August 2009

August the 1st saw us make the short trip down the road to our bitter rivals, and feeder club, Harrogate Railway, in what was our final pre-season fixture. It was a chance for the remaining trialists I had to show what they could do. However it was two youngsters, Ollie Ryan and Luke Durham, who grabbed the goals for us in a tense 2-2 draw.

My search for an assistant manager was not going well. The advert I placed attracted several names, but they all demanded a lot of money, and money was one thing that Harrogate doesn't have a lot of. In the end, I somewhat reluctantly drafted in Nathan Salmon to be Kevin Sharp's replacement. His stats weren't great, but I needed someone in the seat, pretty desperately.

After the Harrogate Railway game, I decided Lawrie Dudfield and Alex Smith had done enough to deserve permanent contracts. As well as this, 29-year-old former Bournemouth 'keeper Gareth Stewart was brought in, and quickly established himself as number one, ahead of Martin Pearson. Just before the start of the season, Daniel Broadbent damaged his cruciate ligaments which has sidelined him for anywhere up to year.

As difficult first games of the season go, ours was up there with the hardest. Away to Corby Town, the bookies' favourites for the league title. I went with 4-4-2, with high aggression and lots of pressure. It didn't work. They got a goal on the half hour mark which seemed to deflate my side, and after an own goal from Martin Pearson (Stewart hadn't arrived yet), it was all over for us. Very disappointing. Things had to change.

Unfortunately, they didn't. Our first home game of the season saw us play Vauxhall, whose goal just before half time was enough to see us off. However things did pick up at the next fixture. I put in 4-5-1 formation, with Michael Wood acting as the Anchor Man and Lawrie Dudfield as the lone striker. But it was the 38-year-old former Trinidad & Tobago international, and newly-appointed captain, Ian Cox that won the game for us. Cox's two goals, the second of which came on 87mins to seal the victory (and incidentally was a scorcher from 20 yards). A man of the match performance from the big centre half.

Things continued improving in the next game as well, away to Workington. After conceding two early goals, things looked grim. However an own goal gave us a lifeline shortly before half time. Changes were made during the interval, with Nic McDonnell, signed on a free just days before, coming on for Lawrie Dudfield. It was a quick-fire brace from McDonnell, on his debut, that won the game for us. Not a bad way to introduce yourself really.

McDonnell's performance had earned him a starting place for the next game at home to Sollihull Moors. Guy Lopez, a 30-year-old Frenchman I brought in on a free, also took to the field in the Anchor Man position. Danny Rowe, a talented left winger, was on the bench following his loan move from Rochdale. The closely fought game ended in a 1-1 draw. This was followed by a 2-1 defeat at Southport (in which Ian Cox grabbed his 3rd goal of the season), and a 0-0 draw at home to Hyde.

We're in 13th place at the end of August, and very much living up to the media's expectations. However, once the new signings have played together for a while, I reckon we'll see improvements, so watch this space! And here's a bit of a punt; Nic McDonnell to shine in September!