From acorns do oak trees grow.

[Graeme]

The return leg of the playoff semi-final was midweek, and with some of our lads feeling the pace a bit from the first leg, I decided to rest some for the final. This could backfire and leave me embarrassed, but I think we should have enough about us not to lose at home against Worcester. Whittington started in place of Winn, Johnson for Gilhaney, Murphy for HH and Alexander got a place on the bench having sufficiently recovered from injury.

We started with a bang again, and Murphy headed wide on 2 minutes when well placed. Fish blasted over from the edge of the box on 8 minutes. Worcester then tightened up and dropped deeper, keen not to fall further behind in the tie. This suited us and we restircted Worcester to one solitary long range effort on 21 minutes that went well wide. The rest of the half was fairly dull, with us comfotably containing Worcester whilst providing little goal threat ourselves. The half time whistle went with the game at 0-0, but us still ahead 2-1 on aggregate.

I warned the lads that they would probably get a real backlash from Worcester at some point, as they had nothing to lose now. Indeed, they had re-organised at half-time and came out having pushed many players forward. This gave us the attacking space we needed though and we started to flow quickly after half-time. Porter got himself clean through on 46 minutes, but shot straight at the Worcester keeper. On 49 minutes, Adams played a ball into the inside left channel for Porter to chase. His resulting cross was deftly finished by Johnson to give us a 3-1 aggregate lead. Looking comfortable now, Porter headed wide on 52 minutes before Worcester strted to get some of the ball. Worcester had long range efforts on 54 and 55 minutes, but they were peppering the crowd not our goal. A header wide on 61 minutes seemed to deflate Worcesters charge somewhat. 3 Alty substitutes later and we were back on the attack. Adams had a shot well saved on 64 minutes from a corner, and Alexander shot wide from distance on 68 minutes. Dutton headed wide from a corner on 72 minutes and we ourselves started to become frustrated.

Worcester were now pouring forward in numbers, and again started to see some of the ball in advanced positions. A header over the top on 80 minutes, and another long range effort that went wide before yet another header wide on 92 minutes brought an end to the action. We had won 1-0 on the night, and 3-1 on aggregate, bring on the playoff final!

Excellent, we were now in the playoff final and in great form. We were playing well enough and have been very confident every time we have stepped onto a pitch recently.

Barrow had beaten Alfreton 3-2 at Alfreton to win their semi-final 6-3 on aggregate. This meant playing Barrow in the final at Deepdale, Preston. This was good news, as our results against Barrow have been better than those against Alfreton. There are two personal reasons too why I'm glad to be facing Barrow. Firstly, as a Southport supporter, we don't like their manager, Phil Wilson. He had a bad time at Southport, and left in the darkest season in recent memory that saw Southport relegated to the Unibond league. Secondly, my late Grandfather was a Barrow player around the second world war. This gives me personally an added incentive to get the team to perform in the Nationwide Conference North playoff final, 2006-2007.

[Graeme]

The day has come, we are now 90 minutes away from an immediate return to the Conference National and a real chance of recuing what is a dire financial situation at Altrincham. In our way is Barrow, a side we have beaten away in recent weeks, and one that finished below us on goal difference in the league campaign. We have 90 minutes to gain the victory we need, and gain the promotion we all seek.

For this game, I returned to what I thought to be the best XI players we have available. The team lined up as follows:

GK: Smith

RB: Brown

CB: Laight

CB: Band

LB: Adams

CM: Fish

CM: Dutton

RW: Winn

LW: Murphy

ST: Gilhaney

ST: Porter

Subs: Coburn, Stirling, Whittington, Daly, Hamilton-Hendricks.

What should prove to be an even game is vital for both sides and we need our big players to have big games.

[Graeme]

We walked out at Preston's ground, Deepdale, with cheer in our hearts that we could get the glory we all crave. Early on, both sides looked understandably nervous, and it took until the 6th minute for either to create a chance. Gilhaney was put through, but not only did he shoot wide, but he was offside too. On 11 minutes, a long clearance from the Barrow keeper found the head of their forward who flicked on for an on-rushing winger. His shot beat Smith at his near post and the net bulged. Fortunately, play was called back for an offside flag and we could breathe again. 5 nervy minutes later, Brown played a ball down the line for Gilhaney to run on to. This he did and cut inside brilliantly turning his man. He bore down on goal and shot near post but it was well saved. The ball rolled agonisingly along the goal line until Porter slid in to put us in front.

Following the opening goal, a tense midfield battle ensued, only broken by a woeful Barrow effort on 28 minutes that went well wide. More even exchanges then occurred, before Adams took a throw in on 37 minutes. His throw was collected down the line by Murphy, who turned and crossed to the back post. Gilhaney was arriving at exactly the right moment unmarked and headed past the stranded Barrow keeper for 2-0 Altrincham. Barrow came back at us and forced a corner on 39 minutes, from which a free header was put over the top. The game had now opened up, and Winn headed a Murphy cross wide on 41 minutes, before having a shot blocked by the keeper on 44 minutes. Deep into injury time, Barrow had a shot blocked by a wonderful Band saving tackle, and we survived to half-time with our 2-0 lead intact.

[Graeme]

At 2-0 up, the game could still go either way. Whilst we looked the better side, the game was still very close and I warned the lads against complacency in the second half. If we could get an early 3rd goal, the game would be as good as over and we would have achieved our objective.

We pressurised Barrow from the off, and on 49 minutes Dutton won the ball strongly 30 yards from goal. His throughball was read well by Gilhaney who cut back inside and unleashed an unstoppable shot towards the far post. The net bulged and we had got our early 3rd goal. I now sent on orders for the side to be tight, disciplined and just not give Barrow a sniff. Barrow were clearly deflated anyway, so the game became a rather dour affair. This suited us though, and I brought Daly, HH and Whittington on for Porter, Murphy and Fish. The game was close and even, but nothing was now being given away at either end and it took until the 83rd minute for either side to create another chance. A good shimmy by winn beat his man, and his early cross picked out Daly but his header went narrowly wide. Barrow were trying to throw men forward and create pressure, but we always managed to find a tackle or an interception. As injury time approached, I knew we had done it, and my joy was unconfined as the final whistle went with us having won 3-0, and gained promotion to the Nationwide Conference National.

An excellent run of results had put us in the position where we could challenge in the playoffs, and having won all 3 games we deserved our victory. The summer rebuilding would happen, but now with a better class of player willing to play at Moss Lane. All this was for the future though, and I rightly took all the lads out to celebrate what had been a rollercoaster of a season, but one that ended in triumph.

[Graeme]

2006-2007, a season in review

My 2006-2007 season with Altrincham in the Conference North was such a rollercoaster ride. We started very well, then became very patchy only to finish strongly. The squad was largely inherited, and many would not have been my choices, but I had to work with what I had. I brought Dutton and Byrne in early doors, 2 defensive midfielders and managed to stay within my wage budget until the late signings that blew it out of the water. One thing I really did get right though was the loan signings. Each of them played an important part in the season, whether it was to a greater or lesser degree.

Steve Daly won the supporters club payer of the season award. He scored 15 goals in all competitions, and was never let down by a lack of effort and commitment. For me though, the player of the season was Chris Porter. We was the club top scorer with over 20 goals in all competitions, the top league scorer, he had the most assists and was rated as the best player by the stats. It's a shame he will go back to his club, and probably never wear an Altrincham shirt again.

At the other end of the pitch, Smith proved to be a good keeper. He is a young lad getting his first full season of first team football, and was rewarded with two callups to the Scotland U19 side, making 1 start and 1 sub appearance. His performances gave everyone in front of him confidence, and is certainly one for the future also.

Financially we were less successful. I took over with the club £155,000 in debt. We end the season £170,000 in debt despite player sales of £16,000. I did keep within the wage budget until the signings of Cockerill, Gilhaney, Brown and Hamilton-Hendricks blew it out of the water by a few hundred quid. These are players really ones for next season though, and should thrive in the Conference National.

What does need to be done though at Altrincham is a complete overhaul of the squad. Very few of the faces that won this promotion will survive, and most of them will be released. This seems a little harsh given the lads promotion winning performance, but to succeed in the next couple of seasons, a completely new squad will have to take on the mantle. The Altrincham squad is dead, long live the Altrincham squad.

[Graeme]

The Closed Season

After our victory against Barrow, the players go off on holiday and my biggest job at Altrincham begins: Completely rebuilding the squad from the ground up.

Veterans Talbot and Maddox announced that they would retire at the end of the season. This is no great loss to me as they would have been released anyway.

Weymouth and Kidderminster have offered a contract to Chalmers. He was to be released too, so when he accepts Kidderminsters offer I am happy he has found a new club, I'm just surprised it's a step up rather than a step down.

Going through the players we have whose contracts are not expiring, Stirling stands out. He is on an amazing £550/week, and for a fringe player that is far too much so he goes onto the transfer list.

The players whose contracts are expiring are as follows:

Munroe, Barnard, Hallows, Scott, Rose, Cloherty, Thornley, Band, Hendley, Byrne, Adams, Daly, Noone and Lugsden. This list does not include those who are retiring or who have already agreed deals elsewhere like Banim. It is worrying that the vast majority of you're squad are going without any confirmed replacements, but this is the way I want to play it. Come July 1st, clubs will release vast swathes of players, and it's then up to me to sort the weak from the chaff, and sign the best of them.

Before July though, Worksop offered to take Stirling from us for just 20% of his next transfer fee. They couldn't agree terms though. Burton then came in with an offer of £1,000 which we accepted and Stirling agreed terms.

I did tritch a bit though, and offered Peter Band a 1 year extension to his contract which he accepted.

[Graeme]

End of Season Finances and Board Appraisal

Before the start of the new season, Altrincham are £170,000 in debt, with a wage bill £400/week over the budget. The wage bill will change when I release all the players, but the debts will take time to ease. I predict Alty will need 3 years of Conference football to get comfortably back in the black, maybe 2 if we have some good cup runs.

When the start of the 2007-2008 season kicked in, we were given £100,000 in TV money. This means a starting balance of £70,000 in the red. Money will still be tight for a good while yet at Alty.

The baord were naturally very pleased with my performance as manager in the season just expired. They were prepared to give me everything they could to help us retain our Conference National status, and have afforded me £7,000 in a transfer kitty, and £4,800 a week in wages to spend. The message from the chairman was to 'fight bravely against relegation'. I was confident we could do this and more given the right signings in pre-season.

[Graeme]

July arives and the pre-season player merry-go-round begins

On the first of July, Banim went to Nuneaton, Chalmers to Kidderminster and Stirling to Burton. I decided to offer Adams a years contract extension, and he accepted on only £35/week. The players to be released are:

Munroe, Barnard, Hallows, Scott, Rose, Maddox, Cloherty, Talbot, Thornley, Hendley, Daly, Lugsdon and Noone. This leaves very few players, but available wages of £2,380/week with which to sign a new squad. I therefore decided to start at once to bid for new players, and waded in with my scout and Assistant manager for company into the cut-throat world of the transfer market.

Dalton Steele, my assistant manager, has arranged friendlies against Bolton reserves, Darlingotn, Leyton Orient, Scarborough and Notts County to prepare us for the season ahead. These are a very difficult set of games, and should give me a good insight into how my players will react during the season. I first need a squad though, so this is my entire focus as the few players I do still have start on a punishing pre-season training programme.

