[FM09] Eastleigh story

Hello and welcome to my biggest challenge since I first bought Championship Manager back in the early nineties! Of course it’s Football Manager that I play these days and I have loaded a large database with all leagues in England, Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A as well as loading all players from Brazil. And I will manage Eastleigh! They are a semi-professional team playing in the Blue Square South division, but I aim to take them to the dizzy heights of league football and maybe if I’m really lucky, the Barclays Premiership!

A mission impossible? Probably. Does that put me off? Nahhhh… bring it on!

Eastleigh are a small club with big ambitions, in fact for a team with no history in any competition whatsoever, the board seem a bit too optimistic in their initial expectations. They’ve briefed me to guide Eastleigh into the play-offs after my first season. The club is very poor at this point, with just £18k in the bank there is no money for transfers and a wage budget of just £4.1k p/w

I only sold 3 players pre-season for a combined total of £1,000! Wages has gone up though because I’ve bought in 9 new players, all for free. I’m particularly excited about left winger Sean Doherty who has brilliant stats. He came on as a substitute in our first friendly game and went on to score 2 goals and grab the Man of the Match award – a fantastic start to his career here. The fans are also particularly happy with the capture of former Manchester City goalkeeper Filip Mentel – my scouts say he’s twice the player of our next best goalkeeper and he’ll go straight into the starting line-up.

We had a fairly good pre-season, starting with a thumping 5-1 win away at Bradford Park Avenue and following that with a good performance against League One’s Southampton. We lost that game 5-2 but it was a convincing performance against our parent club who play 3 divisions above us. The last friendly match saw us dominate last season’s winners of the Blue Square South, AFC Wimbledon – but we struggled converting our chances and came away with a 1-1 draw.

So the season was now going to start, and we had a tricky match at St. Albans to think about.

I’m a great believer in good starts, I think it breeds confidence and a winning mentality which is very important – so I thought an away win at St. Albans was important. I told the lads they could do it today to try and instil some belief, but we were given an early scare when we conceded inside 5 minutes – thankfully the linesman ruled it out for offside, correctly I might add! From then on we were under the kosh and St. Albans did score and dominated all the way up to half-time. I told a couple of my senior players to go and prove a point and told most the lads to buck their ideas up, I wanted to see more fight from them in the second half. They responded well but an equaliser looked unlikely as the St. Albans defence refused to buckle – that was until the 86th minute when substitute Nick Watt scored a scrappy goal to level things up. I told the lads to go for it then, pushing them forward as we pushed for a winner, but it didn’t come and in the end we had to settle for a point.

Next up was our first home game, against Braintree Town. Our season tickets had been announced before the game and I told the lads to put in a good performance for the fans to repay their loyalty. They clearly listened as we came out all guns blazing and took an early lead through Sean Doherty. We had a chance to double the lead in first half injury time with a free kick on the edge of the box. Andy Harris rattled the ball against the upright and then Braintree couldn’t clear the ball, leaving Nathan Cartman free to poke the ball home! We had a good 2-0 lead going into half-time and I told the lads not to let their performance drop. The words had a detrimental effect as just 3 minutes into the second half we conceded a silly goal. This picked up Braintree’s spirits and they played well throughout the second half but our task of hanging on to the lead was made a little easier when they had a player sent off. We managed to see out the match but did get some bad news with our goalkeeper picking up a knock and he’ll be out for 2 weeks.

We got off to a disastrous start in our next game at Welling United, going a goal down after just 5 minutes. We kept to our game plan until half time but I felt we needed to create more in the second half so we tried to be more attacking, but we couldn’t find a goal from anywhere and I think it would have finished 1-0 had it gone on all night.

