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An action packed January continues with the fourth game in eleven days, against Morecambe. Leo is suspended, meaning a recall for Allison, and Cameron is unsurprisingly knackered, so Harris comes in. It's time to switch our midfield pattern back as well, meaning Woods will have to relinquish his place and Peacock will return. Morecambe are struggling in 20th and only a win will do for them.

It's a quiet start to the first half. The only notes I've made by the half hour mark is to close down the man with the unlikely name of Ste Alty. An injury to Ommel means an earlier than planned entrance for Mark Peters. It's another chance for the youngster to make a name for himself. He has no involvement in the first goal, as it's Mackenzie who finishes a Heaton cross. Allison and Peters had half chances in the second half, but couldn't add to the score in what had to be one of the most boring matches in the history of the Conference. Morecambe created absolutely nothing.

Conference Game 25. 11th January 2003.
Stalybridge 1 Morecambe 0 Mackenzie 38

Still, it got us back into winning ways, and possibly it wasn't as boring as the 0-0 draw that Dover played out at Woking. Slough continued their amazing run, making it 10 unbeaten, with a comprehensive 4-0 thrashing of Chester. The news from the physio regarding Sergion Ommel is that he has a sprained ankle and will miss two weeks. News from the FA is that Lee Collins picked up his fifth yellow card in the Morecambe game and will therefore be suspended towards the end of the month.

Chris Perkins comes to me to tell me he has packed his bags and bought a one-way plane ticket to Spain. Another first teamer goes bye-bye then

Chris Perkins (Stalybridge 1/8/01 - 12/1/03) Apps 39 Goals 0 Assists 3 MoM 0 AvR 6.72

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We at last get a full week's break, but in our first full Wednesday training session for what seems like ages, Dave Challinor falls heavily on his wrist and the physio reports that he'll be out of action for a whole week. No doubt he'll get a few jibes from his teammates about that injury. It's not that much of a problem to me, though, as it's FA Trophy weekend. All Dave has to do is sit in the stands at Stevenage with the rest of the first teamers and support the youngsters.

Obviously, since the recent loan exodus, there is a reduced pool of players to choose from. Peter Brown is in goal, and the full back pairing of young Welshman Lewis and Scot Munro should be familiar to the fans, as should Williamson at centreback. Rob Cousins gets only his third run out of the season, however. Matt Woods and Phil Salt make up the central axis of midfield, whilst Dean Harris' promotion to the first team means that Darren Watts makes his debut on the left. Clemence gets another chance on the right despite two previous poor performances. Peters partners last seasons second highest scorer Matt McNeil, making his first appearance of the season.

It was one of those games that showed you just what that elusive mixture of youth and experience can achieve. The 2-1 victory, a scoreline blackened by a late, undeserved penalty for the home team, was achieved primarily due to quality performances from the experienced Matt McNeil, determined to make me sit up and pay attention to him, and, at last, from Garry Clemence. The 17 year old winger has a lot to learn, but this man of the match winning display should at least help boost his confidence.

FA Trophy 3rd Round. 18th January 2003.
Stevenage 1 Stalybridge (Reserves) 2 Dreyer 86(pen) / McNeil 21 Clemence 36

It'll be another away trip for the lads, but it will be a shorter and theoretically easier one, as we draw Northwich away.

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The first team have a tricky away tie at 5th place Nuneaton to worry about though. As expected, Challinor is back fit, and I have a full squad to choose from.

Despite paying close attention to tricky winger Jason Peake, he still escapes in the fourth minute, firing a shot home which took a wicked deflection off Challinor. The best chances to equalise fall to Mackenzie and Peacock, but the winger continues his dry spell, having not scored since September. The second half started with Nuneaton trying to put the game beyond reach. They flooded forward and put us under a great deal of pressure, but we withheld and started to push them back into their own half. Soon we were creating chances, but it started to look like Fraser Digby, a keeper who had conceded 6 goals in his last appearance, was going to foil our every effort. We got there in the end, with Collins feeding Cameron for the uncharacteristically quiet winger to score.

With the scores level again, Nuneaton flicked the switch marked "attack" and flooded down to our end of the park in numbers. They scored with their first attack, and our heads visibly dropped. But in stoppage time, a series of corners was concluded by Digby coming out waving at his granny for a cross ball from Heaton. Who should pop up to slot home his fifth of the season? No other than man of the moment Lee Collins! It was too late for Nuneaton to do anything about it this time.

I will have to find out why Leo keeps getting all these man of the match awards though...

Conference Game 26. 22nd January 2002.
Nuneaton Borough 2 Stalybridge 2 Challinor 4(og) Connell 85 / Cameron 81 Collins 90

The day of the C's! But wait, things weren't that bad, as Dover had lost! The only down side being that they lost to Barnet, and the new third place side can now overtake us if they win their game in hand. Slough's incredible run also came to an end, with defeat in Essex at Dag & Red.