Bizarrely, the first contract I have to sort out is a job offer from Stalybridge Celtic. They offered me the managers position, but this would be a considerable step down after my recent exploits with Altrincham so I politely declined.

[Graeme]

My offers for players are now starting to trickle back in, and at last I can announce some signings for Altrincham. Listed below are the players, in order of their signing:

Chris Giles, formerly of Crawley signs, D/RC.

Ryan Lowe, formerly of Chester signs, AM/RC / FC.

Phil Gulliver, formerly of Rushden signs, DC.

Gavin Caines, forerly of Cheltenham signs, DC.

Les Afful signs from Colchester on a free, AM/RL.

Josh Klein-Davis, formerly of Bristol City signs, SC.

Scott Wells, formerly of Derby signs, DM.

Halifax's Darren Mansaram rejected our contract offer.

Right winger Jay Simpson agreed to join Doncaster instead of us.

Hameur Bouazza opted for a return to his native France instead of signing for us from Watford.

Luke Prosser, formerly of Port Vale signs, DC.

Mark Roberts signs from Crewe on a free, D/RLC.

Winger Alex Flemming agreen to sign for Brentford rather than us.

This concluded our transfer business before our first pre-season game, at home to Bolton reserves. Our squad is filling up, but looks a bit unbalanced as we have lots of defenders and not as many attacking players.

[Graeme]

Pre-Season Friendlies Begin

My reports on pre-season friendlies will be quite short, as they are warm-ups and little matters here.

Bolton Reserves at home. Our unbalanced squad struggled to cope with Bolton's attacking power and pace and we went down 3-0 to goals in the 8th, 38th and 54th minute. There were several positives though and we did put our more illustrious counterparts under pressure at some points in the game. It was a good workout, and one we will all benefit from.

[Graeme]

A quick transfer update, Adam Hamill and Lee Woodward both formerly of Liverpool sign Hamill is an attacking midfielder who can play aywhere accross the midfield, and Woodward is a right winger.

Unfortunately though, Scott Wells got injured in an accidental collision during the Bolton game and will miss at least 2 weeks.

[cruiseylee]

congrats on promotion!! I think many would agree this is one of the best storys on FM, just the way you write! Just a few q's as you have now got promotion and your gonna have a bigger a better squad!

1. Are you going to have full reserve and youth squads so you can monitor the players who are not making the 1st team?

2. How big is your whole squad going to be inc 1st/res/yth teams?

3. And most important how do you sign players? Do you go out and scout yourself looking at free players and the world transfers screen where you can see who has been released? Or do you let all your scouts do the work for you and you pick the ones you want from there? I ask as many lower league managers think its cheating if you use the search option as its not something you can do in real life? ANd what do you think on that issue?

4. ANd lastly how much individual tactics do you go into and when you make changes to the team line up do you change all there indv inst and tactics?

I am interesting in these following things as ive only just got back into FM2006 and am overwhelmed by training/tactics/amount of players available. Thanks and keep up the good work as I cant wait for the next bit of the story! How far are you ahead of your writing?

[irishregan]

This is one of my favourite stories on here. You update so often, which makes it very easy to follow. As someone who runs a story myself, I know how hard it is to keep up, and it's great that you try hard to update just about every day.

Keep up the good work. I hope your enthusiasm doesn't wane, and we're in for a good few more seasons yet.

[Graeme]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by cruiseylee:

congrats on promotion!! I think many would agree this is one of the best storys on FM, just the way you write! Just a few q's as you have now got promotion and your gonna have a bigger a better squad! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank you, most kind.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by cruiseylee:

1. Are you going to have full reserve and youth squads so you can monitor the players who are not making the 1st team?

2. How big is your whole squad going to be inc 1st/res/yth teams? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

All will become clear in time. My squad will be finalised pre-season giving what I think is the right balance between youth and experience, as well as enough numbers to make it all go hopefully smoothly.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by cruiseylee:

3. And most important how do you sign players? Do you go out and scout yourself looking at free players and the world transfers screen where you can see who has been released? Or do you let all your scouts do the work for you and you pick the ones you want from there? I ask as many lower league managers think its cheating if you use the search option as its not something you can do in real life? ANd what do you think on that issue? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

One of the problems with the game I think is that scouts take ages to come back with results when you send them out, by which time AI teams have generally cherry picked the talent. In the bun-fight that occurs on 1st july, you don't have that time so have to use the search facilities. This is especially the case with a very lowly club, as when players have a club they won't consider you. Without a club, and they will, it changes when they get released.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by cruiseylee:

4. ANd lastly how much individual tactics do you go into and when you make changes to the team line up do you change all there indv inst and tactics? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tactics is something I have gone into in an awful lot of depth. I spent 2 months when the game was released bashing away at tactics on my own, got nearly there I thought, then had to go into the tactics forum and work through my issues there. Consequently I now have 4 standard tactics that will get used when they need to, 2 in the 4-1-3-2 shape and 2 in the 4-2-2-2 shape I am currently employing. I won't mess about with these much, as the players I will buy will fit into how I want the team to play so I have little need to switch things about when swapping players.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by cruiseylee:

I am interesting in these following things as ive only just got back into FM2006 and am overwhelmed by training/tactics/amount of players available. Thanks and keep up the good work as I cant wait for the next bit of the story! How far are you ahead of your writing? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

In the game, I have played 3 matches of the league season, so I am not too far ahead of my story.

[Graeme]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by irishregan:

This is one of my favourite stories on here. You update so often, which makes it very easy to follow. As someone who runs a story myself, I know how hard it is to keep up, and it's great that you try hard to update just about every day.

Keep up the good work. I hope your enthusiasm doesn't wane, and we're in for a good few more seasons yet. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It is a bit of work, but for the time being at least it is a labour of love somewhat as I'm into the game I am playing. I am trying to keep ahead of myself a bit, so when I'm busy and can't play I can still do a bit of updating.

[Graeme]

Darlington at home were the next pre-season opponents for the rapidly changing and expanding Alty squad. This game was arranged as part of the Craddock transfer last season, so we'll now get our full benefit.

We went a goal down on 4 minutes when a poor piece of marking let Darlo in. Bad news though as Caines went down injured in the 6th minute, and Fish followed him into the physios office on 10 minutes. The rest of the game was a very even affair, but Darlo perhaps created the better opportunities understandably. The game finished 1-0, and we were more disappointed with losing 2 players to injury than losing a friendly.

Before our next tie, Chris Lumsdon signed on a free from being without a club. Chris is an attacking midfielder who is better in the middle, but can play right-wing.

[Graeme]

Our next game was at home to Leyton Orient. We had 1 in 2 out really with Lumsdon signing but Fish and Caines out injured. Still, another work out was required and we went in quite fresh for this one.

Orient seemed slightly below what you would expect them to be. The game was very even and 0-0 at half time. Orient scored almost from the kick off though, but we came back and Afful equalised on 50 minutes. The game was still very even and we fought out a 1-1 draw.

Another good workout, but Gilhaney had got a gashed leg that didn't mean he had to come off, but would need 3 weeks for it to heal before he would play again.

Transfer news again, we went back in for Darren Mansaram from Halifax, and got him this time on a free after he had rejected an earlier contract offer. Only a couple more players I want now.

[Graeme]

Scarborough at home were our penultimate opponents in pre-season. In a very close affair, Gulliver scored from a corner on 40 minutes but we were pegged back before half time with a well worked goal. On 59 minutes, we conceeded what turned out to be the winner from a free kick. A 2-1 defeat wasn't too bad, and the game was very even. Fitness within the squad is patchy, some very good and some not right at all. This might be a cause for concern in the opening matches of the season.

Scott Wells returned to training following the Scarborough game, and is in contention for a place in the squad for our last friendly.

Transfer news: I was delighted to be able to unveil 2 new signings. Daniel Chillingworth is a young striker who signed for me having been released by Rushden in the summer. Sammy Moore is a young central midfielder who was released by Ipswitch in the summer. I am now going to call a halt to signings for the time being. The entire squad now has 27 players, and were still under budget with £379/week available if we need later on. I do want to leave a bit of leeway though for contract renewals and because the club is still heavily in debt.

[Graeme]

We went into the last pre-season friendly at home to Notts County with the aim of setting ourselves up nicely for the commencement of the league programme. Kettering would be doing the same, but as a full-time outfit. They announced the move to full-time and will try to compete on an even footing with the larger of the Conference National clubs. We could not contemplate this for a good while, but I am sure with adequate resources, investment and an increase in gates that we could do such a thing in years to come.

The game against Notts County didn't go to plan though. We were out played for the vast majority of the match and saw only sporadic chances fall our way. Goals in the 16th, 56th and 58th minute saw us slump to a 3-0 defeat, not the ideal preparation for what should be a tough season ahead.

After the game, I made my final preparations for the league season. We were announced as 40-1 outsiders for the Conference National title, and were being seen as relegation candidates. This wasn't the worst news, and we were certainly not the favourites for the drop, but it does reflect the task ahead. It will be difficult to maintain our status, but certainly not impossible. It's a challenge I relish, and one that I will give 100% to achieve.

[Graeme]

Our first game back in the Conference National division is away to Weymouth. Compared to Altrincham, Weymouth is a big club with big money, and they can rightly expect a top-half finish this season. It will be a tough game and a good reintroduction to the division. Liam Cockerill is out though with a recurrance of the ankle injury he sustained at the end of his debut and will miss a fair part of the beginning of the season. I hope this does not keep coming back and prevent him from making a real impact this season.

My starting lineup for Weymouth was as follows, using the 4-4-2 shape employed at the end of last season:

Smith; Brown, Adams, Roberts, Gulliver; Afful, Moore, Dutton, Murphy; Klein-Davis, Mansaram. The subs bench consisted of: Coburn, Giles, Lumsdon, Chillingworth and HH. Eager to get underway, we went out hopeful of a points return at our first attempt.

Weymouth started very confidently though and looked to be a very good side. It took them until the 10th minute to create a real chance though with a header that went wide. A long range effort saved by Smith on 13 minutes and a shot over the bar in the 16th minute gave me some concern as to how we would fare in the match. Our first chance came on 22 minutes when Afful picked up on a loose clearance and threaded a ball through to Mansaram who unleashed a thunderbolt at the far post. The ball flew into the net to give us an unlikely lead much against the run of play. It took Weymouth a few minutes to recover from that setback, but come back they did. Smith watched a shot go wide on 29 minutes, made a great save on 30 minutes and watched another good chance go wide on 44 minutes. In between those efforts, Gulliver had picked up a knock that was concerning, but wouldn't prevent him from continuing. The half time whistle blew with us still in an unlikely lead, and Weymouth trooped off wondering just how they were behind.

I knew that we would get another backlash after the interval, so I tried to rouse the lads into being solid and difficult to beat. If we could get a win here, our challenge would be off to a wonderful start.