The Welling match was my first taste of defeat as Eastleigh boss and It wasn’t nice – I wanted us to bounce back in our next match, at home to recently relegated Lewes. I told the boys before the game not to be scared of Lewes and let them know that they can beat them – but they’ll need to play sensible attacking football. Things didn’t go to plan though as we conceded yet another early goal, and didn’t look like getting an equaliser from anywhere. I was angry at half time and let the lads know how I was feeling. After that shambles of a first half I expected nothing less than a win, they had to show the fans we weren’t a team who, once down, would keel over and take a hiding. Nathan Cartman responded well with a good header and we were back to all square, but just 8 minutes later we were behind again after more sloppy defending. We pushed all out attack during the last 20 minutes and got back on level terms through another Cartman goal from midfield, but we couldn’t find a winner and came away with a disappointing draw. There was a couple of individual performances I was pleased with but as a team it hadn’t been a convincing performance and I let the players know how I felt – we should be winning games like this one.

There was one more match this month and it was away to the league leaders Dover Athletic. They had started brilliantly with 3 wins out of 4 seeing them a point clear in the early runnings. We kept the same formation but used counter attacking football which didn’t work at all and we found ourselves 2 goals down after just 19 minutes. I immediately changed to a more attacking tactic to try and get back into the game but it was still 2-0 at half time. I tried to lift the lads with some encouragement and Sean Doherty fired a goal soon after the break, but we couldn’t get that equaliser and it was another defeat.

Overall it had been a bad start to the season. There’s no two ways about it, one win out of five is not good enough and things would have to improve. We were 16th in the table and we now need to get a winning mentality - we have big aspirations here at Eastleigh and hopefully September will be a more successful month.

The first game in September was in the Setanta Shield, away to St. Alban’s who we drew against on the opening day of the season. We also had two home and two away games in the league. Here’s to a better month then!

The last thing we wanted to do was start the new month where we left off the last, but unfortunately that’s exactly what we did. I fielded a strong team in the Setanta Shield because we could do with a decent cup run and the finances it could bring, but once again we conceded an early goal and this time never looked like getting back into the game. By the full-time whistle, it’s fair to say the 2-0 scoreline flattered us. We were well below par and the sending off of centre back Tom Jordan just rubbed salt in the wound.

There would be no excuses now, we were playing Newport County at home in the league and we had to win it. I know it’s very early in the season, but if we carried on not getting results then we would have to reassess all our goals this campaign. Again, I fielded the strongest team available to me for this one. After 23 minutes we’d had two players taken off injured which wasn’t good, but we had taken the lead through a Sean Doherty free kick on 15 minutes. After conceding so many early goals it was a nice feeling to have scored one. Doherty doubled his tally not long after and we took a comfortable 2-0 lead into the break. We started the second half well and pummelled the Newport goal, grabbing a third through a long range Andy Harris strike with not long remaining. Newport pulled a goal back with a great goal but when Jamie Brown converted a penalty for us it was game over. A good win and a very good performance! I asked my team why they couldn’t play like this every week, they should take confidence from this match and confidence breeds results.

The match did bring some very bad news though, one of my most inspired signings Nathan Cartman tore his calf muscle and will be out for 5-6 months. It’s a massive blow because he’s been our best player so far, but we’d now have to cope without him for the majority of the season.

Next up was a trip to Maidenhead who were 3 points above us in the league. We were underdogs for the match but I hoped we’d take some momentum from the last game into this one. I actually changed formation for this because I didn’t think our away performances had been anything like our home ones and I went for a more conventional 4-4-2. We started on the back foot as Maidenhead took advantage of playing at home but Mentel was brilliant in goal and was rewarded with a rest for most of the game as we started to find out feet. Andy Harris scored either side of the break to give us a 2-0 lead as we began to dominate the game. We could’ve and should’ve scored more and were given a late scare when Liam Francis fouled in the box to give Maidenhead a last minute penalty, which they scored, but we held our own and grabbed a much deserved win. Our first away win of the season and what a performance from the midfield man Andy Harris!

