November 2009

Hinckley were our first opponents in November, in what would turn out to be the first of three matches against the Knitters in just over two weeks. They stood in 6th place, nine spots above us, so we knew it was going to be tough to bounce back with a win after the defeat the Redditch the week before.

I went with a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Simon Harrison replacing the injured Matt Bloomer at right back for his first start of the season, and Matthew Wood coming in for Ian Cox, who dropped to the bench. In the 11th minute, Simon Heslop played the ball into Nic McDonnell's feet, who then turned and scored from 20 yards. McDonnell doubled his tally 20 minutes later, with a dubious goal that could've easily been given offside. I wasn't complaining though, and neither were the fans. McDonnell had now scored five in four games. And that's the way it finished; we held on for the rest of the game, and quite comfortably if I do say so myself!

Four days later, 3rd placed Droylsden travelled to Wetherby Road, in what was another tough game for us. Droylsden had the best of the chances, but they insisted on wasting possession by going for long range shots, none of which troubled Gareth Stewart that much. Eventually, we managed to hold them to a goalless draw.

We then travelled to Gainsborough, 7th in the league at the time, hoping we could salvage something from yet again, a difficult game. Things looked as though they were going our way in the 27th minute, when Gainsborough defender Ryan Toulson brought down Nic McDonnell in the box, and we were awarded a penalty. McDonnell stepped up himself, only for his shot to be saved by the 'keeper. Then, in the second minute of first half stoppage time, Matthew Wood brought down Gainsborough's Luke Beckett in the area, and the home side were given their own penalty. Beckett made no mistake, and slotted the ball past Stewart. This was the way the match finished, in what was a very scrappy 90 minutes.

The next match gave us a chance to take our mind off the league for the time being, and focus on the FA Trophy. We were drawn against Hinckley in the 3rd Qualifying Round, after only playing them two weeks before. A 0-0 draw at their place meant a replay, and a third meeting of the month with Hinckley was in order. We ended up winning 1-0, thanks to McDonnell's header off a cross by David McTiernan, setting up a 1st round tie away to Kidderminster.

Ilkeston Town were our final opponents of the month. We played them at the wrong time though; they were unbeaten in their last seven games in all competitions, winning six of them. We had most of the possession throughout the game, but a David Graham goal after 78 minutes was enough to see Ilkeston over the line. Lawrie Dudfield almost made an instant impact when I introduced him on 80 minutes; he hit the woodwork from 20 yards, literally 15 seconds after coming on, and straight from the kick off.

So, that's November over and done with. A win, a draw and two defeats in the league leaves us in 16th place going into December. However, all four of our league opponents were on form, or pretty high in the table, so I'm not worrying too much. Next month does get a bit easier for us, but then again we do have to face Blue Square Conference side Kidderminster in the FA Trophy. I know I've said something along the lines to this every month so far, but things things will pick up! Watch this space.