Weymouth did indeed start very strongly, and hit the post almost straight from the kickoff. On 48 minutes a throughball found a Weymouth striker in space and he fired under Smith for the equaliser. Our luck had run out, but we still had a game to play and did indeed start to gain our biggest foothold in the match. No chances at either end were conceded until the 65th minute when Dutton fired a freekick over. Giles Lumsdon and Chillingworth replaced Brown, Moore and Mansaram and we actually started to dictate the tempo for the first time. The only chances we created were a Lumsdon shot that went wide in the 75th minute, and a Klein-Davis header in the 88th minute also wide. Weymouth were not really coming forward now and I thought that we were the most likely to win the game in the closing stages. Neither side could break the deadlock though and the game finished 1-1.

Well, in unlikely fashion we had gained a point away in difficult circumstances, and will have gained repect for our second half performance. We were off the mark both in terms of points and goals, and the lads were suitably happy with the point we had gained. This game also went someway to gelling the squad. It is clear that this hadn't really happened yet, but to see us rally round in the closing stages was positive, and Mansarams goal was a real cracker.

[Graeme]

It was one in, one out in terms of availability for our next game, away at fellow relegation candidates Nuneaton. Gullivers knock was a bruised head and the physio said he would be unavailable for a couple of weeks. Gilhaney was back in training though, but the Nuneaton game would be too soon for a return. Nuneaton would also see us play against Banim. I was not worried as I didn't rate the lad last season, but players often score against their old clubs so I hope he doesn't haunt us.

Match fitness was proving to be a real issue now. In hindsight, we should have had a longer pre-season programme of games and really got the guys firing. This hadn't happened though and so we would have to chop and change for a while, starting with this midweek trip to Nuneaton. Lumsdon came in for Moore, Chillingworth replaced Mansaram, HH came in for Murphy, Roberts switched to left back and Band and Caines formed a new central defensive partnership.

The game was even to begin with, and neither side wanted to concede any ground in what was billed as an early relegation scrap. In the 12th minute though, good work from Afful forced a corner that HH took. Chillingworth broke from the edge of the area to meet the ball unmarked and rocket a header past the Nuneaton keeper for his first Alty goal. After the goal, we stayed on the front foot and controlled the game, just unable to force any real openings until the 34th minute when Lumsdon headed a similar chance to our goal wide from an HH corner. Smith was forced into action on 37 minutes when a counter attack found a Nuneaton striker in space, but Smith dealt with it well. His goalkick from hands released Chillingworth at the other end, but he shot wide when he should have done better. As the half was drawing to a close, Lumsdon fired a direct freekick wide on 44 minutes, and the half-time whistle blew with us feeling relatively comfortable and with a 1-0 lead.

I could smell our first victory here in only the second game, so encouraged the lads to go out fighting and kill the game early in the second half. It was nuneaton though that attacked from the kickoff, firing wide when they should have done better. We then countered and Chillingworth had a long range crack sail wide a minute later. The game had become end-to-end, and Nuneaton again fred wide in the 53rd minute. Lumsdon hit an effort from the edge of the box wide in the 54th minute, and Smith somehow clawed out a Nuneaton effort on 61 minutes. I replaced a tiring Chillingworth and Afful with Lowe and Mansaram to hopefully stabilise the game a bit, but it continued to be frenetic. Nuneaton fired over on 77 minutes, before I replaced Klein-Davis with Wells, pushing Lowe up front and Lumsdon wide right. Wells shot wide in the 82nd minute, before Nuneaton really threw everything at us to try to rescue the game. They had 3 great chances in the 89th, 90th and 93rd minutes, but fired wide on teh first and over on the last two. As the final whistle went, I was relieved to have won and kept a clean sheet. Full time, 1-0 to Altrincham.

We still weren't quite clicking, but 4 points from the opening 2 games should give us real confidence going into the season. Realistically, we had won the game because Nuneaton couldn't hit a barn door in the second half, but resist them we did and I was proud of the lads effort and commitment. More of the same would be required in the next 44 games if we are to survive in this division.

[Graeme]

Game 3 of the season sees Conference National football return to Moss Lane, home of Altrincham. The opponents were Dagenham and Redbridge who again would provide a stern test for my newly formed squad. The lack of match fitness in some of my squad was still proving to be a big hurdle, and changes were again required. Mansaram came in for Chillingworth, Gilhaney started on the bench, and Murphy started in place of HH.

The game started tightly, with little to chose between the teams. In the 4th minute, we got a freekick outside the box. Lumsdon grabbed the ball and promptly curled it round the wall into the corner to give us an early lead. It wasn't something that was planned, Lumsdon just seemed to fancy it at the time, he was right! The game remained tight though, with no quater given or asked of either team. Afful managed to break free wide right on 25 minutes and crossed for Klein-Davis who had some space in the area. His control and finish were superb, and we found ourselves 2-0 up. This was excactly what I was after from my side, tight generally but clinical when in posession. 2 minutes later though I was brought back down to Earth with a bump. Caines was robbed in the middle of the park, and the striker ran through unchallenged on goal. His shot was well saved by Smith, but the rebound was poked in at the back stick by the other Dagenham striker. 2-1 now, and Dagenham had the bit between their teeth. They came at us hard, but we coped very well with the pressure. Despite some of the defending being forced to be somewhat last ditch, we didn't concede any chances. We got back into the game toward the end of the half. Klein-Davis forced a good save from the Dagenham keeper before Lumsdon had 2 efforts go narrowly wide. In the 47th minute, Afful again broke free on the right and crossed for Klein-Davis to head home. The goal was disallowed for offside though and chalked off, but I couldn't see where the offside was given. After that, the Ref blew for half time with us in the lead 2-1.

We were playing well, and had only conceded through 1 individual error. We had created more and better chances, and we had to keep going in the same way in the second half. We were disrupted though when Roberts went down injured whilst playing in my cursed left back position, so Giles came on to replace him. The second half then proved to be as tight as the first. It took until the 67th minute for either side to create a chance when Murphy's header from Affuls cross was well saved. Lowe and Gilhaney came on for Afful and Mansaram, and Gilhaney started to show why I bought him last season. His pace, running and trickery is reminiscent of Huckerby and Bellamy, but on this occasion he was failing to get the ball high enough up the pitch to make a real difference and the game remained tight and even. Lumsdon headed wide on 82 minutes and over on 83 minutes, and Gilhaney finally broke through on 85 minutes but saw his shot well saved. That mini period of domination should have provided the goal that won us the game, but it didn't. Dagenham came back but we continued to defend very well and the final whistle went with the score still at 2-1.

We had won again, and 7 points from 3 games was the return at the start of the season. To say I was delighted is an understatement. I anticipate that 50 points will be enough to preserve our place in this division, so the sooner we get to that mark the sooner we can relax and look up the table rather than down it.

[Graeme]

Bottom club Yeading visited Moss Lane next for a game that on paper we should win. Another win would give us 10 points from our first four games, a fifth of my required minimum points tally for the season in only 9% of the games. Fitness was starting to come, but many players were still rather short of full match fitness. Fortunately though, Roberts injury had cleared up in time for him to retain his left back berth. HH came into the team for Murphy though, and Chillingworth replaced Mansaram.

Having played well last week, I expected to dominate this game from the start. Yeading though proved to be a good, tight and compact outfit that attacked well. The game was therefore very even, if a little dull early on. It took until 29 minutes to create a chance, with a Band header from a freekick being cleared off the line, and Dutton firing over from the melee resulting from the corner that ensued. The game was still tight though, but these chances appeared to create a slightly more defensive stance from Yeading. In the 35th minute, the Yeading keeper and back 4 were playing a series of 1-2's, seemingly unaware that Klein-Davis was sneaking in on the keepers blind side. He duly tackled the Yeading keeper and played the ball into an empty net from 20 yards out for the opening goal. The only other chance of a very even first half came in injury time when another Band header from a freekick went into the side netting, so the half ended with us leading 1-0.

We had to keep it tight, and also try to get the second that would ease our nerves as early as possible in the second half. Yeading though were determined to get back into the game, and pressured us from the whistle. They couldn't break us down though and their only chance was a freekick that sailed harmlessly over Smiths crossbar in the 54th minute. Chillingworth shot disappointingly wide in the 67th minute when he was clean through, so I replaced him with Gilhaney. Wells and Lowe also came on for HH and Lumsdon. As the game wore on, Yeading were throwing players forward quite recklessly, but they couldn't force the opening they needed. On our side, we just couldn't seem to exploit the space this created in the right wasy and chances were at a real premium. Towards the end of the game, Afful took a knock but was OK to carry on, albeit slightly injured. Full-time approached and even the Yeading keeper was pushing forward for set pieces, but they couldn't make it count. We couldn't take advantage of the situation either and the final whistle blew with a very even game having ended 1-0 to Altrincham.

We were tired but jubilant. Our 3rd win on the bounce had propelled us to second place in the league, only behind Exeter on goal difference. This situation is unlikely to remain for too long, but I will take it while it lasts. The now full-time Kettering on the other hand were facing a tougher outlook and were near the foot of the table. It's always good to be able to look down the table at a side that has many more resources than you, and who beat you the season before in the race for a divisional title.

[Graeme]

The knock Les Afful pisked up against Yeading would keep him out for about a fortnight, but I was more concerned that our next game was only 48 hours after our win against Yeading due to a bank holiday. We visited in what would surely be our most difficult game of the season so far as Kiddie are one of the favourites for promotion.

As we are still struggling a bit with match fitness, 2 games in 48 hours means a number of changes for this one. A fit again Gulliver came in for Band, Hammill replaced the injured Afful for his debut, Murphy replaced HH and I went with Gilhaney and Mansaram up-front, with Klein-Davis dropping to the bench.

Kiddie were devastating early on, and pressurised us all over the pitch from the outset. Their first chance came on 4 minutes but Smith did well to save. Gulliver conceded a freekick on the edge of the box in the 6th minute, and Kiddie took full advantage curling the ball round our wall for the opening goal. We then came back into it a little and Lumsdon put Gilhaney clean through only to fire straight at the Kiddie keeper on 14 minutes. A minute later and Mansaram had a header saved at the far post Kiddie then couter attacked but over played the ball. Smith came out and slipped while clearing, presenting the Kiddie striker with an open goal chance from 30 yards. His 17th minute shot hit the middle of the goal and we found ourselves 2-0 down. Another Kiddie chance fell in the 21st minute but fortunately this one had the radar turned off and he shot wide. We then seemed to firm up a bit, and gat a foothold once more. The game had become more even, and Gilhaney shot over on 27 minutes from the edge of the area. The game remained tight until injury time when Murphy swung in a left wing cross. The Kiddie keeper went up, dropped it and Gilhaney was the first to react and halved our arrears by poking home. Soon after the half-time whistle blew with us remarkably still in the game at 2-1 down.

A remarkable first half where the score could really have been anything up to 5-5. I had to try to calm the lads and get them to be tighter accross the park. This wasn't to be the case though as Kiddie came out very strongly in the second half. They had a shot saved by Smith straight from the kickoff, and in the 47th minute had a striker running through on goal. Smith did well to save diving to his right, but the rebound was lashed in by the other Kiddie striker following up. 3-1 down now, we again went forward. Lumsdon shot wide on 54 minutes, and headed a Murphy cross wide in the 55th minute. Dutton then saw a long range crack sail wide a minute later. This was breathless stuff, and Kiddie countered on 61 minutes with a right wing move, culminating in a throughball finding the Kiddie striker in space in the area. He controlled, sized the situation up and lashed the ball into the far post for Kiddies fourth goal. 2 minutes later, a good right wing move saw a Kiddie header hit the post and go out wide to safety. We needed something desperately as we were now in danger of sinking wothout trace in this game. I brought Klein-Davis and Wells on for a tiring Mansaram and Lumsdon, and replaced Hammill who wasn't having the best of debuts with Lowe.

