January 2014

Our first fixture of 2014 was an away fixture at Histon, who it's fair to say, were struggling in the league. Nevertheless, we were 2-0 down at half-time, once again conceding early goals; something we'd annoyingly done all season. So now we were stuck with the task of scoring three second half goals. After changing the team's mentality to attacking, we grabbed a goal back through a 25-yard strike from Ryan Charles. With Histon not offering much in terms of attack in the second half, we were allowed to press for an equaliser. Richard Offiong replaced Max Wragg with the formation altering to 3-4-3, and within 4 minutes of his introduction, Offiong had got on the end of a Lewis Montrose through ball to level things up for us. We definitely had the momentum, and with 7 minutes left on the clock, Montrose was again the provider, this time for Charles, who shot from the right hand side across the 'keeper for his second goal and the eventual winner. There literally is nothing better in football than a come back.

We were on a high, but our next opponents Stevenage were also on form and doing well in the league in 5th place. For 70 minutes, things were level, with us having arguably the best of the chances. However it was our visitors who opened the scoring with some slick passing that cut open our defence. After the goal, Richard Offiong was once again brought on, with the hope of recreating his super-sub performance in the previous game, along with Michael Noone who replaced David Fox in centre midfield. With less than 5 minutes to go, Offiong received the ball on the right hand touchline and played it back to Lewis Montrose in the centre of the park. Montrose then played the ball across to Michael Noone who hit it first time from 30-yards into the back of the net. It was a brilliant goal, and one that earned us a thoroughly deserved point.


We had to cast our thoughts onto the FA Trophy for the next game, as we faced Macclesfield in the 2nd Round of the competition. Once again though, we were 2-0 down at half-time, again adding to the leaky-defence-in-the-first-half stereotype we seemed to have. Michael Noone was brought on after the break and on 62 minutes, for the second consecutive game, produced a moment of sheer brilliance. Picking up the ball from Ryan Charles in almost the exact same position as he scored from against Stevenage, he hit a first time curling shot into the top corner that even Roberto Carlos would've been proud of. Richard Offiong was brought on shortly after we scored and less than 10 minutes after his introduction, he had drawn us level when Jake Simpson's cross was clumsily spilled by the Macclesfield 'keeper to the feet of Offiong, who had the goal at his mercy and simply tapped the ball into an empty net. It finished 2-2, setting up a replay at their place within the next few days.

The replay was an overall disappointing affair, to say the least. After we'd shown we were no pushovers in the previous match, the game at The Moss Rose in Macclesfield brought us right back down to earth. We lost the game 3-1, with Richard Offiong getting our goal. It meant we were now out of both the FA Cup and the FA Trophy, leaving us with no choice but to concentrate on the league for the rest of the season; starting with an away fixture at AFC Wimbledon. We were put on the back foot when the home side opened the scoring after 21 minutes, but Ryan Charles' 9th goal of the season ensured we travelled back to Telford with a point.

17th placed Gateshead were the next visitors to New Bucks Head, and we were out for revenge after their 3-0 drubbing of us earlier in the season. However it was not to be, and we lost the game 2-0. Burton Albion were our final opponents of the month; another team who were pushing for a place in the play-offs. Lewis Montrose missed out through injury, meaning Callum Harrison moved to centre midfield from centre back, with Tom Parkes filling his empty space at the back. There was also a new face in the starting line up; 17-year-old Sean Hines, a pacey left winger signed on loan from Crewe until the end of the season. Hines' inclusion meant Netan Sansara dropped back to left full back. Burton scored first after 22 minutes, but more or less straight away in the second half, Michael Noone pulled us level with another brilliant strike from 25-yards. It was his 4th of the season, and all the goals he'd got were from 25 to 30-yards; and this most recent goal was voted the Goal of the Month, with Ryan Charles' goal against Histon coming 3rd. Charles then put us ahead with his 10th of the season, and it looked as though we'd done enough to finish the month with 3 points, but unfortunately that wasn't the case; a goal-mouth scramble saw the ball roll to Charles Reece on the edge of the box and he managed to squeeze a shot through the mass of bodies and past Tommy Lee in our goal, to end the game at 2-2.

The results in January left us in 13th place in the league, although we were still only 4 points away from York in 5th; so all is not lost. I wouldn't mind a few wins in February though, just to get our morale going again!

January 2013

The new year began with a 2-0 defeat, away to our one-time Blue Square North compatriots Southport, who it's fair to say, hadn't had as good a season as us so far. We conceded an early goal after just 7 minutes, when Southport striker Scott Vernon scored with a powerful effort, and then conceded another with 20 minutes left, which left us with too much to do.