The press were all over Andy Harris the next day, so I tried to calm things down by saying I was pleased with his form but I expected him to maintain it. We were home to Staines Town just 3 days later and I told the lads I expected a win – Staines had started the campaign badly and were second bottom in the league. Andy Harris wasted no time in continuing his good form by shooting low from the right hand side of the box, the ball crept in the near post and we were 1-0 up. We continued to create chances but were punished for not taking them when complacency set in at the back and Staines drew level before half time. At the break I reminded my players we were playing in front of our own fans and we need to go out there and play our best in front of them. They clearly listened as they went out and upped their game ten-fold, but the Staines keeper was on top form and kept a number of our shots out. With us playing so well I was reluctant to make any changes and my gut instinct told me not to. However, with just 20 minutes remaining I was getting ready to bring on a further attacking option when we got a corner – and Tom Jordan headed in to give us a 2-1 lead! So instead I made a defensive substation and shouted for the lads to hold up the ball and waste time when they could. We ran the clock down to injury time, then gave a stupid free kick away right on the edge of the box. Thankfully, a Staines player rifled the ball well over the crossbar and the final whistle was blown. I was delighted – a third straight win in the league and things were suddenly picking up!

The FA Cup 2nd Qualifying round had been drawn and we were given a home tie against Lewes. We’d recently drawn 2-2 in the league at home to them but a repeat of that would mean a replay and we were keen to avoid that, so we wanted a win in 90 minutes. Our finances are slowly creeping downhill and we’re now £5k in the red, so a good run in the FA Cup would be very important to us financially. We went into the game quietly confident after a good run of form. I only made three changes to what I believed to be my strongest squad, replacing my left back and left winger with two fringe players and I gave Andrew Boyce a starting role at centre back too. And at first I thought it was Boyce who gave us the lead but as it happens his header ricocheted off a Lewes striker. We took that lead into half time and played well in the second half to see out the win – it took an own goal but we were through to the next round of the FA Cup! The £4,500 prize money might sound small but it was vital to us, and added to the gate receipts we were now back in credit with nearly £7,000 in the bank. We were excited about who we’d get in the 3rd qualifying round.

Bromley had drawn their FA Cup match and it was rearranged for a few days later which meant out league game with them was rearranged. So that was our month finished and it had been a much improved one. 3 wins out of 3 in the league saw us move up to 6th in the table.

I came 3rd in the manager of the month award for September, it was nice to be nominated at all! October would see us play 5 league games and the FA Cup 3rd qualifying round had drawn us at home to Bognor Regis Town, who needed a replay and then extra time to narrowly beat Horsham. It was a kind draw considering some of the teams in the competition but we wouldn’t get complacent – as I’ve stressed, the financial benefits a cup run could bring would be magnificent for us!

A very nice style of updates here, quite unique!

I have noticed though this is in the stories forum as well. Have you decided which one to put this in?

Keep it up anyways

Thanks

Yeah apparently you're not allowed pictures in the Stories forum and that's what I've worked really hard to achieve, the pictures! So I thought I'd put it in this forum to get the pictures in, but then wanted to carry it on in Stories as well because I figured more people will read it... what do you advise, just stick to one?

Thanks for the compliments.

I don't know really.. Yours kind of matches both forums

Stories because of the detail you put in to it which I don't think many others do. (Not meant as an insult to anybody here)

But if you feel that pictures are neccesary then here would be the place.

It is really up to you but I would say that it is either one or the other.

Anyways, we here at Career Updates are prepared to welcome you with open hands.

I think your better suited here. But if that doesn't satisfy ya, why not open a story thread alongside this, and update this with pics, but the story one without?

I think your better suited here. But if that doesn't satisfy ya, why not open a story thread alongside this, and update this with pics, but the story one without?