What then followed was a remarkable 20 minutes of football. Lowe's pace created space on the right, and his cross was met by a lovely flick from Gilhaney that nestled in the far corner on 71 minutes. Now only 2 down, we were dominating possession as Kiddie seemed to tire much quicker than us, surprising as we are the part-timers and they are professionals. Gilhaney wriggled through on 78 minutes and forced the save of the seaosn from the Kiddie keeper on 78 minutes. Wells took the resulting corner, and Gulliver jumped highest on the far post to make it 4-3. We were now all over Kiddie, but they were defending deep and well denying us space in front of their goal. As full time approached, Gilhaney again wriggled through but this time his drive was just wide on 90 minutes. In injury time, a lowe cross was met by a good Gilhaney header but the ball came back off the post and we couldn't react to the rebound. Soon after, the referee brought an end to a pulsating game where some wonderful attacking play was shown by both sides. The score was 4-3 Kiddie, but could have been any permutation up to 10 each.

Wonderful games to watch for the neutral are not necessarily good for managers. I should imagine their manager had some stern words for some of his players, but I had none really for mine. Sure, marking wasn't great on their fourth goal, and Smith hashed a clearance to give them their second. But, we responded so well and probably were a little unlucky not to get a draw in the end.

Points away against the bigger sides will be a premium this year. We were not expecting a lot from Kiddie, or Wymoputh for that matter, but having a return fo 10 points from 5 games gave us a strong start, especially considering 3 of those games were away. We now needed to get our heads down and try to continue our evolution into a strong Conference National outfit.

[Graeme]

Early tables are generally as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike, but after 5 gaes we sat proudly in 5th place. With 2 up and 4 down, it would be easier for us to leave via the trap door than the ladder, but I never want to take the easy way out!

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Exeter | | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | +5 | 13 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Kidderminster | | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 12 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Morecambe | | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 10 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Grays | | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 5 | +5 | 10 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Altrincham | | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 10 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Rushden | | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 9 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Carlisle | | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 9 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Dag & Red | | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | +3 | 9 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Cambridge | | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 9 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Torquay | | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 9 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Southport | | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 8 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Crawley | | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 8 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Weymouth | | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -1 | 8 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | York | | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 8 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Accrington | | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 7 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Gravesend | | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 7 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Forest Green | | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 6 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Stevenage | | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | -1 | 6 |

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| 19th | | Kettering | | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 |

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| 20th | | Nuneaton | | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 3 |

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| 21st | | Woking | | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 3 |

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| 22nd | | Scarborough | | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 7 | -6 | 3 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Histon | | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 11 | -10 | 0 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | | Yeading | | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 14 | -13 | 0 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

[Graeme]

Needing to capitalise on our positive start, a home game against Forest Green Rovers was next up. Cockerill resumed full training, but it would be a few weeks before he would be fit enough to be pushing for a starting berth. Match fitness was still an issue, and with little niggles creeping in more changes were neccessary. Woodward came in for an unimpressive Hammill, Klein-Davis replaced Mansaram and Chillingworth made the bench.

The game started with both teams looking evenly matched. Forest Green fired wide from range in the 8th minute before we started to assert ourselves on the game. We pressured our visitors, and in the 16th minute a Roberts cross from deep was weakly punched to the edge of the area where Dutton was lying in wait to fire confidently into the corner for an early Altrincham advantage. The game then evened out, and chances were very much at a premium, the only efforts on goal for the remainder of the half were a Forest Green effort from a narrow angle that was saved on 34 minutes, and one shot that flashed wide on 44 minutes. Fairly lucky to have taken our only chance, we lead 1-0 at the interval.

We needed to keep going, and I told the lads that nothing less than 100% commitment would suffice in the second half. From the kick off, Forest Green went on the attack though, but only managed one shot from range that was comfortably dealt with by Smith. As the minutes ticked by, the game became more even again, although Forest Green had a shot tipped round the post on 54 minutes from closer in. In the 57th minute, Gilhaney managed to wriggle through for a shot but got underneath it and it went harmlessly over. Our next chance was from a Brown cross on 67 minutes that was met with a good Lumsdon header. Unfortunately the Forest Green keeper was in good form and he saved the goal-bound effort brilliantly.

Chillingworth, Wells and Lowe replaced Gilhaney, Lumsdon and Woodward as I sought to add fresh impetus to our attack. Now largely on top, Caines had a header sail wide from a corner on 74 minutes. In the 82nd minute, Wells found space on the edge of the visitors box and fired in a goal bound effort. The Forest Green keeper again managed to save it, but the ball rebounded to Chillingworth who fired home to consolidate our lead. Forest Green were now very deflated, and their players seemed resigned to losing as we then coasted to the final whistle and 3 more valuable points. Full-time, 2-0.

13 points from 6 games was an excellent return for our early season endeavors. We need to not get carried away though, and still focus on the aim being avoiding relegation. If we are in 20th place come May, it will be a successful season and one to build on for next year.

[Graeme]

Following our win against Forest Green Rovers we found ourselves back in 2nd place. The longer we can maintain this kind of position and form, the quicker we will ensure our survival in this league. Fish returned to training as our squad began to look fuller, and a tough midweek trip to York now faced us in the battle for points. For this game, I brought in Moore for Lumsdon and HH for Woodward. I am yet to be convinced about either youngster from Liverpool, and perhaps a spell in the reserves will show whether they are up to Conference standard or not.

From the kick off, we looked every bit the side in second place. We pressurised York all over the pitch, and only a great save from a Gilhaney shot on 9 minutes kept the scores level. As time wore on, the game again became more even, and York had a crack from range sail wide on 24 minutes. From the goal kick, HH got posession on the halfway line and switched the ball beautifully to Murphy in space on teh left wing. His run and cross was met with a powerful header back accross goal from Gilhaney that nestled in the far corner for a 1-0 advantage to Altrincham. York then turned on the afterburners and started to really get at us. We were confident though and defended stoutly, restricting our host to 4 efforts towards the end of the half. A shot wide from range on 40 minutes was followed by a header into the side netting 2 minutes later, and 2 injury time efforts one of which wide and the other well saved by Smith. So, we had a 1-0 advantage from the first half, something to hopefully build on in the closing 45 minutes.

We needed to get back on the front foot, as soaking up pressure from York was likely to yeild a goal. With that in mind, I sent the players out to attack in the second half. It was more even again after the break, and Klein-Davis managed a shot that went close in the 49th minute. On the hour mark, York had their first effort, one from range that sailed over. Dutton had picked up a knock though, but he was fit to carry on so I replaced Gilhaney, Murphy and Moore with Shillingworth, Lowe and Wells.

Needing a win to satisfy theri crowd, York were coming forward again. Our defending was nothing short of excellent though, and we were being very stingy with allowing chances. Chillingworth picked up a knock, but again could continue so there were no major alarms. Into the last 10 minutes, I started to get a little nervous though. I would have much preferred it if we had managed a second goal, but we had to protect our slender advantage. On 83 minutes York fired high, wide and handsome from a close in freekick Dutton had conceded, and we managed to hold out to injury time. The board came up with 5 minutes for the knocks that our lads had taken, and York were throwing men forward now. They fired over when well placed on 91 minutes, before a cross from deep by the York right back was headed home on 93 minutes. York's celebrations were cut short by a linesmans flag though and dubious as the decision was, a huge sigh of relief came from our bench. We managed to hold firm for the remaining time and secure yet another victory in our return to Conference National competition. 1-0 to Alty, and standing proud in the table.

Now on 16 points, my target of 50 for the season looks very achievable and hopefully we can better it by a distance. We still need not to be carried away though as a few poor results could show the table in a very different light. Chillingworths knock proved to be nothing serious fortunately, but Dutton would be out for 2 weeks with a bruised head. Not great news, but we have a decent enough squad to cope now so hopefully he wont be too sorely missed.

[Graeme]

Feeling relatively full of ourselves, our next game was to host Cambridge United. This would again be a tough game that we were not expected to win, but we hoped to upset the odds once more. Wells replaced the injured Dutton, Lumsdon came back in for Moore and Mansaram played in place of Klein-Davis.

Our start could not have been better, as we battered Cambridge from the outset. In the first minute, Caines rifled in a shot following a training ground freekick routine that went just over., and Murphy fired over a shot from range in the 3rd minute. Gilhaney had an effort well saved in the 4th minute, and Murphy fired wide from the edge of the area in the 7th minute. In the 8th minute, a shell-shocked Cambridge defender was robbed of posession by Mansaram, who ran through and hammered the ball past a stranded keeper. 1-0 up now and totally dominant.

The goal shook Cambridge into life a bit though, and they hit our side netting on 12 minutes, and fired wide in the 13th minute when well placed. In the 16th minute, a long Caines clearance was flicked on by Murphy into the path of Mansaram. He ran onto the ball, took it into the area and shot past the Cambridge keeper. The ball came back off the woodwork though and Cambridge were spared going further behind. Cambridge were gradually working their way back into the game now, and I was beginning to think we would rue our missed chances from our early domination when in the 23rd minute, a scrable outside our box presented the Cambridge striker with the ball and a clear run on goal. He finished with aplomb to restore an undeserved parity. Cambridge took control now, and Smith saved well in the 32nd minute with the rebound forced wide. A header from a corner went narrowly over in the 43rd minute and a shot from range that went narrowly wide in the 47th minute brought an end to a breathless first half with the score even at 1-1.

We had failed to make our early dominance pay with a more comfortable leading margin, and were now suffering as a result. We needed to re-establish ourselves, and I sent the lads back out to be more positive, especially when in posession.

The second half was a fair contrast to the first, as the opening 15 minutes was very even. Little happened around either goal until a Cambridge freekick was well save by Smith in the 61st minute. Brown then took a knock in a challenge, and Giles replaced him. Still even, I replaced Mansaram and Murphy with Chillingworth and Lowe. In the 74th minute, Chillingworth was played through by Lumsdon, but a great save denied us the lead in the game. As time wore on, we came forward and pressured Cambridge again, but could only manage a Caines header that was blocked on the line in injury time. As the full-time whistle went with the score at 1-1, we were a little disappointed that we hadn't managed to beat Cambridge, which is probably a measure of how far we have come in a short space of time.

At points, especially early on, we were sensational. When we turned it on very few teams in this division would have been able to live with us, least of all Cambridge who were shell-shocked at times. Whilst being a little disappointed then about not winning the game, a point is a point, and we still have to bear in mind that we are in a relegation battle, not a promotion fight, even if the table does suggest otherwise.

[Graeme]

In the Cambridge game, Brown's knock turned out to be a twisted knee that would keep him out for about a month. So for our next game away at Accrington Stanley, Giles would deputise at right back. Cockerill would also play his first game of the season at left back, with Roberts moving into the middle, Band to the bench and Gulliver missing out. It would be a tough game, against an emerging force in the Conference, but one I hoped we could get something from as our form is still generally very good. On the injury front again though, Afful and Dutton had resumed training following their injuries, but would not figure here.