After the disappointment against Southport, we hosted top-of-the-table York City the following Saturday. Adrian Nevins and Richard Offiong were still missing, meaning Simon Davis filled in at centre back, with Lewis Alessandra and Denis Behan leading the attack. Ryan Charles had returned from injury, and made it onto the substitutes bench. It was Alessandra who opened the scoring, after 6 minutes, with a low shot following Lewis Montrose's through ball. Behan then doubled our lead on 38 minutes with a spectacular 30 yard effort. York pulled one back shortly after the break, but Behan doubled his tally and put the game beyond doubt on 64 minutes; getting onto the end of Jake Simpson's cross, which was Simpson's 12th assist of the season; a new record.

Ebbsfleet United were our opponents in the 2nd round of the FA Trophy. They'd had a similar season to ours; finding themselves in 9th place in the Blue Square Premier after occupying the play-off spots for the majority of the season. We went behind after 9 minutes, but Jake Simpson levelled things up for us 20 minutes later with a rebounded effort after Lewis Alessandra's initial shot. However, Simpson's game was ended prematurely when he fell awkwardly in the second half, spraining his ankle and as a result, ruling him out for 2 months. It was a massive blow for us; Simpson had been brilliant all season, and was certainly one of our unsung heroes. The Ebbsfleet game finished 1-1, meaning we had to replay the match four days later at their place. Jon Adams replaced the injured Jake Simpson, and Adrian Nevins returned and took his place at centre back. Ebbsfleet's Magno Vieira was once again our downfall, as it was the Brazilian's two goals that took the game away from us, and despite a consolation from Ryan Charles, it was them who progressed to the next round.

We only had the league to concentrate on after the defeat at Ebbsfleet, but at least there were no other distractions. Surely a clash against bottom-side Chelmsford City would provide us with a morale-boosting win? No, unfortunately not. We just couldn't hit the back of the net; but saying that, we only had five shots throughout the whole game though, whilst they had nine. It was a terrible performance in hindsight, and one the whole team would like to forget.

We went from playing the team at the bottom of the league one week, to playing the team at the top the next, as we faced Accrington Stanley (who had took over from York City as leaders of the pack). Some good news prior to kick off was that Richard Offiong had returned from injury, and would start up front alongside Lewis Alessandra. We were dealt a massive blow in the first half of the game; Max Wragg was stretchered off after 25 minutes, and scans later revealed that he had damaged his cruciate ligaments; an injury which could see him out for anywhere up to a year. Things went from bad to worse for us, when Accrington opened the scoring after 33 minutes. However, a Lewis Alessandra goal, his 5th of the season, brought us back on level terms on the stroke of half time. Things looked pretty equal for the rest of the match, but once again we were on the receiving end of some bad luck when Accrington scored with 3 minutes left of normal time; not long enough for us to come back. Very annoying, and we were beginning to be brought back down to earth pretty heavily after a fairly 'dream-like' start to our life in the Blue Square Premier.

To cope with Max Wragg's injury, two new players were brought in, with less than a week until the end of the transfer window. Ex-Lincoln City full back Paul Green and South African centre back Mark Arber were both released by their clubs at the end of last season, and were therefore signed on free transfers. Green slotted straight in at right back for the game against 16th placed Histon, whilst Arber was on the bench. The home side went ahead after 18 minutes, but two horrific pieces of defending in the second half meant Ryan Charles put us 2-1 in front. Both goals came from short back passes to Histon 'keeper Joe Welch; the first from left back Nathaniel Knight-Percival, and the second from their captain, Matt Langston. On both occasions, Welch was given hardly any time to control or clear the ball before Charles had tackled him, and passed it into an empty net. Maybe our luck hadn't run out after all. Actually, it had; after being on the field for a matter of minutes, Carl Tremarco fouled a Histon player in the box and the referee award them a penalty with 8 minutes left on the clock. They scored it, and things were level, and once again we couldn't come up with a winner, meaning the two sides shared the points.

We finished January in 8th place, which is good considering we'd been playing pretty poor of late. The month as a whole was disappointing, with the injury to Max Wragg a cruel blow to our ambitions. I can only hope that February will be much, much brighter.

January 2012

A home game against top-of-the-league Hinckley provided us with our first test of the new year. I went with an unchanged line up, and it was Lewis Alessandra's close range effort from Jake Simpson's cross on 30 minutes that broke the deadlock. Hinckley then equalised shortly before the break after a scramble in the box and some pretty lack-lustre defending. Alessandra managed to double his tally 10 minutes after the break, to put us in the lead. Shortly after, he completed his hat-trick following Netan Sansara's flick on. He had deserved the match ball. Ryan Charles completed what was now a rout, in stoppage time, with his first goal for the club. A fantastic team performance.