He's already done that gav

Excellent

The first game in October was home to Bath City who were currently propping up the rest of the league, and the bookies were expecting a comfortable home win with our odds at 1/2. The fans would be expectant too but I didn’t want to pressure the lads too much, so I tried to instil some belief in the pre-match team-talk by telling them they could win. We started very brightly and got the break through on 21 minutes when Andy Riviere scored his first goal of the season. He’d already scored 5 goals for the reserves, a great tally at this stage of the season for a midfielder. We continued to make chances, Chris Mason had a goal ruled out for offside and we went into the break 1-0 up but knowing it should have been more. Andy Harris picked up a slight knock in the second half and I subbed him on the hour mark for Luke Byles, changing the formation to 4-4-2 in the process. It proved a good tactical change as it was Byles who smashed in from an uncleared corner to give us a two goal cushion. We got a bit sloppy from then on and Bath had a couple of good chances to get themselves back in the game, but some good goalkeeping from Mentel insured we kept another clean sheet and got another 3 cuicial points.

We reverted to the 4-4-2 for our trip to Bromley, a tactic that had served us well the few times we’ve used it this season. It’s a formation that brings my strikers much more into the game, and Matt Groves broke his duck for the season inside the first minute with a good header after some great work down the right from Wes Fogden. Fogden had his own chances to get on the scoresheet but shot wide an amazing three times from close range, but we kept the 1-0 lead until half-time. I only hoped he wouldn’t rue those missed chances in the second half. I gave my lads some encouragement at half-time, they were playing well away from home and I wanted only to keep that momentum going. We started the second half well but continued to miss chances, left winger Sean Doherty the main culprit this time. And then just after the hour mark, Wes Fogden dribbled through from the right and shot… this time… goalllll!! It was 2-0 and Fogden had scored a great strike. But 2-0 is a dangerous scoreline and Bromley pulled one back with a header from a poorly defended corner. It was going to be a very nervy final ten minutes! However we soon relieved the pressure when Doherty set up Matt Groves for his 2nd of the game, and a minute later he missed a golden chance for a hat-trick by shooting wide when clean through on goal. It was a sensational performance and the lads were really starting to pick up a winning mentality.

Next up was our FA Cup 3rd qualifying round against Bognor Regis. We were 1/3 favourites and rightly so really, Bognor were relegated from the Blue Square South last year and had suffered an exodus of players since then. My assistant had said in the pre-match press conference that we would be expecting a win and the players had responded well to that comment, so rather than repeat the message I wished them luck. I had fielded a much weakened side than normal and didn’t want the fringe players to feel under too much pressure by having the expectancy on their shoulders. We actually started off on the back foot as Bognor created a wave of chances inside the first ten minutes, but it was us who took the lead through Matt Groves. Nick Watt doubled the lead just before half-time as we began to take real control of the game. I told the lads the job was only half done and not to let their performance drop in the second half, but we did gift Bognor a chance to get back into the match minutes in when Luke Byles bought down their forward in the box – only for them to rattle the spot kick against the crossbar. Danny Harper was sent off and we actually finished the game with 9 men when Peter Adeniyi was stretchered off injured after we’d used all 3 substitutions, but we bossed the park and held on comfortably to progress. £7,500 was the prize money this time – fantastic for us!

The draw for the 4th qualifying round was about to be made and we were hoping it would be kind to us – if we could get through then we would be in the FA Cup 1st round proper for the first ever time! The draw included teams from the Blue Square Premier but we avoided them and got our first away draw of the competition so far – away to Havant & Waterlooville. They were in our league and doing fairly well, but we really believe we can win it. The FA Cup First Round would feature many league teams, and the income that could potentially bring was a big incentive.

Adeniyi’s injury in the last game was worse than first feared, and he’ll now be out for 5/6 months with a torn calf muscle. It’s the same injury that is keeping Nathan Cartman sidelined for most of the season and it was unlucky for us but we’d have to cope. Our next opponents were Chelmsford City who at the start of the season were tipped to finish in the play-offs but surprisingly sat in the relegation zone at the moment. It would be a tough game, Andy Harris was still out injured and with Danny Harper suspended we were short of midfielders. But it was a midfielder who gave us the lead, Riviere in fantastic form at the moment rifled in a shot from the right side edge of the box that hammered in off the keepers far post. Chelmsford came out much stronger in the second half and it was Riviere who was out-jumped by David Rainford who headed in their equalizer. It was a nervy game for both sides after that and we both missed a couple of good chances to grab a winner, and at the end the 1-1 draw was a fair result.