Much like we had started against Cambridge, Accy came at us hard early on. The had a shot from range saved in the 4th minute, and one from closer in saved in the 6th minute. Shots flew over in the 8th and 11th minutes, and one flashed wide in teh 12th. We were looking ragged, and Accy then moved into top gear with a flowing move started in their own half, bisecting us with great passing. An accurate cross was nodded down to be lashed in for a 14th minute Accy lead. Still in the ascendancy, Accy shot wide from range in the 16th minute. The game evened out a touch now, and Lumsdon should have done better with a header from a Murphy cross but it went wide in the 28th minute. Accy were still trying their luck from distance though, and another shot rocketed wide in the 32nd minute. Accy finally got a shot from range right in the 38th minute, when a beleaguered Smith was helpless to prevent an unstoppable strike from 30 yards. They had been simply brilliant for 35 minutes before they backed off and let the first half peter out with the score at 2-0 Accy.

We had been outplayed, outgunned and outclassed in the first half. I tried to get the lads back up for the game, but their heads were down. I knew though if we could find one goal, we might yet be able to get something here.

Accy continued to pressure us though, and in the 46th minute shot wide from inside the area. In the 50th minute, Smith did well to block a shot before Mansaram was set clean through in the 52nd minute for our chance to get back into the game. He curled it wide though and we remained firmly behind.

I decided to switch to a 4-1-3-2 to try and get some real numbers in the midfield. This didn't appear to wirk though as in the 61st minute, good closing down by Accy in the midfield gave them an opportunity to spring our offside trap. This they did easily and the finish over Smith was sublime for 3-0 Accy. Mansaram had another chance 2 minutes late, but again flashed it wide as we desperately needed something to change. I replaced Mansaram and HH with Chillingworth and Lowe, hoping to get something to go for us. Accy kept coming though, and Smith saved well on 65 minutes. In the 70th minute, Accy tried their luck from range again, and found it to be in once more. A terrific shot from 30 yards barrelled past Smith and the score went to 4-0. Accy shot wide from close in in the 75th minute as they refused to ease up, before a bizarre backpass decision from Gilhaney set the Accy striker clean through to round Smith and slot Accy's 5th in the 76th minute. The hit the side netting in the 78th minute, and flashed a drive wide in the 82nd as 5 was still not enough for the Accy boys. Late on though, Gilhaney managed to wriggle through but fired wide in the 86th minute, and Lumsdon headed wide in the 88th minute from a Murphy cross as Accy finally settled for the 5-0 win they had deserved so much throughout this game.

Accy's performance was simply sensational. Granted we didn't seem to really be at the races, but sitll, Accy were superb. We had now experienced a thrashing, and the feeling isn't good. We were all frustrated and embarrassed, and all slunk off home hoping for netter fortune in the coming games.

[Graeme]

A midweek trip to Gravesend was next up for us, hoping to get back on the points trail after having been outplayed at Accrington. I brought Dutton back into the side for Wells, replaced Caines with Band and brought Klein-Davis onto the bench for Chillingworth.

The game started with both sides looking evenly matched until the 16th minute when Gravesend went up a gear. They shot wide, and then had a header well saved by Smith in the 22nd minute. In the 29th minute, Cockerill conceded a freekick on the left side of the top of the area which they crossed low for an unmarked Gravesend player to fire in at the far post. The game was largely a midfield battle, but Gravesend had the better of it and got clean through on 37 minutes to force an excellent save from Smith. A short priod of Alty pressure followed before the half-time whistle brought an end to a fairly dour first half from both sides.

We were losing again and needed to start to perform all over the pitch once more. Our first half display showed more about our loss to Accrington than Gravesend being good, and this needed to change in the second half. This wasn't to be the case though as Gravesend played a long ball forward in teh 48th minute. The striker controlled well, rounded Roberts and crossed to the far post for his strike partner to poke home number 2. The gritty nature of the game continued, but Gravesend had a header that went narrowly over in the 62nd minute. Klein-Davis, Lowe and Wells replaced Mansaram, Murphy and Lumsdon as I sought to gain a foothold in the game.

Gravesend continued to be the better side though in a poor game, and their dominance was confirmed with a 25 yard freekick that curled into the corner of our goal in the 75th minute. Heads went down totally now, and Gravesend headed wide in the 80th minute, over in the 81st minute and forced a save from Smith in the 85th minute. A header that went wide from a corner in injury time brought a close to the action as we had been tamely beaten by a fairly average side.

I was angry at this performance, we didn't seem to have any cohesion or fight and tore into the lads at full-time. If we are to continue to play like this, our early season form will be totally undone and we'll gradually be drawn into a relegation fight. With my bile vented, I sent the lads home under no illusions as to what was required from here on in.

[Graeme]

With 10 games gone now, the table was as follows:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Exeter | | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 4 | +11 | 24 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Carlisle | | 10 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 6 | +10 | 24 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Rushden | | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 8 | +13 | 20 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Weymouth | | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 11 | +1 | 18 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | York | | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 10 | +1 | 18 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Kidderminster | | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 18 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Grays | | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 13 | +2 | 17 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Altrincham | | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 12 | 15 | -3 | 17 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Accrington | | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 11 | +10 | 16 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Stevenage | | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 16 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Gravesend | | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 15 | +2 | 16 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Torquay | | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 16 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Southport | | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 12 | +4 | 15 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Cambridge | | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 15 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Crawley | | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 15 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Morecambe | | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 14 | +2 | 12 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Forest Green | | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 14 | -2 | 11 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Scarborough | | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 11 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Dag & Red | | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 13 | -3 | 10 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Woking | | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 14 | -5 | 10 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Histon | | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -10 | 8 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | | Kettering | | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 10 | -4 | 7 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Nuneaton | | 10 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 21 | -14 | 3 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | | Yeading | | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 23 | -21 | 0 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

We were still in a positive position though, and if we could get back our form we can still have a marvellous season. Too many results like the last 2 though and we could yet be in trouble.

[Graeme]

Top side Exeter at home was the next battle for my now uncertain squad. To get back on track, a result against Exeter would go a long way to proving we had recovered, but it would be really tough. Afful returned to the side in place of HH, and Klein-Davis came in for Mansaram. Not too many changes would hopefully reap rewards here.

An early chance fell our way as Roberts headed over from a corner on 2 minutes, and Exeter fired wide in the 6th minute of some lively opening exchanges. Klein-Davis fired wide when unchallenged in the 12th minute before the game settled down a bit. We were right in this one, but in the 25th minute Roberts conceded a freekick 25 yards out that was lashed in with great ferocity. That's the difference I suppose between an average side and one challenging for honours. We had the better of the opening exchanges but didn't score. They get a chance and take it. In the 30th minute things went from bad to worse as a header from a left wing corner flew past Smith into the net for a 2-0 Exeter lead. The rest of the half was closely fought, with the only real action being a Dutton drive that was deflected narrowly over in the 44th minute. So, 2-0 at half time in what was a relatively even game.

Exeter were a much more clinical side than us and it showed. We had to find some way of really getting onto them defensively, so I emphasised using the wings and crossing. Gilhaney had picked up a knock first half too. He would be OK for another 15 minutes, and hopefully he can impact the game in that time.

The opening exchanges of the second half were as lively as the first, and Lumsdon had a freekick well saved by the Exeter keeper. The game though tightened up as Exeter decided they wanted to maintain their 2 goal lead and deny us space all over the pitch. Consequently the game became a very dull trudge. Mansaram, HH and Wells replaced Gilhaney, Murphy and Afful, and despite a good deal of pressure, we couldn't force an opening in the Exeter rearguard. After one raid in the 83rd minute, Exeter cleared the ball long. Their striker controlled neatly, dribbled through and fired past Smith for the classic counter-punch and a 3-0 advantage. A dull second half then died out to a disappointing 3-0 defeat.

A worrying trend, 3 defeats in 3 games, no goals scored and 11 conceded. Our early season bubble has been well and truly burst, although signs were better against Exeter than they had been against Gravesend. We needed to snap out of it though, and get back to playing football in the way we had at the beginning of the season, and soon.

[Graeme]

The knock Gilhaney received in the Exeter defeat will keep him out for 3 weeks. This is bad news as we are struggling for form and could do with our better players being available. So, without Gilhaney, we faced a midweek game at home to Woking desperate to turn our season back around. HH came back into the side for Afful, Prosser would make his debut in place of Band, Fish replaced Lumsdon and a Chillingwoth/Mansaram partnership up-front would hopefully provide the goals we need.

Early on, we looked by far the better side against Woking, but failed to create a chance as they defended well in last ditch tackles. We were nearly punished though on 10 minutes as we over-committed men forward and Woking broke quickly to force a good save from Smith. A Mansaram flick on in the 16th minute put Chillingworth clean through. His shot was excellently saved by the Woking keeper though and we couldn't do anything from the resulting corner. Another counter attack on 20 minutes produced another scare as Woking got space in our box only to see their shot rebound to safety off our right post. Both sides were looking dangerous, but defending started to take over and tackles flew in effectively from both sides. We still looked the better side though, and Dutton forced an excellent block that looped just over the bar with the keeper beaten on 44 minutes. The final whistle went after a short period of stoppage time and both sides had preserved their clean sheets on a 0-0 scoreline.

We were playing OK, not brilliantly but OK. A bit more impetus from us going forward should give us the goals we need as we do look the better side against Woking. The second half started evenly though, and they forced a good save from Smith in the 53rd minute, followed by a 54th minute drive that sailed wide. Chillingworth again spurned a good opportunity firing wide in the 56th minute as both sides looked to get a lead in the game. Mansaram curled a shot just wide in the 60th minute as we again started to look the better side. Klein-Davis and Afful replaced Chillingworth and Murphy and more pressure from us again failed to yield chances. Woking were looking dangerous on the break, but we looked more like the professional outfit to the oppositions part-time status rather than the other way round. No real chances fell either way until the 88th minute when a good counter attack again forced Smith into a good save. We tried in vain to win it late on and the final whistle brought an end to the game with an unlikely 0-0 scoreline given some of the chances on show.

We had played much better here, and whether it was the opposition or not, we look a much better side than that which has just lost 3 on the trot. At least our terrible sequence of losses didn't continue for too much longer, but we need to get back into the winning habit sooner rather than later.

[Graeme]

Needing to get back on the winning trail, we travelled down to the south coast to play Torquay. After the more positive performance against Woking, I was looking for a response from the lads to get the win we so desperately needed. Lumsdon came back in for Fish, Afful started ahead of Murphy, Gulliver replaced Prosser, Klein-Davis replaced Mansaram and Lowe moved back on to the bench.

The game was fairly even at the start, but Torquay did manage to force a save from Smith in the 3rd minute from a 25 yard freekick. In the 11th minute, bad tracking back from HH left Cockerill with a man over. Roberts was dragged out of position and the ball was played in behind him for Torquay to slot an opening goal. From the restart, a good move by us saw Chillingworth get clean through only to be thwarted by an excellent save. More Alty pressure followed, but we were unable to force another opening. In the 25th minute, Torquay fired over from range. The goal kick found Afful in the deep, and his mis-directed cross was fumbled by the Torquay keeper. Klein-Davis was on hand to poke home and we were level. More pressure from us again failed to create an opening, and the game became more even towards half-time. Torquay did manage one more effort that sailed wide on 43 minutes, but the half ended at 1-1 and was very positive from an Altrincham perspective.

