004/5 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C Northampton 46 15 6 2 38 15 15 3 5 45 27 99 2nd P Peterborough 46 13 5 5 37 24 15 2 6 47 29 91 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Pl STALYBRIDGE 46 13 8 2 41 21 12 4 7 42 30 87 4th Pl Bristol C 46 16 4 3 47 24 8 10 5 34 29 86 5th Pl Watford 46 17 5 1 45 21 8 5 10 35 34 85 6th Pl Reading 46 14 5 4 50 29 9 4 10 41 42 78 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------7th Oxford 46 15 2 6 52 37 8 3 12 29 44 74 8th Luton 46 14 4 5 49 27 6 8 9 26 33 72 9th Wrexham 46 9 4 10 34 30 10 6 7 43 37 67 10th Macclesfield 46 12 3 8 37 33 8 4 11 31 35 67 11th Notts Co 46 13 6 4 37 20 6 3 14 26 46 66 12th Wycombe 46 10 6 7 41 38 7 5 11 25 38 62 13th Barnsley 46 11 5 7 35 27 4 9 10 29 36 59 14th Sheff Utd 46 10 7 6 41 33 5 4 14 28 43 56 15th Rotherham 46 9 7 7 35 34 4 10 9 36 46 56 16th Cardiff 46 12 3 8 33 28 4 4 15 25 49 55 17th Oldham 46 12 4 7 37 26 3 4 16 25 41 53 18th Kidderminster 46 8 5 10 34 33 6 5 12 29 32 52 19th Rushden 46 9 6 8 41 40 5 4 14 32 44 52 20th Port Vale 46 11 5 7 37 31 3 5 15 25 45 52 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------21st R Swansea 46 8 7 8 35 35 4 6 13 30 47 49 22nd R Colchester 46 8 6 9 34 34 3 5 15 21 47 44 23rd R Darlington 46 9 5 9 38 43 3 3 17 15 40 44 24th R Wigan 46 6 2 15 39 61 2 4 17 25 53 30 </pre>

retired_eneko5613

The week finally passes, and it's time for our trip to Reading. It's a difficult team selection, but in the end I stick with the starting eleven from the last league game of the season. Given previous encounters between us, I'll be adopting a careful approach. It wouldn't do to go too far behind in the first leg!

Over 20000 fans are inside the Madejski Stadium. The players are looking a little nervous, but this is nothing compared to Old Trafford is it? As you would expect, Reading are out to get a quick goal, and get it they do. Martin Butler gets onto the end of Lee Hendrie's cross and heads his 100th Reading goal. He knows it, the fans know it, and his teammates know it. It gives them a real lift, and two minutes later Hendrie whips in another cross which Nicky Forster puts away. 2-0 down after 7 minutes, and it's my worse possible nightmare. Paul Hulse is having a real shocker, and the other players are getting on his back. There's not that much I can do from the touchline though. The plan is out of the window, and we move away from our defensive position and start trying to attack. It works for about fifteen minutes as Browne starts to cause trouble for Ashdown in the Reading goal. On the half hour mark, though, Forster turns provider and Butler heads his second. Again, Hulse could have a certain amount of blame attributed to him for that goal. We limp through to half time without any more disasters, which is something at least.

So, I tell the boys, in the second half we have one simple objective. Score. One goal would be good, two would be better. They're away goals and getting one is all that matters. Suddenly, though, Reading have adapted from being the world's best attacking side to being the world's best defending side. Ashdown in goal, along with Sodje and Woodhouse, keep all our best efforts at bay. Even Ommel, on for Barker who was not exactly having a good game, couldn't beat them despite some good play. Then came the sucker punch. With fifteen minutes to go, substitute Mark Lynch put in another cross. There on the end of it, again, was Butler, eagerly snapping up his hattrick and putting the result beyond doubt. I guess that's our season over then.

Division 2 Play Off Semi Final, 1st Leg. 14th May 2005.
Reading 4 Stalybridge 0 Butler 5,30,74 Forster 7

I spend a long time just sat there, on the bench. The crowd leave, celebrating, and the players are long since showered, changed and back on the bus. Shock, numbness, sickness. Depression then anger. How can a whole season come down to this? Where did I go wrong? I blame myself, of course. If I'd only picked Batty instead of Hulse, or maybe started with Ommel instead of Barker...