We were now second in the league and our next match was home to the team in third. Hampton & Richmond Borough were level on points with us and this was a big game. I told the lads to win for the fans today, after dropping 2 points in the last game they’d be desperate for us to grab all 3 today. It started out a very even game with both teams having good chances to take the lead, but when Sean Doherty headed in for us we looked far more lively and doubled the lead not long after through Jamie Brown. I reminded the lads at half-time how well Hampton & Richmond has started the season and that the game was far from over. We continued to play well in the second half but so did Hampton and it became a very even game again, but Hampton left it too late to pull a goal back and we managed to hold on to a vital win! We had a very late scare as Wes Fogden appeared to foul inside our box but the ref gave a freekick right on the edge and they put it wide. A great result for us and we continue are brilliant home form – we’re unbeaten at The Silverlake Stadium so far.

After a shaky start, we now looked to be finding our feet this season. The press seemed to be impressed with our start and chose a very random time to highlight my impressive businesses in the transfer market. Everybody seemed very happy with the signings I’d made who all seemed to be making a big impact. Well, the ones that have managed to stay injury free anyway!

Our next game was the trip to Havant & Waterlooville for the FA Cup 4th qualifying round. I wanted a win badly today, and with Havant doing very well in the league (they’ve now climbed to 4th place and were the bookies favourites for today) I reverted to the counter attacking 4-4-2 formation. This was not going to be an easy game and we would need to work very hard. The first bit of action in the game was one of the earliest sending offs I can recall! A foul by Luke Nightingale of Havant earned him a booking after just 30 seconds, and amazingly he fouled again a minute later and was shown a second yellow! Almost immediately I switched to our more attacking tactic of 4-1-2-2-1 as we looked to take advantage of the extra man. We had much more of the play but couldn’t convert, so around the hour mark I went to a more attack minded 4-4-2 to get more presence up-front, but we still couldn’t find that breakthrough. With 15 minutes to go we got our best chance – a penalty kick! Liam Francis stepped up… and dragged it wide. The game seeped out and finished 0-0, a result in the end that Havant will be delighted with! An average performance from us but it’s better than a defeat and we look forward now to the replay at our place in just four days time.

Can I just say, I’m not sure if somebody has put a curse on my squad, but with Nathan Cartman and Peter Adeniyi both out for most the season with a torn calf muscle, TWO more players have now suffered the exact same fate! And its two more midfielders, Danny Harper and reserve player James Screen will now miss most of the season as well after tearing their calf muscles in training. What is going on?!!

Anyway, the FA Cup 1st round draw took place and either Havant or ourselves would play at home to League Two’s Macclesfield Town. That was some incentive, because not only would they bring a large crowd but, we thought, it was WINNABLE!

And so to the replay. This time it was our turn to go down to 10 men, lone striker Michael Groves was sent off for a cynical foul mid-way through the first half. We shook things up a little, sacrificing the defensive midfield role by moving Andy Harris to central mid and pushing Jamie Brown up-front. We seemed to actually play better with the 10 men, and Sean Doherty wasted a great chance to give us the lead by pulling his shot wide when one-on-one with the keeper! But we kept the lion’s share of possession and deservedly took the lead just before half-time when Tom Jordan headed in from a corner. Get in!! I gave the lads some encouragement at the break to try and instil some belief that they could do this despite being a man down. With half an hour to go it was clear Havant were getting more and more into the game. Filip Mentel made a quite brilliant save to deny them an equaliser, and I changed to a 4-4-1 formation to try and get more of the midfield possession. We held on for so long but must have gone too defensive towards the end because Havant were really starting to get on top. And in the 83rd minute, they grabbed a scrappy equaliser after we failed to clear the ball properly. So we attacked. I thought it was worth going for it now, because my players were tiring and the last thing we needed was extra time. In stoppage time Joe Maxwell had a great chance to win it for us but the keeper made a good save. But then, three minutes into injury time, Maxwell made a great run down the right, cut inside toward the near post, we all thought he was going to shoot to the keeper’s near post… but no, he squared it to Chris Mason who fired a shot towards goal… and it’s gone in!!!!! It’s the last kick of the game, the final whistle’s gone and we’ve done it!! We’re through the first round of the FA Cup and what a dramatic way to do it!