At half-time, I had to replace Chillingworth and HH as they had picked up knocks late on in the half. Mansaram and Lowe would deputise. We needed to keep up the pressure on Torquay, as I felt they could crack and give us the win I so craved.

The second half though was an incredibly dull, dour affair. A total midfield battle where niether side were getting any space whatsoever in the attacking third. Wells came on for Klein-Davis and I reshuffled the pack to try to find more attacking impetus, but neither side really had a cutting edge. As time wore on, the game had 1-1 written all over it. In injury time though, a cross from deep from the Torquay left-back was headed home by their striker who had peeled off the back of Roberts with the last touch of the game. Heart break can be the only way to describe it, and the final whistle went with us having lost 2-1 in the final seconds.

We had played well enough to have gotten something out of what really was an even game. Torquay were playing league football last season, so it was heatening to know that we had matched them and only come away late on with a depressing loss. It was depressing though, and with some more big games coming up, we needed to recover quickly again to get something out of them.

[Graeme]

My early decision to take off HH and Chillingworth in the Torquay game had saved them from an injury that would keep them out of action, but HH went down with food poisoning and would be out for a week. Gilhaney and Brown were back in training, but the next match at home to Carlisle would be too soon for both. Carlisle are a big side, and came down with Torquay last year. They would bring a big away following which should help us out financially if nothing else. For this game, Murphy came in for HH, and Prosser returned for Gulliver.

The opening exchanges were even against Carlisle, but they turned it on after 3 minutes when shots from range went narrowly wide and then again a minute later. Prosser headed narrowly over from a corner in teh 12th minute as we started to get back into the game. Prosser took a slight knock though, and I was forced to monitor him as the game progressed in an even fashion. Klein-Davis shot over when well placed in the 30th minute and a Carlisle header was dealt with by Smith in the 35th as both sides looked to gain a first half advantage. None was forthcoming though and the first half ended at 0-0.

We had done well against probably the biggest club in the division. If we could get a win here, we really would be back and fighting for a mid-table position so I sent the lads out to attack in the second half. This is exactly what they did, and Klein-davis had a shot well saved on 48 minutes, before Dutton had a wonderful chance very well blocked in the 50th minute. Carlisle were really hanging on by the skin of their teeth as continued to pour forward. Prosser had a header saved from a corner on 52 minutes before Carlisle tried to re-establish themselves with a shot from range in the 56th minute that was comfortably saved by Smith. A minute later, the ball was played into the Carlisle strikers feet. He spun Prosser very well and shot to the near post which Smith did excellently to keep out. The ball rolled along the line though and was poked in at the back post as the Carlisle striker got there just before Roberts to give them an undeserved 1-0 lead.

This goal shocked us a bit, and the game became tighter and more even for a period. Carlisle again tried their luck from range in the 70th minute but it sailed wide. Mansaram, Lowe and Caines came on to replace Klein-Davis, Chillingworth and Prosser in an attempt to change the game back in our favour. Carlisle ahd really tightened up though, content to sit on their 1-0 lead. A Lumsdon freekick in teh 77th minute was well saved, and the last 10 mminutes was more an excercise of attack on defence. Carlise won the battle though as the defending team, and held out for a totally undeserved 1-0 victory.

I couldn't be too dispondant at the performance as we had done well and deserved probably to win the game, or at least get a point against a much bigger club. We had done well but again not been rewarded with points. These must start coming soon as our winless streak is now quite long, and it is something that muct change if we are to get what we want out of the season.

After the game, Murphy revealed he had sustained bruised ribs and would be out for 2 weeks. It was another unwelcome blow. Smith got called up again for the Scotland U19's which is good for him, and we drew Prescot Cables away in the FA Cup 4th qualifying round. Why we keep getting drawn away in cup competitions is beyond me, but hopefulyl we can go far this year and ease the debt the club has.

[Graeme]

Histon away midweek was next up, and a game we have to win to get back on track. Histon are a small club struggling in the league, and we have to pick up a result here and convert the more promising performances of the last 2 games into points on the board. For this game, Gilhaney returned to the side at the expense of Chillingworth, HH played in place of Murphy, Brown came in for Giles and Coburn played instead of Smith who was on international duty.

We started brightly, and Gilhaney fired wide in the 3rd minute when he should really have done better. In the 8th minute, Brown played a ball down the line for Afful to chase. He caught it and looped a cross into the box for Klein-Davis to nod the ball home at the far post. Finally, early game dominance had been converted and we lead 1-0. From the restart, Histon created a chance that was eventually fired over after some good approach play. In the 11th minute of an exciting opening period, Klein-Davis picked up the ball following a goalmouth scramble and had his shot saved. He managed to get onto the rebound but was felled by a desperate lunge for a penalty. HH stepped up but the keeper made a good save to his left and the score stayed at 1-0. Histon came back and fired over 2 minutes later as the breathless action continued.

In the 18th minute, Klein-Davis nodded the ball down for Gilhaney to run onto at the half-way line. This he did and dribbled through the Histon defence, firing in at the near post for 2-0. From the restart Histon pressed again, and only a good block from Roberts prevented a goal. We came back at them strongly though and Gilhaney headed over on 27 minutes before Klein-Davis had a shot saved in the 31st minute and headed over on 33 minutes. Gilhaney headed a chance over when unmarked on a corner in the 35th minute, before we were hit with a sucker punch. A quickly taken goal kick following Gilhaneys header saw the ball go down Histons right flank. Their cross resulted in a goalmouth scramble, and the ball was eventually fired against the post. The rebound was poked home though and Histon had managed to get back into the game. In the 42nd minute, Roberts header from a Histon goal kick found Klein-Davis in space. His cool head saw Glihaney running through and the pass was measured to perfection. Gilhaneys finish matched the pass and we had restored our 2 goal lead. In the 45th minute, Gilhaney was denied a hat-trick by the Histon keeper and the referee brought an end to a pulsating half of football that we had largely dominated, and lead 3-1.

More of the same was my cry at half-time. This lot were there for the taking, and we could really avenge some of our recent defeats with a cracking result here. We needed to keep our foot on the gas, and keep Histon under pressure.

What happened was an end-to-end game, being largely even. Histon created the chances early on though as they sought to get back into the game. They fired wide in the 49th and 50th minutes, then over in the 53rd minute. In the 59th minute, a Cockerill throw found Dutton who nodded the ball straight back. Cockerill controlled and crossed the ball, picking out the run of Gilhaney who had made the front-post and his flick set us 4-1 up. Now comfortable, and with Gilhaney having achieved his hat-trick, we really relaxed. Gilhaney fired wide in the 64th minute, and Lumsdon forced a good save in the 66th minute. Mansaram, Lowe and Wells replaced Klein-Davis, Afful and Lumsdon as we eased down. The game also eased down with us as Histon had now accepted the defeat, and we seemed unwilling to press for more goals. The only further chance fell to Dutton who fired wide from range in the 85th minute, and when the referee blew for full-time, we had won 4-1 with a lagely excellent performance.

I was delighted that we had put away one of the sides we have to if we are to achieve our objectives this season and stay up. Our first 5 games yielded 10 points, our second 5 games 7 points and or 3rd 5 games 4 points. This was a worrying trend though, and we have to get back t picking off some of the bigger sides if we are to better our prediction of being relegation candidates.

[Graeme]

So, with 15 games gone, the table was as follows:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Rushden | | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 32 | 13 | +19 | 33 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Exeter | | 15 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 9 | +16 | 33 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Carlisle | | 15 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 9 | +11 | 32 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Weymouth | | 15 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 27 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Kidderminster | | 15 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 27 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Torquay | | 14 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 19 | 15 | +4 | 26 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | Crawley | | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 20 | 12 | +8 | 25 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Dag & Red | | 15 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 22 | 15 | +7 | 25 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Accrington | | 15 | 7 | 1 | 7 | 26 | 17 | +9 | 22 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Gravesend | | 14 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 20 | +1 | 22 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | York | | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 17 | -3 | 22 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Stevenage | | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 15 | +3 | 21 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Cambridge | | 15 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 20 | 19 | +1 | 21 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Grays | | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 19 | 20 | -1 | 21 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Altrincham | | 15 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 17 | 22 | -5 | 21 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Morecambe | | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 17 | +3 | 20 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Kettering | | 15 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 13 | +3 | 19 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Scarborough | | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 22 | -5 | 18 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Forest Green | | 15 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 18 | 21 | -3 | 16 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Southport | | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 17 | 21 | -4 | 16 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Woking | | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 16 | -5 | 16 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | | Histon | | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 26 | -16 | 8 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Nuneaton | | 15 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 12 | 31 | -19 | 8 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | | Yeading | | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 4 | 33 | -29 | 0 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

We have the potential here to decide our season in the next 10 games. If we do well, we should be a top-half side and looking comfortable. If we do badly, we can be drawn into the relegation mire and really struggle. We are still living off our excellent start a bit though, and the points have dried up a bit recently. Hopefully the positive result against Histon will give us the impetus to go on and reall achieve something this season.

[Graeme]

Our next game was the welcome distraction of the FA Cup 4th qualifying round away to Prescot Cables. We need a cup run for the sake of our finances, but I decided to use more of our squad players for this game. Giles came in for Brown, Band replaced Prosser, Fish came in for Lumsdon, Wells played in place of Dutton, Hammill replaced HH and Chillingworth and Mansaram played up-front.

Our changed lineup roared into the game, and Fish spurned a good opportunity in the first minute by blazing wide. In the second minute, a sliced clearance fell to Afful who played in Chillingworth to lob the Prescot keeper with a first time chip. 1-0 up and looking hungry, Mansaram forced his way through in the 4th minute only to be foiled by the keeper. In the 5th minute, Cockerill fed the ball into Wells, who looked up and played Mansaram through again. This time he was hacked down and a penalty ensued. Wells stepped up to take the kick, and slotted calmly to the keepers left for a 5th minute 2-0 lead. Prescot forced a chance in the 9th minute, but shot wide when fairly well placed before we got back on the front foot. Mansaram headed wide in the 13th minute before a concerted period of Alty pressure failed to yield a chance. Hammill eventually managed a shot in the 27th minute, but it curled narrowly wide. Having eased off a touch after our early exploits, we were still by far the better side but chances were fewer. Chillingworth shot wide in the 36th minute and Mansaram shot wide in the 39th minute and the half then ended with us 2-0 up and comfortable.

At half time, I urged us not to ease off totally. Several of the lads our there were really playing for their futures at Alty, so if they eased off too much and the game degenrated, they were unlikely to force their way into my plans too easily.

We were again failing to create much in the second half though, until a Cockerill cross found Chillingworth being climbed all over in the 54th minute. Another penalty was awarded, and Wells stepped up again to blast the ball home to the keepers right. Now 3-0 up we were definitely cruising, and the game had got a bit niggly. Little fould were creeping into the game and a few cards were being dished out to both sides. I brought on Klein-Davis, HH and Dutton for Hammill, Afful and Fish and reorganised slightly to try to shake up the team. Conditions had become very difficult though due to the gale force winds that made playing football almost impossible. With us in a comfortable position in the game too, it petered out in what was a poor second half given our opening to the match, the score being 3-0.