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Barnet's game in hand becomes less significant as, live on Sky Sports on Saturday morning, they lose at home to lowly Chester. Chance, if ever there was one, for us to capitalise, as we face rock bottom Yeovil at home. We'll face them without Collins and Cameron though, so Woods and Harris come in.

The word "eventful" would be just about sufficient to sum up this game. Sure, it was a comfortable enough win, but it was achieved in a surprising way. Allison, who had been unable to buy a goal recently, opened the scoring just after the quarter hour mark. Once on top we hustled and bustled but couldn't manage to get a second before half time. Second half, after less than five minutes, Allison struck again. It's the first time I can remember the striker netting twice in a game. Wayne celebrates by getting himself sent off for an off the ball push. With a man disadvantage, we come under a little pressure, but I'm happy to play out the rest of the game with one up front if necessary. Leo has other ideas, and wants to get on the scoresheet, so when Adam Lockwood trips him in the area and earns himself a red card, he gleefully buries the ball in the back of the net to end his own personal goal drought with his 20th of the season.

Unsurprisingly, Leo gets man of the match, his tenth of the season.

Conference Game 27. 25th January 2003.
Stalybridge 3 Yeovil 0 Allison 17,50 Fortune-West 84(pen) (Stalybridge's Wayne Allison sent off, 61, Yeovil's Adam Lockwood sent off, 83)

It must really be our day, as Dover slip to a draw at Southport and, for the first time in the club's history, Stalybridge are top of the Conference.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Conference - Saturday 25th January 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st STALYBRIDGE 27 9 3 1 32 11 7 3 4 24 18 54 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Dover 27 10 1 3 29 15 6 4 3 17 13 53 3rd Slough 27 6 5 2 18 9 8 3 3 24 20 50 4th Barnet 26 7 2 5 24 19 7 5 0 23 13 49 </pre>

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Barnet's game in hand, which may yet come back and haunt us before the season is over, was postponed again in midweek, the bad weather down the road in Northwich being just too much.

Our first game as table toppers is a long trip south to Hayes, where ex Spurs, QPR and Cambridge striker Steve Slade is the one to watch, with 15 goals this season on top of 20 in the previous campaign. He's not getting Hayes anywhere single handedly though, as they currently lie 16th. They have Dundee United's Australian winger Mark Robertson on loan, but he has only featured in one game so far. Of course they also have Keith Brown, one of last season's loan heroes.

Cameron, Collins and Ommel are all back in contention for places, so Woods and Harris drop out. Ommel will have to be content with a place on the bench, at least for now. Hayes' formation is confusing to say the least. Top scorer Slade starts off on the right wing, with two other strikers up front. Their attacking outlook allows Cameron to run free from midfield and score his 10th of the season inside the first ten minutes. Peacock misses yet another sitter, but from the resulting corner, Collins drives the ball home for our second.

We continue in the same vain in the second half, with Mackenzie getting his fifth of the season. Time for the substitutes to get a run, and for Hayes to have most of the possesion, but it doesn't get them anywhere. Cameron gets a third highly deserved man of the match award.

Conference Game 28. 1st February 2003.
Hayes 0 Stalybridge 3 Cameron 7 Collins 38 Mackenzie 48

Dover beat Slough, whilst Barnet lost. It's tight between the two of us at the top, but a gap is opening below that.

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Barnet have another go at their game in hand, and finally get to play it. They win, but they are still five points adrift. For us, it's the reserves turn to play, with them travelling down the road to Northwich in the trophy. The game very handily counts as a served suspension for Allison, a bonus considering he was never going to be playing! The side does have a little more experience than usual in it, as fringe senior players such as Munro, Crookes, Williamson, Woods and McNeil play.

We think we've gone down after 25 minutes, but the Northwich effort is ruled out by the referee. We do go behind eventually, but not until the second half when a defensive error by young Clemence leaves a shooting chance for Wolves' Jordan Hall. We are really under pressure now, and Northwich have another goal ruled out minutes later. 2-0 isn't that long coming, though. Phil Salt gets one back, but it's too little too late.

FA Trophy 4th Round. 8th February 2003.
Northwich Victoria 2 Stalybridge (Reserves) 1 Hall 47 Morrell 62 / Salt 86

Disappointing games for some of the lads, Watts in particular, may lead me to reconsider their long term value to the club. I can't be too harsh on them though, as they've been up against first team opposition right through the competition. What is a concern, however, is the strained ankle ligaments picked up by Crookes in the dying minutes of the game. He'll be out for up to a month as a result.

It's the season for postponements. Our midweek game falls foul of Margate's FA Trophy replay, whilst Dover lose out on the chance to go top due to the bad weather in Nuneaton.

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I'm doing my own scouting for the next couple of games, as Barry Smith is off to run his eye over a few players I've been looking at. First up is Scarborough. They've caused us problems in the past, especially Darryn Stamp who was the hattrick hero in our previous meeting. His strike partner Johnson is, thankfully, suspended though.

