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Media predicted 22nd, board wanted a brave battle against relegation, as did the supporters. After never previously getting better than first-season relegation and dismissal in LLM, I wasn’t too hopeful of getting a new contract next March.
We began the season like a train, and by Christmas we had reached top, and mid-January we were five points clear. Then we were inexplicably hammered at Braintree 4-0, and that is when the long-awaited and long-expected fall from grace began. From then on only 3 wins and far too many draws were mustered, and we eventually finished 6th, three points outside of the playoff places.
For once cups didn’t suck arse too much, made the FA Cup 1st Round and FA Trophy 2nd Round. Goal de la Getter topped the goal scoring charts with 28 league strikes, and 33 in all. Also bagged Conference South overachiever award.
Match of the season was an away game at Hayes in November where we trailed 3-1 with 28 minutes to go when we pulled it back to 3-2, 84 minutes we levelled at 3-3, and 94th minute we stole all three points.
Conf. South
Final position: 6th
P42 W19 D12 L11 F71 A59 GD+12 Pts69
FA Cup (Winners – Middlesbrough)
2Q 3-3 (H) Canvey Island
2QR 2-1 (A) Canvey Island
3Q 2-1 (H) Eastbourne Borough
4Q 4-1 (A) Cirencester
R1 1-2 (H) Accrington Stanley
FA Trophy (Winners – Aldershot)
3Q 1-0 (H) Stalybridge Celtic
R1 3-0 (A) Salisbury City
R2 1-3 (H) York City
Champions League: Arsenal
UEFA Cup: Villareal
League Cup: Arsenal
Johnstone’s Paint: Oldham
Community Shield: Chelsea
Premiership Champions: Arsenal
Conference South
Relegated down from Conference National: Gravesend, Tamworth (Altrincham & Southport go north)
Up: Lewes, Eastbourne
Down: Bognor, Cambridge City, Yeading
Promoted from below: AFC Wimbledon, Bromley, Margate
Board expect mid-table, fans just expect a squad re-build. I am split because I felt that if we could forget about the way we ended last season and just played carefree and with no pressure, we could make another assault on the division’s summit.
Things looked bleak throughout the semi, the home leg ending in a poor 0-1 defeat. Away I went for it as I had to and as per usual went 1-0 down again, but a goal on half time gave me hope. We were level with 13 minutes left, 2-2 on aggregate now and extra time beckoned. Unbelievably I scored first goal of the extra period, but no sooner was I dreaming of the final, I had conceded two goals in the blink of an eye and was on the wrong end of a 4-3 score. Threw on Useless Pillock in the vain hope of snatching the final nail, and to my utter joy he actually got a 119th minute goal. So 4-4, and thanks to the skill from the spot in the shootout we managed to scrape into the glamorous playoff final at...urm, Aldershot.
The opponents were Gravesend. It began in perfect style, two up in the first hour. Gravesend however made it 2-1 with five minutes to go, and as per levelled things in the deepest of deep stoppage time. 2-2, extra time again. Like the semis we edged in front, but again we fell asleep in our joy and it was 3-3 at HT in ET. Somehow though in the second period we managed to turn on the style and ran out 6-3 winners. Promotion for Fisher, hurrah and open-top taxi because we can’t afford a bus.
Match of the season has to be the semi 2nd leg. All emotions and experiences within the short space of extra time – twice over – with penalties to follow. Magical.
Conf. South
Final position: [/b]3rd[/b]
P42 W20 D13 L9 F79 A46 GD+33 Pts73
Playoffs
SF1 0-1 (H) Braintree Town
SF2 4-3 (A) Braintree Town (AET) – Won 3-1 on penalties
Final 6-3 (N) Gravesend & Northfleet (AET)
FA Cup (Winners – Liverpool)
2Q 0-4 (A) Newport County
FA Trophy (Winners – Halifax Town)
3Q 2-0 (H) Horsham
R1 3-4 (H) Aldershot Town
Euro 2008
Semis
Sweden 2-2p Germany
England 2-1 Spain
Final (oooh...)
Germany 2-1 England
European Champions: Germany
UEFA Champions League: Villarreal
UEFA Cup: Lyon
League Cup: Brighton & Hove Albion(!)
Johnstone’s Paint: Chesterfield
Community Shield: Middlesbrough
Premiership Champions: Chelsea
Conference South
Relegated down from Conference National: Burton, Weymouth, St. Albans, Eastbourne Borough (Not sure who goes where, obviously Burton go north but is that it?)
Up: Tamworth, Fisher
Down: Weston-super-Mare, Newport County, Histon
Promoted from below: AFC Wimbledon, Bromley, Margate
The doubters were out in force as expected. Media predicted 24th, but the bookies had far more faith in me, backing me at 40/1 for a double-promotion. Board and fans wanted a brave fight against relegation, and my hopes weren’t much higher to be honest.
Started poorly as expected, but suddenly we stumbled on a marvellous run of form, culminating in me picking up Manager of the Month for December. However that was to be it as far as fun went. We recorded just five more victories between then and the end of the season, resulting in a major relegation scare, but we just about held off the chasing Tamworth.
A lot of the reason for this form drop was because we made a bit of a cup run in the FA Trophy, reaching the semis. However we did get there more by luck than merit, and were duly hammered 5-1 on aggregate by a team who I simply cannot beat, in Stockport. They also saw off my FA Cup challenge, which ended in the Second Round. Note: - Torquay United, in the same division as me, made it as far as the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, where they were humbly beaten 4-1 by Arsenal.
Match of the season: Worcester 3-4 Fisher – 26th Dec
1-0 up after 30 seconds, 1-1. Then within the space of 8 minutes, went 2-1 up, 2-2, then 3-2 up. Penalty equalizer for Worcester on 89th minute. 94th minute winner for Fish. Bliss. Worcester had lost 14 conseutive league games before this so it meant a lot not to be that team to not beat them.
UEFA Champions League: FC Barcelona
UEFA Cup: Arsenal
League Cup: Liverpool
Johnstone’s Paint: Walsall
Community Shield: Chelsea
Premiership Champions: Manchester United
Conference National
Down from League Two: Port Vale, Stevenage Borough
Up: Rushden & Ds, Mansfield Town
Down: Tamworth, Lewes, Northwich Vic, Worcester City
Promoted from below: Sutton Utd, Margate, Gateshead, St. Albans
Fishing in the pools of carpness 
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