Eventually, Aldo comes to get me. He leads me onto the coach and we're back on the road to Stalybridge. It's a long time before I get to sleep that night.

retired_eneko5613

By the time Wednesday comes round, I've decided on the changes for the second leg. It's probably just going to be a case of saving face, but we'll not let the fans down. They've given us unwavering support all season, and it's the least they deserve. In comes Batty, no surprises there. Ommel and Friars also start. We go out there to give them hell, and if we get a couple of early goals, then who knows?

But we've quite obviously finished our season a week early. Despite having the early pressure, it's Reading again who take the lead. Having been stifled out of the play throughout the first half hour by double marking from Mackie and Burns, Lee Hendrie resorts to putting in a decent cross from the only place he can, a corner kick. Defender Shaun Smith is lucky enough to be on the end of it this time. It doesn't get any better in the second half, as Forster dribbles past Jaszczun and Acuña on the way to his 22nd goal of the season. 6495 fans would go home with the same empty feeling as me.

Division 2 Play Off Semi Final, 2nd Leg. 18th May 2005.
Stalybridge 0 Reading 2 Smith 30 Forster 56 (Reading win 6-0 on aggregate)

Time for a holiday me thinks. No point in trying to hang around and force the Chairman into investing in the stadium now is there?

retired_amyslack

A heartbreaker that one

retired_eneko5613

Indeed
---

Time also for Jerel Ifil to return to Watford. He did his job, stepping into the first team adequately when required. I still think he'd be a good permanent signing, but I doubt he would come to us in the second division.

Jerel Ifil (Stalybridge 21/11/04 - 20/05/05) Played 3 Scored 1 AvR 7.00

Reading go on to beat Watford 2-0 in the Playoff final. Another goal for Butler, taking him to 30 for the season.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Stalybridge Celtic 2004/05 Club StatsClub Goalscorers:-----------------1. 15-Sergio Ommel (38th in Division 2)2. 13-Richie Barker (50th in Division 2)3. 11-Leo Fortune-West (53rd in Division 2)4. 8-Sean Friars5. 7-Dean HarrisClub Assists:-------------1. 17-Dean Harris (14th in Division 2)2. 11-Darren Mackie (28th in Division 2)3. 8-Clarence Acuña (65th in Division 2)4. 7-Sergio Ommel5. 5-Sean FriarsClub Average Ratings:---------------------1. 8.04-Leo Fortune West (Not enough games for a rating)2. 7.38-Chris Morgan (57th in Division 2)3. 7.35-Jason Batty (54th in Division 2)4. 7.27-Clarence Acuña (63rd in Division 2)5= 7.26-Lee Collins5= 7.26-Dean Harris (51st in Division 2)</pre>

retired_eneko5613

Time to take a look at how the Stalybridge Celtic old boys association is doing:

Fast achieving "journeyman" status, keeper David Fish is now at his fourth different club since leaving us. His stay at Norwich lasted almost exactly a year, before moving to Bristol Rovers for £120k. Surprisingly enough, he made no first team appearances all year again. Bristol Rovers have secured promotion from Division 3, so we might meet David again next season. In comparison, Steve Wood is having a stable career scouting for Macclesfield.

James Turley's career gets better and better. 14 appearances and 2 goals for the 23 year old at Univ. Oviedo. And yes, footballing genius Andrew Scott continues to impress at Northampton Spencer.

Eighteen year old Leigh Bradley has notched up 116 first team appearances for Northern Irish side Glenavon. Another goal, and another two European appearances in another brief UEFA Cup qualifying tie. Ged Murphy continued with his spectacular failure to break into Elgin City's first team, but his reserve performances impressed, and with his contract up in the summer he'll be moving back to England to Stafford Rangers, who are no longer a Conference side! Kevin Parr got his move away from Southend, at the expense of league football, signing for Bath City for a fee of £10k in December. Since then he's played more or less every match, and played well too!