Everybody was thrilled with the win and we pocketed £12,500 prize money for it as well as attracting over a thousand fans to watch the replay which generated huge money as well. We now have £36,000 in the bank and were a little more financially stable for the time being. There was unfortunately yet more injury news as Tom Jordan pulled a hamstring in the last match and will now be out for 5/6 weeks. I was confident Andrew Boyce could come in and do a job at the back but the injuries were now getting frequent and it’s quite worrying.

Nevertheless, October had been another brilliant month for us and we were now 2nd in the league, a point behind the leaders Braintree Town.

Here’s November’s fixtures, which include 3 consecutive away games in the league.

And I got the manager of the month award! I was chuffed with that, my first award as a manager. I hoped it was the first of many.

Good job mate, I have a game going with these at the moment but I'm solely relying on my youth, will be following!

Thanks Adam, good luck with your game, will you be posting updates on the forum?

I don't think so mate, although I might do.

Next up was a tough match at home to Woking who seemed to be everybody’s tip to win the league. They were currently mid-table but we knew what they were all about and it would be a very tough game. I told the lads they could win, they just had to continue where they’d left off. We dominated the first half, creating all the chances and controlling the game with 56% possession at half-time, but it was goalless and we would be playing the second half with 10 men after Wes Fogden got sent-off just before the break. Sure enough, the second-half would be a much tougher test. Actually, we came out and carried on dominating the game, but again we couldn’t find the back of the net. Woking had their chances but nothing clean-cut, and as we entered stoppage time it started to sink in that we would drop 2 points today despite being by far the better team. That was until 2 and a half minutes of 3 added on had been played and Colin Miles fouled on the right hand side of the box giving us a free-kick. Harris lifted it in and there was Joe Maxwell with a left-foot half-volley toward goal and… IT’S IN!! ! For the second game in a row we’ve been reduced to 10 men and for the second game in a row we’ve scored a winner with the last kick of the game! The whistle went just as Woking kicked-off and it was confirmed! I was delirious, and in truth it was nothing less than we deserved. A cracking performance and a brilliant 3 points for us today.

The FA Trophy 3rd qualifying round draw was today and we have a home tie against FC United of Manchester. It’s an intriguing draw but will be a game we’re expected to win.