We had won comfortably, and at a canter really. This was good a several fringe playes had got a run out, and the coffers were appreciative of the money gained in prizes and in gate receipts. Hopefully a run to the third round would unfold, and we could land a big side that would secure us financially for a good while to come.

In the week following our cup win, we learned that we had drawn Morecambe at home in the 1st round proper. A home tie at last in a cup competition came as a welcome boost, despite it being a tricky tie against a good Conference club.

[bartley_m]

This is a good read mate, good luck keeping Alty in the Conference

[Graeme]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by bartley_m:

This is a good read mate, good luck keeping Alty in the Conference </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank you.

[Graeme]

Rushden were the visitors next as we looked to push on and again test ourselves against the best that the Conference have to offer. I made several changes back from the side that won in the FA Cup, now quite well rested. Prosser and Brown came back into the defence for Band and Giles, Lumsdon came back into central midfield for Fish, HH replaced Hammill and Gilhaney and Klein-Davis partnered each other up front.

Having been outplayed by Rushden in the FA Trophy the previous season, I was keen to see how far we had come this season. The game started evenly, with both teams showing respect for their opposition. Gilhaney had the first chance in the 5th minute, but he fired over. A minute later and Rushden fired over from range as both sides were struggling for openings. It was becoming a tense game, but Rushden almost broke the deadlock in the 26th minute, but a good Smith save and a scrambled clearance from Roberts kept our goal intact. Injury time seemed to rush in with the game still very evenly poised. A Rushden throw in from deep in their own half led to a long clearance up the middle. This was controlled and the Rushden striker showed good skill to dribble through and great composure to slot the opening goal in the 47th mintue. Soon after, the half-time whistle blew on an even and tightly contested game with us 1-0 down.

We had to raise our game and start to put Rushden under some real pressure. Klein-Davis had taken a knock late on in the first half, so I replaced him with Mansaram as a precaution. The second half started in much the same vane as the first, being very even. In the 53rd minute, Mansaram managed to break through though but shot over when he should really have made the keeper work. Rushden had chances in the 55th and 56th minutes, the first forcing a good Smith save and the second going wide. Dutton and Lowe replaced Wells and Gilhaney, both of whom had received treatment in heavy tackles.

As the game wore on, we started to get into the ascendancy. Forcing openings was another matter though as Rushden were very well drilled defensively. They posed little threat going forward now though and surely a chance must fall our way sooner or later? It did in the 89th minute, when a HH cross was met by Mansaram. The header was goal-bound all the way but for an acrobatic save from the Rushden keeper. After 4 minutes of injury time, the referee brought an end to a game that was very even throughout, but one that we had lost 1-0.

I was disappointed that we had matched Rushden for 90 minutes but not got anything out of the game. That said, it showed that we have come a long way since our match against them last season.

After the game, I sat down with my Assistant ,Dalton Steele, and tried to work out a system of playing against the big sides. What we need is something that keeps us tight but where we can break effectively and quickly. We came up with a 4-5-1 system that we will try in the forthcoming weeks as we have the players to play such a system.

The Rushden defeat brought to an end the fixtures for October. I was delighted that Gilhaney had won 3rd place in the goal of the month competition as we have been overlooked in all the monthly awards so far this season.

[Graeme]

The FA Cup first round tie at home to Morecambe was next up for Alty. We were in good spirits despite our loss, and I felt only 2 changes were required as we went forward to try to secure another game in our quest for more finances from our cup run. Murphy replaced HH and Mansaram started in place of Klein-Davis.

The game was again an even one, but Morecambe looked dangerous going forward as they had good pace up front. It took them until the 18th minute to have an effort though but fortunately this flashed over the bar. On teh half hour mark, a 25 yard freekick was well saved by Smith, and a minute later Morecambe shot wide when in a good position. It took until the last minute of the first half for us to fashion an opportunity, but Gilhaney headed wide when he should have hit the target. What was in fact a very dull but even first half ended 0-0.

We looked a bit slugish and needed to come out of our shells a bit to try to win this game at home, as this would be our best chance of progressing. It was even again though after half time, but after 9 minutes of the second period Morecambe decided to come forward more. They shot wide from range in the 54th minute, then after a period of pressure headed wide in the 66th minute. To change the pattern of play, Klein-Davis, HH and Wells replaced Mansaram, Murphy and Afful, with Lumsdon moving to the right-wing. This only served to tighten up the game once more, and as injury time approached it had 0-0 bore draw written all over it. Morecambe won a corner in the 89th minute though, which was met with a good near post header that ht the side netting. It was obvious they wanted to win the game too, but in the 91st minute Cockerill was brought down on the halfway line. He picked himself up and played the ball into the area where Gilhaney managed to get a good header onto it under pressure which flew into the top left corner. There were only 3 minutes of injury time, the rest of which passed without incident and we managed to record an unlikely win 1-0 against a bigger side.

This game plesed me greatly, as it was tight and even, but we found something late when it mattered and won the game. If we can negotiate 1 more round, we stand a chance of getting one of the Premiership boys and really solving our debt problem.

Unfortunately, we drew Rushden away in the FA Cup round 2. Rushden are a massive club comparatively, but if we can win we would deserve a big game to swell the coffers.

[Graeme]

Following our triumphant FA Cup excersions against Morecambe, a midweek trip to Crawley was next for us. I decided to use the 4-5-1 formation we devised a couple of weeks ago for the first time, as Crawley are a comparatively big club and a professional one at that. I kept the back 5 (including goalkeeper) the same, brought Wells into a defensive midfield position, had Moore and Fish in the middle, Afful and HH on the wings with Klein-Davis on his own up-front.

As you might expect, it was even early on. Crawley eventually fashioned a chance in the 14th minute but Smith saved well. He was alert again in the 25th minute as we struggled to get used to our new formation. Breaking from midfield in the 28th minute, Moore shot wide when when placed for our first chance of the game. Another Smith save in the 32nd minute was enough to ensure we headed towards the break with a clean sheet. On 43 minutes, Moore won the ball in the midfield and set Klein-Davis through with a wonderful throughball. He finished with aplomb to send us into the break with a 1-0 advantage.

Things wern't going all our way, we had withstood some considerable pressure at times due to the lack of an outlet ball with our new more defensive formation. What we needed to do was to only drop back when required, but keep in support of the lone striker as much as possible.

More Crawley pressure ensued after the restart though. A header wide from a 53rd minute corner was followed by a shot that went wide a minute later. Fish had a 56th minute drive from the edge of the box blocked before I decided to make some changes. Dutton replaced Moore and Hammill came on for Afful. Wells struck a nice freekick over the bar in the 65th minute, and it looked like the game might just end in our favour. In the 74th minute though, Crawley got their lifeline. A long clearance found us caught too high up the field. A Crawley striker ran through, latched onto the clearance and struck a shot past Smith for 1-1. I brought Gilhaney onto the wing, replacing HH to try to add some real class to our forward work, but another long clearance down their left flank in the 78th minute found Brown pushed too high up. A driven cross was poked in at the far post for a 2-1 Crawley lead. Dutton flashed a shot over the top in the 84th minute, but it was only a brief respite as Crawley curled a 25 yard freekick conceded by Brown into the near post on 91 minutes. Crawley struck another shot wide in the 93rd minute before the referee brought an end to the game with us having lost 3-1.

It was disappointing losing to Crawley, not that it shouldn't have been expected, but because looked relatively in control until they scored. What followed could really be seen as a capitulation, and that disappointed me. The 4-5-1 experiment had nearly worked, but not quite. Some tweaking was required but it could be positive if the players respond in the right way.

After the match, I learned that Smith had been called up for international duty with Scotland U19's again. Fortunately though, he wouldn't miss any Alty games this time.

[Graeme]

In a tough run of fixtures, we travelled to Stevenage next keen to put up a performance to show we could rival the leagues best teams. For this game I decided to stick with a slightly modified version of the 4-5-1 formation devised to counter the larger clubs. Personnel wise, Dutton replaced Wells, Murphy replaced HH, Caines replaced Prosser, Lumsdon replaced Moore, Hammill replaced Fish and Chillingworth replaced Klein-Davis.

Even opening exchanges were soon forgotten when Stevenage unleashed an onslaught starting in the 8th minute when a header from a corner was saved by Smith. He saved again from close range in the 10th minute, before 2 freekicks narrowly missed the target in the 14th and 18th minutes. In the 20th minute, a long ball from the Stevenage right back to their left wing was flicked inside deftly for their striker to finish comfortably. We were being completely outplayed again, but Chillingworth managed to wriggle through in the 34th minute, but he shot wide. Stevenage also shot wide when well placed in the 38th minute before a deep cross from the left found a Stevenage striker peeling off the back of Roberts to make it 2-0 in the 41st minute. No more chances could be carved out for either side and a dismal first half display by us was ended with the referees whistle 2-0 down.

I tore into the lads at half time. How could we play this badly? They left the changing room in no illusion as to what I expected in the second half. What a response though, as we got at Stevenage from the off. Chillingowrth had a shot saved in the 47th mintue, and Afful had a drilled effort repelled a minute later. In the 52nd minute, Hammill won the ball in the midfield and played Chillingworth through. His first time effort sailed into the top right corner for a great goal that confirmed we were back in the game. I brought Wells on in place of Lumsdon as he was tiring before Murphy again tested the Steveage keeper with a 58th minute shot. Murphy was also on target in the 66th minute, but his effort was blocked and dribbled agonisingly wide. From the resulting corner, Roberts got a header in that just missed the far post.

I was shocked that we were now totally dominating a good side, and things seemed to be coming together. I brought Gilhaney and HH on for Chillingworth and Murphy to add some real pace to our attack. Wells had a shot from the edge of the area well saved on 70 minutes before Stevenage managed to create their first chance of the half. In the 74th minute, they put together a good passing move which saw us torn apart. The end product was a shot that was parried by Smith, and the rebound was headed wide. We woke up again straight away though, and Afful had a shot saved on 75 minutes. Roberts hit the side netting after a 78th minute corner, then Stevenage fired a shot from range wide a minute later. It was a pulsating second half, but in the 83rd minute, a backtracking Dutton brought down his man for a penalty to Stevenage. Smith went the correct way though and saved to his left. The penalty shook us up though and we looked less confident going forward. Stevenage had also settled to their 2-1 scoreline and the game petered out somewhat to a 2-1 loss.

Whilst I was disappointed with our first half performance, our second half performance was nothing short of excellent bar the concession of the penalty. We also seem to be having real trouble forcing the ball past opposition keepers, which is something we will have to remedy soon if we are to succeed this season.

[Graeme]

Southport at home next, and a meeting of 2 part-time teams. I decided to return to the 4-4-2 system for this game as it is against one of the weaker sides in the division at home. I replaced Caines with Band, Gilhaney and Klein-Davis made up the forward line with Chillingworth on the bench.