Despite impressing his new manager at Wigan, Steve Bushell's contract is not renewed, and he leaves the JJB at the end of the season. Having seen Queen of the South slip into the Scottish Third division, Gerard Courtney scored 19 goals as they finished a respectable 4th. He's rated as one of their best players. Chris Perkins remains a decent squad player at Gandia. He missed another large part of the season through injury, and it looks as if I called that one right!

Winfield Steele notched another 11 Hucknall Town goals, whilst James Roberts continued to excel at Hounslow Borough with six goals from the centre back position, and four Man of the Match awards. Not such good news for Ryan Cole, who's footballing career is at an end, like so many other graduates of the Stalybridge youth system.

Of the 03/04 departures, Gary Scarlett, Geoff Collins, Paul Reed and Scott Griffin joined Ryan on the Stalybridge job market, whilst Andy Sampson has really fallen on his feet. After his brief period in Holland, he's now been snapped up by Watford and is playing regularly in their reserves. Is there a chance we'll see him back at the Bower Fold next year?

Dominic Crookes continues to have a good time at Burscough, as does Phillip Salt at Barnet, proving he was capable of stepping up to Division Three level as they finished 14th. Matt Wood's Stranraer made 4th place in Division Two, another good performance. Surprisingly, Kenny Munro is still at Cradley, and doesn't seem interested in leaving. He's too good for that level. Darren Atkinson spent the season out on loan at Kettering, whilst his employers Halesowen walked the conference by a clear 10 points! Another new face in the league next season. Richard Peacock seems happy enough at Abingdon, still.

Of those who have departed in the last 12 months, well, Matt Williamson's sorry tale at Oldham is well documented. Dave McEwen failed to break into the Torquay side with any regularity as they finished fourth and couldn't find a route to the 2nd division through the playoffs. Still money to come on that one, if he can get another 26 league appearances! Neil Mackenzie's 10 goals helped Hull to 9th in the same division, only another 5 appearances until we get cash on that deal as well! Gary Hart starred at Salisbury, with 19 goals and 23 assists, as he rightly should, whilst Danny Cullip made 19 appearances for first division Leicester, and would appear to have settled well enough. They finished 10th.

Shaun Gordon, David Dicks and Chris Barnes are yet to find new footballing employers. The government won't be happy, as we seem to be solely responsible for a significant upturn in the local unemployment rate!

Which brings us to Leo. Leo Fortune-West, who despite leaving mid season remained our third top scorer, and remains all time top scorer at the club. Well, his two goals in his first game against West Brom are well documented. He popped up off the bench to score another one at Sunderland two and a half weeks later, and then got one in each of two consecutive 2-2 draws at Stoke and against Arsenal. Dropped to the bench for the next game, he never made another appearance, and his one year contract was not offered for renewal.

So, Leo is a free agent. Wonder whether he fancies Stalybridge again?

retired_eneko5613

Close season 2005 - May.
31st - With the transfer window reopened, it's time for some big changes in the squad. First out the door are two of the youngsters. Tommy MacDonald and Garry Clemence both sign for Scunthorpe on free transfers. MacDonald never broke into the first team, but Clemence made the occasional foray.

Garry Clemence (Stalybridge 23/3/02 - 31/5/05) Played 4 Goals 1 Assists 1 Man of the Match 1 AvR 6.50

Coming in from Newcastle is Attacking Midfielder Brian Kerr. The 23 year old Scottish lad will primarily add competition for Harris down the left.

Close season 2005 - June.
1st - Another arrival is ex Blackburn striker Ben Burgess, who refuses offers from 5 continental clubs to join us. He's just broken into the Irish team in the last season, and is a good prospect.

2nd - Making way for the newcomers are two players who I just have to admit were not my best signings. Derek Riordan and Lee Hill leave on free transfers.

Derek Riordan (Stalybridge 29/7/04 - 2/6/05) Played 11 AvR 6.82

Lee Hill (Stalybridge 5/11/04 - 2/6/05) Played 13 Goals 2 Assists 4 Man of the Match 1 AvR 7.00

10th - Well, despite having gained two promotions in the last four years, Jason Batty still has a Non-promotion release clause on his contract. It's a measly £26k, and Luton Town are keen to take advantage. We have no way of stopping them, so our club appearance record holder will be leaving.