But what we were concentrating on now was the FA Cup. Next up was the first round tie against Macclesfield Town, and the whole of Eastleigh was buzzing with anticipation ahead of the League Two side’s visit. We were under no illusions that Macclesfield are a far stronger side than us on paper, and we would need to use the home advantage we had to attack them with confidence and show our fans we could match them on the pitch. We had Matt Groves and Wes Fogden both suspended as well as 4 key players out with long term injuries so our task was made even tougher. We were using a 4-4-2 formation but I wanted the midfielders to push forward and create chances. Joe Maxwell missed a chance inside the first minute and we were soon made to pay when Ben Wright gave the visitors the lead on 3 minutes. Soon after Sean Doherty was clean through after dribbling in from the left but his shot was tame and dribbled wide of the far post. It was a great chance and we knew it, but we also knew we were capable of creating more. We went on to play a fantastic first half, creating chance after chance and I was annoyed to go in at half-time a goal down. We’d had 58% of the possession and had 9 shots to Macclesfield’s 2, but goals scored is the only stat that matters and we had 45 minutes to put that right. I gave the lads a bit of a rollicking at half-time, telling them I wanted to see more of them in the second half. They’d played well enough to create chances but we weren’t taking them and I really believed we could win this game if we put in that extra bit of effort. More chances were wasted early in the second half before Sean Doherty finally found the back of the net and we were level on 54 minutes! Get in, it was a great strike from Sean. Unfortunately left-back Luke Rodgers picked up an injury seemingly during the celebrations and had to come off, but we had the momentum after that goal and I was hopeful of a 2nd before full-time. Ten minutes later, there was a second goal… AND IT WENT TO US! Andy Riviere went on a mazy run down the right and calmly slotted his shot beneath the keeper and we were 2-1 up! I could barely contain my delight! I noticed Sean Doherty was tiring very fast, almost as if he had a niggling injury, but he was playing so well I kept him on for now. Macclesfield started to attack more and Filip Mentel made a couple of good saves before they had a penalty shout turned down by the referee. Then, we went straight up the other end and scored again! Jamie Brown was on target this time and there was delirium in the stands! There was less than 20 minutes to go and we led Macclesfield Town by 3 goals to 1! I tried to calm things down and took the fast tiring Sean Doherty off for Nick Watt. On 80 minutes, I was beginning to be less surprised by the scoreline. We may have been underdogs before the game, but we had dominated from the start and were unlucky to be behind at the break – and this second half we had played out of our skin! As Chris Mason’s pile driver cannoned back off the crossbar I couldn’t help but laugh – we were crushing Macclesfield today. I shouted out to my boys to start running down the clock when they could. I actually bought on reserve player Arron Milburn for the final ten minutes. Some might call that a complacent move but we’re so short of midfielders through injuries that I really wanted to see what he could do on the right wing. Matthew Tipton had two good chances for Macc in the final 5 minutes but he fired both efforts over the bar and we held on to a memorable win – one that we fully deserved!

We took £20,000 prize money for that and it was a massive turn-out from the fans too, taking our finances to a healthy £63,412 – by far the most since I’ve been here. The press wer quick to praise my team for the win, and Andy Riviere even came out and said my half-time team-talk had made all the difference! Macclesfield boss Keith Alexander was bemoaning the penalty decision after the game but we didn’t care – we knew we’d deserved the win.

The draw for the FA Cup 2nd round was next, and we were obviously excited about who we’d get. A dream draw for me would be away to nearby Southampton, the team I’ve supported since practically birth! They were also our parent club (despite their seeming reluctance to loan anybody out to us!) so it would make for a very interesting tie. We didn’t get them though. We got an away draw at either Barrow or Chester, both from the Blue Square Premier, who had to replay each other after a goalless draw at Barrow. I think we’ll get Chester, they’re 4th in the Blue Square Premier whereas Barrow are in the relegation zone. They’d also have home advantage in the replay.

Back to the league now, and we had to get focused for a tricky away game at Thurrock who were 4th in the league just a point behind us. Apart from the injured Luke Rodgers, I kept the exact same starting line-up as the team that beat Macclesfield. I figured that confidence would be high and none of them were too fatigued. I told both my wingers to pick up where they left off as they’d had a great influence on the Macclesfield result. We started off on the back foot though as Thurrock took control of the game and we had keeper Filip Mentel to thank when we went in at half-time level. Thurrock started the second-half where they’d left off the first and were unlucky not to go a goal up on the hour as their striker hit the post with a neat shot which had Mentel beaten. Anybody could sense that if a goal was going to come it would be Thurrock who scored it, so I decided to change things. I made a couple of substitutions and changed the tactics a little to give us some more creative freedom. Thurrock continued to push forward though but we held on for the draw and I was happy with the point. It would have been daylight robbery had we nicked a winner, so it was definitely a point gained rather than two points lost.