A first half double for Leo, taking him to 100 career League goals, puts us in control of the game, but we haven't had by any means all the play. Challinor has kept danger man Stamp under control, but at the expense of space for the other attackers. Fortunately, their finishing has been poor. We take our time to make the game completely safe in the second half, with Leo missing a glorious opportunity to claim another hattrick. Mackenzie makes no mistake though, and at 3-0 with only a quarter of an hour left I can relax. Leo gets his hattrick with 5 minutes to spare, and the victory looks emphatic now. There's time for one more emphatic flowing build up which should have resulted in 5-0, but didn't.

Conference Game 29. 15th February 2003.
Stalybridge 4 Scarborough 0 Fortune-West 21,42,84 Mackenzie 76

2735, our highest league crowd of the season, watched the glorious preformance. I sent the lads back out after the final whistle to thank them all, but the biggest thanks of the day goes out to an unexpected recipient. Miguel De Souza of Farnborough Town finds himself at the top of my Christmas card list with a second half hattrick that saw the downfall of Dover. Barnet win again, but that is of little consequence. We're starting to build a gap at last.

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Dover win at Northwich in midweek, to apply a little pressure again. It's in our hands now though. Our next challenge is at 15th placed Stafford Rangers. They are still a one man outfit, with John Murphy having 16 goals now. We go into the game unchanged.

We're pretty irresistable when Leo wants to play, and he has us in front with just 7 minutes on the clock. I count at least seven more scoring chances in the first half, but it takes until the last two minutes of the half for Ommel to double the lead. An early injury for Collins in the second half sees Woods getting into the action, and he makes a vital challenge almost immediately. Stafford are coming forward now, and get a goal back with twenty minutes to go. We spurn more chances before, inevitably, Murphy gets his goal. We've thrown another two points away.

Conference Game 30. 22nd February 2003.
Stafford Rangers 2 Stalybridge 2 Jones 73 Murphy 82 / Fortune-West 7 Ommel 42

I am furious. The video replay shows we had 17 shots at goal. Peacock couldn't hit the rear end of a cow with a musical instrument, and I told him so on the way off the park. Even Leo only got one on target. And of course Dover won to go back to the top.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * English Conference - Saturday 22nd February 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Dover 31 11 1 4 33 19 8 4 3 20 13 62 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd STALYBRIDGE 30 10 3 1 36 11 8 4 4 29 20 61 3rd Barnet 30 8 2 5 26 20 9 5 1 28 16 58 4th Southport 31 9 2 4 26 17 8 2 6 24 22 55 5th Nuneaton Borough 31 9 1 5 30 24 8 3 5 19 24 55 6th Slough 31 7 5 3 20 10 8 3 5 26 24 53 </pre>

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Finishing remains something of a hit or miss affair, if you'll pardon the pun, and despite Leo, Allison and Ommel all being experienced strikers, I feel it might be worth pulling in another recognised face to see us through the final couple of months. With the transfer deadline looming I don't have much time, but one report from our scout stands out amongst the others. A few phone calls and meetings later, and I've pulled off something of a major coup, smashing the club transfer record to sign Dave McEwen from QPR. The initial fee is £150k, although if McEwen plays 40 league games another £100k is due. If we get promotion this will be worth it. Otherwise, he won't get that far.

Having given me the information necessary to sign McEwen, Barry Smith heads off to check the opposition again. He's doesn't get to Margate in time to see them play, so we're somewhat blind going into our home game with them. Surprisingly, for a midweek game, everyone is fit. McEwen will start on the bench, but Peacock is dropped and Hart gets a chance to clinch that position.

Out comes the old autograph book, as Margate bring a Premiership player with them. I've never heard of Ryan Amoo, whose paymasters are Aston Villa, but he's doing well enough. Margate have come for the draw, and pack the defence, defending so deep they've dug trenches. It takes us a full half hour to break them down, but Cameron doesn't waste his chance this time. Having created nothing at all in the first half, Margate manage to score with their first attack in the second. For a long period it looks like we're going to throw more points away, and then disaster! Batty punches away a tame cross that he should really have held, and Margate substitute Adam Webster is on hand to put the visitors 2-1 up. I have no choice but to throw caution to the wind, and it works as Mackenzie equalises, but there just isn't enough time.

Conference Game 31. 26th February 2003.
Stalybridge 2 Margate 2 Cameron 31 Mackenzie 82 / Cullen 46 Webster 78

The point is sufficient to go top, but it's only on goal difference. Once again only three points seperate the top three sides.

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In our last league meeting, Stevenage beat us is a tempestuous match, and our scout reports that Martin Williams is still their major threat. It does seem as though they will be missing "DJ" Campbell this time around though. For us, Cameron is tired but makes the bench. McEwen starts on the right.

The statistics made this look like an even game, but we murdered them. We outpassed and outshot them, and they packed the defence and tried to kick us off the park. Their keeper walked away with the man of the match award, which always speaks volumes. However, the statistics will also record a 0-0 draw and two more points dropped.

Conference Game 32. 1st March 2003.
Stalybridge 0 Stevenage 0

We may have an unbeaten run of 8 games, but just like last season we're drawing too many. Dover aren't making the same mistakes, and they go back to the top.