Jason Batty (Stalybridge 01/8/02 - 11/6/05) Played 186 Man of the Match 10 AvR 7.20

This leaves us with a small problem, as Hulse is clearly not ready to make the step up to a permanent first team.

17th - Batty's replacement is David Preece from Bradford. It's not often I sign a keeper, so I splash out and break the transfer record, spending £350,000.

18th - Andrew Martin arrives, completing planned acquisitions for the close season.

19th - The awards night sees Dean Harris voted fans player of the year. An interesting choice, but I guess they had to choose someone in Leo's absence! The chairman stands up to make a speech at the end of the night, and announces much to my shock that he has signed a £4.5million cheque to almost double the size of the stadium. Miraculously, the stand goes up overnight and our new capacity is 11000. It's a sizeable hole in my budget though. They are also upgrading the training facilities. Maybe the chairman was listening all the time?

22nd - More players departing in an attempt to clear out the deadwood and bring down the wage bill. Foley Sheridan isn't interested in extending his initial one year contract, so leaves. Steve Heaton eventually reaches the end of his contract and is released.

Michael Foley Sheridan (Stalybridge 5/8/04 - 22/6/05) Played 11 Assists 3 Man of the Match 1 AvR 7.00

Steve Heaton (Stalybridge 1/8/01 - 22/6/05) Played 74 Scored 1 Assists 15 AvR 6.58

25th - Two more players are released. Anton Walsh, who didn't play in his one season at the club, and Carl Bird who has played once in his 5 year Stalybridge career.

Carl Bird (Stalybridge 23/3/02 - 25/6/05) Played 1 AvR 6.00

The annual revue of the youth squad results in Bobby Gee being released (he was one of last season's youth products) and Darren Watts being listed.

retired_eneko5613

Close Season 2005 - July

11th - One of those strange decisions football throws up occasionally. Back at the end of May, Clyde signed Maurice Ross from Wolves for £400k. Now, A month and a half later, and without even seeing a game played, he is sold for £110k to St. Mirren. Odd. We start our pre season, as usual, with a tie against local rivals Chester. 835 fans grace the new stand, and they see us line up with Preece and Martin the only two obvious changes from last season's side. Andrew Martin has the crowd cheering with a 14th minute goal, but Chester take the spoils with a 2-1 win. Good performances from Martin and sub Ben Burgess, but an injury for Ross Johnson will keep him out for ten days.

19th - And so to this season's SCLC Cup. Watford, Oxford and Luton are the challengers, with Luton having stepped in for Bristol City who rejected the invitation. Oxford face Luton in the first game, and the fruit pelters are back for the first time since Barnet were here. They're targetting Jason Batty in the Luton goal. He has a poor game as Oxford win 3-1, goals from Stonebridge and Prince amongst them.

Watford put out a strong side to face us, whilst I'm more interested in getting starts for Kerr and Burgess. We're taken apart by Watford's Gifton Noel-Williams, who hit two amazing strikes in the first half. I was pleased by our build up play, but our finishing was atrocious! Martin in particular could have had a hat-trick in the first half. The second half was about introducing new faces, and Lee Collins had a particularly impressive period. Ironic, then, that Noel-Williams turned provider to give Watford a third goal. As in every season so far, we won't win our own competition!

20th - No point in risking tired first team players for a third-place playoff, so it's all change for Luton. Jason Batty wins the mental battle, as he keeps out our two shots on target. Preece, meantime, has a nightmare and concedes four. Not a good performance. Promising games for Willoughby and Hutchinson though.

23rd - Our League Cup campaign will begin at Loftus Road, as we face Queens Park Rangers for the first time in my career.

26th - Six days after our third place match, Watford and Oxford meet in the final of the SCLC cup. Watford having been on a tour of Wales in the meantime! David Lee scores the only goal of the game as Watford take the cup home.

Meanwhile, two loan players join for the season. Matthew Christensen is from Coventry, and is ideally suited to the central attacking midfield position. At just 19 he broke through into the Coventry first team when they suffered injuries last season, which means he is at slight risk of being recalled. However, if he can stay fit he could make a big difference for us. Rory Fallon is a pacey young striker who is unfortunate not to have made more of his time at Barnsley.