Next we were travelling to Worcester City, who were 16th in the league. I’d certainly be looking for a more inspired performance than the one we produced at Thurrock. I went for a more attacking 4-1-2-2-1 and wanted a confident performance so I drummed it into the lads that they can win today, it’s their chance to put the Thurrock performance firmly in the past. 7 minutes in… we were a goal down. Poor marking led to Worcester heading in from a corner. And they continued to dominate us for the next half hour but then gave away a penalty and Jamie Brown confidently tucked it away for the equalizer. There was another couple of chances for Worcester before the break but it was 1-1 at HT. I changed to a more attacking mentality for the second-half because I thought that was where we going wrong – we were gifting Worcester chance after chance because we weren’t confident enough going forward ourselves. This wasn’t a game we were going to smash’n’grab, I wanted us to go for it in the second period. It was a bad decision on my part though – just a couple of minutes into the second-half and were behind again, Worcester making a mockery of our defence and firing in from the edge of the box. I reverted to a 4-4-2 and bought Matt Groves on up-front which seemed to improve us but we couldn’t find another goal and suffered our 3rd defeat of the season.

As I predicted, Chester beat Barrow in their FA Cup replay so we would be playing away to Chester in the FA Cup 2nd round later this month.

After two games without a win in the league I was glad to turn our attentions to the FA Trophy next, and we favourites to beat FC United of Manchester (although I did expect odds on, we were actually just at evens to win.) I actually told the lads I expected a win – we were the league above our opposition and playing at home too, there wouldn’t be any excuses today if we lost. As it happens I had nothing to be concerned about – my players weren’t going to under-perform. We were 2-0 up after 10 minutes and 4-0 up at half-time, great stuff. Chris Mason added a fifth in the second-half and we were comfortable winners.

So we were in the hat for the 1st round draw, and we got another home tie but this time against a team one division higher than us – Kettering Town. They were currently 14th in the Blue Square Premier and we look forward to testing ourselves against them.

So it was a brilliant performance in the last match and it gave us confidence going into the next game away at Weston-super-Mare. It was an evening game being played on my birthday, and I could have no better present than 3 points for my team. The game started badly when Andrew Boyce was taken off injured just a couple of minutes in, but got better when Joe Maxwell gave us the lead just before the break. We fell asleep momentarily after that though and allowed Weston a simple tap-in from a low cross after some very lax defending and our lead had lasted just two minutes. The second half was a disaster. Well, it was fairly even possession wise but we didn’t do anything with ours whereas Weston managed to hit 2 goals in 5 crazy minutes to win the game 3-1, including a penalty for an off the ball incident involving Liam Francis. They had possession outside the penalty area, Luke Byles made a tackle and the next thing I knew, Liam Francis had fouled somebody in the box. A crazy decision I thought but it wrapped the game up for Weston and it was a second successive defeat for us. We’ve not taken just 1 point from our last 9 in the league and that’s not good enough. Things had to start improving again.

For now though, all eyes were on the FA Cup, and we had a chance to make a real name for ourselves by advancing to the FA Cup 3rd round. The way we’d been playing away from home though, we were given next to no chance against a very good Chester side who were going strong in the Blue Square Premier, currently 2nd in their table and looking a very decent outfit. No doubt about it, this was going to be tough. The bookies saw it that way too, giving us odds of 9/1 to win the match. We started off ok but weren’t helped by an injury to Andrew Boyce (again!) after just 4 minutes, and we went a goal down midway through the half when Liam Francis bundled the ball into his own net. It wasn’t really the lads fault, he was put under a lot of pressure from the Chester forwards when the ball was crossed in and the pace of the cross made it difficult to control it properly. Second half we had more of the possession and were creating lots without converting, and despite going all out attack for the final 10 minutes we couldn’t find a goal and were knocked out the FA Cup. Disappointing to lose to a single own-goal, but we’d done well to get to the 2nd round and we had to take it on the chin, what was important now was to find our league form again.

We were gutted to be out of the cup (particularly later on when Chester were drawn away to Liverpool – oh what could have been!) but it was our league form that was the most disappointing. We knew 3 consecutive away games would be tough but to get just 1 point from them was not good enough, and we’ve now slipped to 7th, two places out of the play-offs. Improvement was needed!

December would see 4 league games, 3 of which were at home and we want an unbeaten month. We also had the FA Trophy game to play against Kettering.