Five days later, we hosted Alfreton, and it was the away side that took the lead in the first half. However, just before half time, Lewis Alessadra, continuing his good form, grabbed a goal to draw us level. He then turned provider with 20 minutes left on the clock, when his cross was met by Ryan Charles' head to complete the come back, and indeed the win.

The next game was quite strange. We travelled to a Workington side who were 19th in the league, and not in good form, yet we managed to lose the game 4-0. We just didn't turn up, and were totally outplayed for the whole game. Luckily, it was just an anomoly in terms of our good form, as we beat Solihull Moors 2-1 the following week, thanks to goals from Jon Adams and Netan Sansara.

Worcester City were our penultimate opponents of the month, and for the most part of the game it was pretty equal. Both sides missed opportunities to win the game; they failed to capitalise on the fact they had an extra man after Sansara was dismissed, and Ryan Charles missed a penalty for us after 68 minutes. I brought Danny Carey-Bertram on in place of the uncharacteristally-poor Charles after 75 minutes, and it was the subsitute's goal 10 minutes later that sealed the win for us.

The final game of the month brought us up against King's Lynn at New Bucks Head. A solitary Lewis Alessandra goal on 23 minutes was enough to see us through to victory, and subsequently move us up to 11th in the table.

I was presented with the Blue Square North Manager of the Month award; the icing on the cake in a very successful month. AFC Telford United are going from strength to strength, and I hope we can simply keep on doing right whatever we're doing right, basically! The team is gelling very well, and everybody is playing as though they want to progress, which is good, and perhaps something that the players at Harrogate lacked. Here's to another good month...?

January 2010

A new year may have begun, but everyone at Harrogate Town was hoping that our good form in December would very much continue into 2010. A New Year's Day meeting against Farsley Celtic at Wetherby Road provided us with our first test of the calender year. They stood at the bottom of the table after a ten point deduction at the beginning of the season, but without this, they would probably have been pretty close to where we were. Farsley opened the scoring just after the half hour mark, but this was cancelled out by Nic McDonnell's 9th goal of the season shortly before the break, and despite a late surge from us, this was the way it finished.

Just three days later we were facing Farsley again, this time at their place, in a rearranged fixture from earlier on in the season. Our fixture list has seemed to be a bit dodgy (see November 09). The game was pretty dull, and despite being a man up for the last 40 minutes, we failed to capitalise, and it ended goalless.

A trip to the Midlands was in order next, as we took on Solihull Motors, who were bottom of the league, and this time they were actually bottom. No points deductions, just poor form. However, the way we played, a neutral would've thought we were in their position. We took the lead in the 19th minute thanks to Luke Dean's first goal for the club, but things went downhill from there. Solihull equalised with a very dubious goal 15 minutes later. I was warned by the FA after my comments about the goal, which I thought (and still think) it was a mile offside. Nevertheless, the goal was given and Solihull went on to score a penalty just after the break, and add a third with 10 minutes to go. Very disappointing.

A player I'd been looking at for a while, on the advice of my scouts, was 19-year-old central defender Harry Hogarth. Ian Cox hadn't been playing too well, so I snapped the youngster up on a free transfer, and put him straight into the team to face Stalybridge a few days later. We were losing 1-0 and tried to push for an equaliser in the closing stages, only for our defence to become exposed and leak another goal. However, Hogarth impressed on his debut.

A week later we travelled to Stafford, and it was Hogarth's first goal for the club that sealed a 1-0 victory. He was named Man of the Match in what was a very convincing team performance. The final game in January lined us up against 5th placed Corby, whom we played on the first day of the season, and lost 2-0 to. It was time for revenge, and from the kick off it was clear my players were thinking this as well. After only 30 seconds, David McTiernan received the ball on the right wing and put in a low ball towards Nic McDonnell who was lurking in the area. It was McDonnell's presence that lead to Phil Gulliver putting the ball into his own net. An excellent start. Things got even better just before the interval when McDonnell's low shot hit the left hand post and rebounded into the net off a hapless Mark Osborn in the Corby goal. Nic McDonnell should've had two goals, instead he had two assists to his name. However his efforts were rewarded with two minutes left to go with a powerful finish. McDonnell was deservedly awarded the Man of the Match.

The 3-0 victory was the final game in January, and left us in 14th place. It's tight though; we're only 2 points off 8th place, which is encouraging. We do seem to perform better against the better teams, and at the minute I have no idea why.