29th - Nuneaton invited us to a friendly down at Manor Park, and it's an ideal opportunity to give the reserves a last run out. Christensen is in the side, as are a couple of other first team fringe players. Plus I intend to give six or seven first team players half an hour in the second half, so they are on the bench. Nuneaton's Carlos Brown catches the referee on a bad day, getting a second yellow card for kicking the ball away after being booked for the original offence! That made it a bigger mismatch than it already was, and we took a first half lead through Cameron, set up by Burgess. In the second, Christensen showed his quality and rifled home to make it 2-0, before six first teamers took to the field. Disappointingly we couldn't add to the scoreline.

retired_eneko5613

"Hello, I'm the New Nigeria Manager!"

Close Season 2005 - August

1st - Well, my life is about to get significantly more interesting! A bet with Aldo led to me sending off applications to three African nations who sacked their managers during the summer. South Africa and Cameroon took the joke on the board, and replied with a polite version of "who the fookin' 'ell are you?" We laughed long and hard when we got those letters. We weren't laughing when Nigeria offered me the job. The chairman was obviously amused that the prank had backfired, and gave me the go-ahead to get involved in the Nigerian set up as long as it didn't affect Stalybridge. There would be regular reviews of this position.

There'll be a baptism of fire as well, as Nigeria are currently involved in the Confederations Cup. They lost their first game to Argentina literally yesterday, and play Australia tomorrow! I'm on the next plane to Frakfurt, leaving Aldo to make preparations for Accrington on Saturday.

2nd - With the game against Australia on paper being the easiest of the three Confederation Cup group matches, the team I pick is not the first choice eleven. At least not the first choice according to the previous incumbent. I decide to adopt the same tactics that I use back home. Thus we line up as follows:
Chigozie Agbim (Kaizer Chiefs); Emeka (Nürnberg), Isaak Okoronkwo (Sturn Graz), Taribo West (Kaiserslautern), Ifeani Udeze (Nürnberg); Christopher Kanu (Ajax); John Otaka (HSV), Alade Adeshina (Lecce), Tijjani Babangdina (Vitesse); Hugo Michael Enyinnaya (Bari), Victor Agali (Schalke 04).

Quite a German biased lineup!

Stepping out in front of 83600 fans at the Waldstadion is quite an experience. I get the feeling that my decision to include so many German based players in my team has got the fans on our side. I try to instill in the lads that they should go out and set about the Aussies early on. It seems to work as we have all the early possesion. It takes 13 minutes to convert it into a chance, though, when Agali heads over the bar. We took the lead four minutes later, as Agali centred the ball for Adeshina to head the goal. We make it 2-0 without coming under any pressure ourselves. Adeshina turned provider for Enyinnaya to volley an excellent goal. Enyinnaya added his second 6 minutes later, with a superb drive from a Babangida knock down. This was going like a dream! Unbelievably, four minutes later it's 4-0, as Udeze heads home a Babangida freekick. It could have been five on the stroke of halftime, as Otaka had the ball in the net but was offside.

To be honest, I wasn't interested in the second half. The Aussies were downhearted, and weren't offering anything, and I wanted to save my player's legs for the next game. 4-0 it stayed.

Confederation Cup Group 1 Game 2. 2nd August 2005.
Australia 0 Nigeria 4 Adeshina 17 Enyinnaya 23,29 Udeze 33

We stay in Frankfurt, and watch Argentina beat Australia 3-2 on the telly. The complicated qualifying routine for this competition means that because Argentina beat us, if we both have six points we will finish below them. Similarly, Germany beat Argentina so will be above them. So if we beat Germany, we will all have 6 points. It might go down to goal difference after all, I really don't have a clue!

Four changes to face the hosts, as Celestine Babayaro, Sunday Oliseh, Julius Aghahowa and Haruna Babangida come in. The line up reads:

Chigozie Agbim (Kaizer Chiefs); Emeka (Nürnberg), Celestine Babayaro (Chelsea), Taribo West (Kaiserslautern), Ifeani Udeze (Nürnberg); Sunday Oliseh (Dortmund); Julius Aghahowa (Juventus), Alade Adeshina (Lecce), Haruna Babangida (Barcelona); Hugo Michael Enyinnaya (Bari), Victor Agali (Schalke 04).

