August 2012

The big day had finally arrived; Saturday the 11th August 2012 saw us play our first game in the Blue Square Premier against Southport, who had won the Blue Square North the previous year. Our starting eleven included four of the six new signings, with Richard Offiong and Denis Behan on the bench. We opened the scoring after only four minutes; Ryan Charles continuing his good form from last season by scoring from close range. We looked comfortable throughout the game, and Southport rarely threatened Alex Cisak in our goal. With 15 minutes to play, we were awarded a penalty which Charles duly converted to double his own, and our tally. Offiong and Behan were brought on in place of Charles and Alessandra, and in the first minute of stoppage time, Behan headed in off a Jake Simpson cross for a debut goal and to make it 3-0 at full-time. Simpson had played well; he was the one fouled in the box for the penalty, and he contributed to two assists as well. A good all-round performance from the team which left us in 2nd place.

Our next game was against Stevenage; a side who this year were battling some major financial problems. Michael Noone opened his Telford account on 14 minutes after a scramble in the box, and Denis Behan got his second in as many games, in his first start for the club, shortly before half-time. More or less straight after the restart, Jake Simpson played in Ryan Charles who easily slotted the ball past the Stevenage 'keeper. Despite getting a man sent off with five minutes left, Stevenage managed to grab a consolation goal in the 89th minute, to make the final score 3-1 to us. Another convincing victory which took us up to the top of the table.

Wrexham were our next opponents, in what would be a much tougher match than the first two. They had narrowly missed out on the play-offs for the past three seasons, and were a side who could potentially cause us an upset. Things were level for 77 minutes of the game, until Alex Cisak fumbled the bal into his own net to give Wrexham the lead. This came shortly after Ryan Charles had been taken off with a pulled hamstring, meaning he'd be out of action for upto a month. Lewis Alessandra and Richard Offiong were both brought on, and an attacking 3-4-3 formation was put in place. Almost immediately after his introduction, Alessandra received the ball on the right wing, took it to the byline and crossed for Michael Noone who was stood unmarked in the Wrexham box. Noone calmly placed the ball into the net to seal the draw for us.

A 1-1 away draw at York City followed, with Denis Behan equalising for us from the penalty spot in the 70th minute. We had slipped to 5th in the table, but a home game with Chelmsford City gave us another 3 points and meant we finished August in 3rd place. Richard Offiong grabbed his first goal for the club in a 2-0 win, with captain Graham Coughlan getting the other.

I'm sure you'll agree; we've had a very good first month in the Blue Square Premier. 3 wins, 2 draws and no losses so far; hopefully we can continue the good form. The transfer window closes in the first week of September, and I'm hoping to bring in a centre back before that. 18-year-old Simon Davis was signed on a season-long loan from Crewe Alexandra as cover for Coughlan and Adrian Nevins, but ideally I would like a bit more experience.