Southport created the first chance of the game in the second minute but fired wide. The early exchanges were very open, but we got a break in the 10th minute. Dutton was fouled on the edge of the box, and Lumsdons freekick deflected off the wall wrong-footing the keeper for an early Alty lead. 2 minutes later, Afful fed Gilhaney who spun on the ball, beat 2 players and hammered in a shot at the far post to double our advantage. The openness of the game continued, and on 16 minutes a midfield scrap was ended by a Southport ball out to their left wing. A dribble and cross produced a fine header to half our lead. In the 23rd minute, a Southport corner header was cleared by Cockerill. Gilhaney took up the ball and ran the length of the field, only to be brought down in the Southport box for a penalty. Gilhaney stepped up himself and hammered home to the keepers left for 3-1 Alty.

A more even period ended in the 34th minute when we managed to excert ourselves again, with Dutton firing in a freekick that was well saved. Gilhaney was on the search for a hattrick though and had a shot that was well saved in the 37th minute. A minute later, a defensive mix-up presented Afful with the ball. His pass found Klein-Davis whose shot couldn't quite beat the keeper who made a wonderful save. In the 42nd minute. Smith picked up a loose ball and gave it short to Cockerill. He played it up the line to Murphy who passed inside for Gilhaney to excecute a perfect layoff. Klein-Davis struck it first time from the edge of the box and the Southport keeper was helpless. More pressure failed to yield any more chances and a wonderful first half ended with us 4-1 up.

The game was very open, and we had dominated large parts of it. What we needed to do was to tighten up but keep the ball going forward. With this in mind, we set out to hopefully complete a rout.

It was Southport that came out fighting though. In the 48th minute, a counter attack down out left flank produced a great cross for Southport to head home and reduce their arrears to 4-2. Another Southport shot a minute later went narrowly wide as Southport piled on the pressure. Smith was called into action from range in the 53rd minute before we got into the second half at all. In the 55th minute, Murphy played Klein-Davis in on the edge of the Southport box and his finish was the equal of his first half strike to make the score 5-2.

Southport hit the side netting with a good break in the 59th minute as the game became end-to-end. A minute later Gilhaney got through but his shot was well saved. Southport again got through in the 63rd minute but Smith denied the approaching forward with a good save. I brought on Chillingworth, HH and Wells for Gilhaney, Murphy and Lumsdon to try to make the game tighter. This seemed to have the disered effect largely as the game became more one sided.

In the 68th minute, a left wing corner resulted in Wells being pushed for a penalty. HH stepped up and struck it powerfully home to make it 6-2. Dutton had a freekick saved in the 71st minute, before a Southport counter attack produced an effort in the 73rd minute that sailed wide. Chillingworth had an effort saved in the 75th minute, before Southport got a header in from a corner which hit the side netting. Klein-Davis was denied his hat-trick in the 80th minute with a fine save from a header, as both teams started to tire. We now looked more cagey, and the game was stifled by the tiredness on both sides. A short injury time period yielded no further chances for either side and the game ended 6-2.

It was an incredible game of football, especially for the neutral. What had happened could have been very different if Southport had been more clinical in front of goal, but conversly if we had been more wasteful a difficult afternoon could have been had. We were aided by 2 penalties, but I was pleased by some of the wonderful football we had played.

After this game, Giles went to the press about his desire to play more first team games. I responded that he should work hard in training and his chance would come. If truth be told though, I was still unsure of my first choice defense, and Giles would get a chance in the middle soon to see hoe he would fare there.

[Graeme]

A home game against Scarborough follows the fantastic game against Southport. If we can start to build some momentum in the run-up to the busy Christmas period, we could see ourselves well set come the end of January. For this one, Giles replaced Cockerill, with Roberts moving out to left back. That was the only change I wanted to make, trying to slidify the back 4 slightly.

The opening was very cagey, with neither side wanting to give an inch. Murphy fired over from range in the 11th minute, before Scarborough mounted their first real attack in the 15th minute. The Scarborough striker ran at Giles who panicked and brought him down in the box for a penalty. Smith went to his left and palmed it away to relieve our blushes.

The game was still very even, but we now looked more purposeful going forward, despite a lack of opportunities. Klein-Davis headed over from an Afful cross on 40 minutes, and forced an excellent save from the Scarborough keeper on 42 minutes when put through by Lumsdon. On 44 minutes, Roberts blocked a Scarborough cross and Murphy hacked it clear. Gilhaney raced on to the ball and dribbled it on itno the area. He slotted near post to make it 1-0 Alty. In injury time, Scarborough fired over from range and Afful shot wide from the right side of the area, but no more goals could be added and the half finished 1-0.

We had done OK, but had nearly undone ourselves again with a silly penalty. If we could kill the game early here in the second half, we would do well as Scarborough look to be a faltering side.

After a Gilhaney shot was well saved in the 48th minute, Scarborough attacked trying to save the game. Shots from range went wide in the 49th and 53rd minutes, and a 58th minute drive was well saved. We weathered the storm though, and in the 69th minute Roberts cleared to Murphy who went round the outside of his marker and drilled a low cross that Klein-Davis hammered home at the near post for 2-0. Chillingworth, HH and Wells replaced Gilhaney, Afful and Dutton as I looked to rest some players and secure the 3 points. Indeed, the game became tighter and chances largely stopped flowing. A Scarborough shot from range that sailed wide in the 81st minute, a HH shot that went over a minute later and a good Smith save in the 87th minute was the last meaningful action of the game which ended with a 2-0 Alty win.

Back-to-back wins is always a good way to end a month. We had done OK in patches in November, and Klein-Davis was 3rd in the player of the month award. Chillingworth won the goal of the month for his goal against Stevenage, so we had done OK in the awards stakes in November. If we can really kick on into December, we can secure the estimated 50 points we need to secure our futures a bit early and enjoy the run-in.

[Graeme]

With 20 games gone, the table was as follows:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 1st | | Rushden | | 20 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 39 | 17 | +22 | 45 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 2nd | | Carlisle | | 20 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 11 | +19 | 45 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 3rd | | Exeter | | 19 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 32 | 14 | +18 | 40 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 4th | | Torquay | | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 29 | 21 | +8 | 39 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 5th | | Kidderminster | | 20 | 11 | 1 | 8 | 26 | 27 | -1 | 34 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 6th | | Crawley | | 19 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 29 | 16 | +13 | 33 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 7th | | York | | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 33 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 8th | | Gravesend | | 20 | 10 | 2 | 8 | 31 | 26 | +5 | 32 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 9th | | Accrington | | 20 | 9 | 3 | 8 | 34 | 25 | +9 | 30 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 10th | | Stevenage | | 20 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 27 | 21 | +6 | 30 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 11th | | Cambridge | | 20 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 30 | 27 | +3 | 29 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 12th | | Grays | | 19 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 30 | 25 | +5 | 28 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 13th | | Dag & Red | | 19 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 27 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 14th | | Altrincham | | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 27 | 30 | -3 | 27 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 15th | | Weymouth | | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 29 | 33 | -4 | 27 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 16th | | Morecambe | | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 28 | 22 | +6 | 26 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 17th | | Woking | | 20 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 22 | 23 | -1 | 26 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 18th | | Forest Green | | 20 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 27 | 29 | -2 | 26 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 19th | | Kettering | | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 25 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 20th | | Scarborough | | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 21 | 30 | -9 | 23 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 21st | | Southport | | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 21 | 33 | -12 | 19 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 22nd | | Nuneaton | | 19 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 15 | 38 | -23 | 9 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 23rd | | Histon | | 19 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 39 | -28 | 9 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

| 24th | | Yeading | | 20 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 5 | 43 | -38 | 1 |

| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

It is very tight in the middle, and any club could push on from here to make a challenge for a playoff spot with a decent set of results. A poor one though and a relegation fight could loom large on the horizon.

[Graeme]

Our tough trip to Rushden was next in the FA Cup round 2. With the big boys in at the next round we would do well to win this one and hopefully land a plum tie. I decided to go back to the 4-5-1 formation, and modified some of the instructions to players hopefully giving more flexibility going forward and being tighter at the back. The only personnel change really was Fish replacing Klein-Davis who dropped to the bench. Fish would slot into the midfield leaving Gilhaney up front.

The early exchanges were tight on an awful surface down in Rushden. They shot over in the 5th minute but Murphy had a good opportunity a minute later but pulled it wide. We then managed to get ourselves under the kosh as Rushden started to pile forward in droves. Sots in the 11th and 12th minutes went wide before a weak clearance and uneven pushing out let a Rushden forward have a clear run on goal. He made no mistake and slotted for 1-0. Rushden weren't done there by a long chalk though, and hit the side netting in the 24th minute before forcing Smith full length to deny a 27th minute shot. In the 33rd minute, Dutton was chasing back as last man and stupidly pulled back his man. A penalty and red card was the result leaving us in an awful situation Wells replaced Fish and slotted into the defensive midfield position, but the Rushden strikers penalty doubled their advantage.

The next few minutes saw Rushden sit back slightly before coming again. A wonderful Rushden passing move down the middle of the park was finished unerringly to give them a 3-0 advantage in the 42nd minute, and our heads seemed to drop. Lumsdon managed to fire one in on 45 minutes but it went narrowly over. 2 minutes later, some weak tackles were put in on our left letting a Rushden player waltz down the line and cross low for a fourth. At half time, I was angry, dismayed and 4-0 down.

I tore the lads apart at half time leaving nobody out. We had been abject and had capitulated following Duttons stupid sending off. Any more play like this and we were in for a cricket score. We had to try at least to get back to some semblance of resistance and see if we could get back into the game at all.

Briefly we did this as Gilhaney got in but headed over almost straight from the kick off. We then provided better resistance until we started to tire. Rushden shot wide in the 57th, 58th and 64th minutes before I had to make some changes. Klein-Davis and HH replaced Gilhaney and Murphy as we started to look very weary. Lumsdon then shot over from the edge of the box in the 66th minute before Rushden countered down their right wing where they crossed to head home number 5. 2 minutes later and the lads had totally given up. We were carved open straight down the middle and allowed Rushden to finish comfortably for number 6. We briefly put up some more resistance as a Brown cross from deep was headed home by Klein-Davis to make it 6-1 in the 76th minute, but this was only a brief respite. 3 minutes later another right wing cross was headed home for number 7, and number 8 followed in the 84th minute from a left wing cross. Rushden then slackened off at 8-1 and let us escape with no more damage done.

True this was a cup game, but an 8-1 massacre by a club in the same division will probably linger long in the minds of the players. I again tore them apart for capitulating, but kept it short as I have to try to get the lads up for the forthcoming games.

This experiment with 4-5-1 has in my view proved unsuccessful, so I will abandon it to work on 4-4-2 and 4-1-3-2. Maybe I wasn't playing it right, but either way this formation isn't going to be one I employ again.]

In other news, the FA Trophy 1st round draw was announced. We had a home draw against Bideford. Hopefully a good run in this competition would give us some much needed cash, and a home draw against a very small side should give us hope of achieving this.

[haze.13]

KUTGW Graeme (if that is your real name )

Great work on the match reports. I'm not nearly dedicated enough to write the sort of detail that you're including for the matches. Good stuff

[Graeme]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by haze.13:

KUTGW Graeme (if that is your real name )

Great work on the match reports. I'm not nearly dedicated enough to write the sort of detail that you're including for the matches. Good stuff </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thank you, and yes it is my real name.