So, 5 German based players, 3 Italian based, and one each from England, Spain and South Africa! I don't think the crowd will be quite so much on our side this time.

It was all Nigeria, and I mean all Nigeria. Here we were, in front of 83600 baying Germans and we were playing them off the park! Some of these fans had been here two days ago cheering us on, but now it was completely different. West, Udeze and Aghahowa all got yellow cards in the cause, probably through frustration at the fact we were having chance after chance and Oliver Kahn was working wonders to keep us out. On came Jay Jay Okocka and Nwankwo Kanu at halftime to add something different, but the second half was more of the same. Okocha picked up an injury in the last ten minutes and was replaced by Bartholomew Ogbeche. Just as we were about to give up, ruing the loss to Argentina before I took charge, Haruna Babangida crossed in from the right. The clearance by Zoltan Sebescen fell to Agali, who scored his 10th and possibly most important Nigerian goal. Come on!

Confederation Cup Group 1 Game 3. 4th August 2005.
Germany 0 Nigeria 1 Agali 88

The celebrations after the game are like I've never seen before. These Nigerian guys sure know how to party! We've qualified for the Confederations Cup Semi Final, which is more than the FA could have expected. That means a Semi Final on Sunday the 6th. Therefore, I can't get too involved in the partying, as there's paperwork to do. Not only are there return plane tickets to sort out, but there's a replacement to find for Okocha, who is on his way home. So on the plane back to Manchester I place a call to Leverkusen's Pascal Ojigwe, a 28 year old midfielder with 19 caps and plenty of experience. To be honest, he was the first German based Nigerian I came across. I've got a hell of a lot to learn about this job.

retired_eneko5613

Landing at Manchester on Friday afternoon, Aldo picks me up from the airport. I ask for an update on how preparation for the Accrington friendly is going. I find out that I'm a player short! Matt Hocking, who was out of contract but seemingly willing to discuss a new one (at £300 p/w more), had upped and left the club without any explanation. Maybe that bang on the head he got a couple of years ago has done some lasting damage!

Matt Hocking (Stalybridge 1/7/02 - 4/8/05) Played 52, AvR 7.00

Back at the office, I set up the laptop that the Nigerian FA have kindly given me and catch up with events in Germany. After the days two Group Two fixtures, we'll play Italy in the Semi Final. It'll be at Frankfurt, again, so at least the team won't have to move en masse.

Oh, and Aldo has managed to persuade ex Leeds striker Paul Keegan to come to the Bower Fold for a trial. Apparently he looks good, and we should sign him! I really must try to keep up...

So Accrington visit for the 5th time. We've never lost to them, and we could do with a boost to our preseason. It's a full strength side, and the first time I've had to make some tricky selection decisions. The starting lineup is: Preece, Burns, Jaszczun, Morgan, Challinor, Acuña, Harris, Christensen, Mackie, Barker and Martin. 2417 turn up, not a bad attendance for a friendly, and they're in for a treat. Right from the moment Martin volleys a lovely goal in the second minute it's clear we're in the mood for a good performance. Mackie added a second in the 11th minute after a great run and shot. Christensen added a third with a glorious shot just after the quarter hour mark and it was 4-0 before half time when Martin headed a cross by the Chilean beyond Mark Jones in the Accrington goal.

Burgess on for Barker at the break, and it only took him 3 minutes to make an impression, picking up a Harris lob and taking it past the defender before shooting low to make it 5! Friars and Browne were given runs as we wound down throughout the second half. We didn't want to cause our Accrington friends too much heartache, otherwise they might not come and play us again! There was one incident to spoil the party, as keeper Preece had to leave the pitch midway through the half. Andrew Martin picked up the man of the match. If only he can play that well when it matters.

Friendly. 6th August 2005.
Stalybridge 5 Accrington 0 Martin 2,27 Mackie 11 Christensen 17 Burgess 48

Nice! I want to stay and celebrate with the players, but I have a flight booked back to Frankfurt. I just have time to nip into the treatment room to check on the condition of Preece. He'll be out for two weeks, or so it appears. I'll check up when I get back.