From the Fringe- Holyhead Hotspur

[Faramir]

16.8.14

Everton (1) Holyhead Hotspur (0)

Three losses to open the season is terribly disappointing and it was one defensive mistake that killed us again as the usually steady Darren Barnes missed intercepting a pass and that left Dave Burns alone on the doorstep as he scored the only goal of the match past Fabio in the 2nd minute. We were flat in the first half- no life at all- and I stormed out of the dressing room without a comment. The second half was much better, but we couldn't get a break as we hit a post and saw Simon Ormerod take the ball away from the keeper outside the area, only to lose his dribble with an open goal at his mercy. The frustration of everyone is evident and we need to find a way to turn things around.

[Faramir]

16.8.14

Things have really come to a head with the club, and much like the case of Robert Clarke before it is time to address them. With that in mind, I placed Darren Barnes, Gary Griffin, Gary Saunders, Brian Carter and Jack Hobbs on the transfer list. I really don't want to lose Barnes, but he feels he can't accomplish anymore at Holyhead and wants to move on and his attitude is becoming a poor influence on all our youngsters. Carter hasn't been here long, but is already unhappy too as are the others that got listed. They join Michael Holmes on our swelling transfer list. I will not let Holmes, Barnes or Carter go at their listed price- if a major club wants them they are going to pay what I feel they are worth. The others are listed at their rated amounts. This could either kill the club or help clear the air enough that they can start playing the type of football I know they are capable of- I am not sure which way it will fall at this point.

***

19.8.14

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Manchester City (0)

It was nice to see us play a good match and earn a 2-0 win over Manchester City at The New Oval. We got off to a terrific start when Michael Holmes broke free and blasted a shot off the crossbar. Fortunately, Gary Griffin was cruising in unmarked and had an easy time putting his shot away into the open goal to give us the lead at 12 minutes. We failed to build on that lead despite numerous chances, but still held sway over the midfield and Chris May was only forced to deal with a couple moderately dangerous chances. The match was into second half injury time before we finally scored the clinching goal as Bill Walton made a super chip cross to Theo Walcott and Walcott tucked it away inside the left post past Mathieu Dreyer to seal the win. Martin Hall earned MOM honors in the match.

[Faramir]

22.8.14

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Arsenal (3) Extra-Time Euro Super Cup- Monaco

Though it looked grim for us early, we gave our fans a terrific demonstration of heart and determination before finally falling 3-2 to Arsenal in Extra-time. Arsenal had their own way in the early going and we fell behind at 27 minutes when Kolo Toure deflected a corner from MOM Stefano Bartolucci past Fabio. Arsenal turned that into a quickfire double as Alan Byrne exploited Paul Reeves as he wheeled past him and snapped a shot past Fabio at 29 minutes. I am sure most everyone thought we were done at that point, everyone except our players. Gary Griffin got us a goal back when he deflected a cross from Dave Fleming past Carlos Idriss Kameni at 37 minutes. We began playing much better after getting the goal back and I was hopeful going into the second half. That hope paid off when Fleming picked out Theo Walcott free in the area and Walcott chipped his shot inside the left post for the equalizer at 63 minutes. Both sides had chances to win the match in regular time, but Fabio and Kameni came up with the big saves. It was Byrne again for Arsenal as the match moved into Extra-time as he fired his own rebound past Fabio after Darren Barnes failed to mark him well or clear the rebound on the first chance at 93 minutes. We had several wonderful opportunities to equalize, but Kameni was equal to the challenge and Arsenal were the ones lofting the trophy at the final whistle.

[Faramir]

24.8.14

We will face Croation side Hajduk in the first round of the Euro Cup.

***

27.8.14

Manchester United (1) Holyhead Hotspur (3)

For all the talk about our 'St.Michael's' (Holmes and Bradshaw) over the past several seasons, it was clear to me by the end of last season that our number 1 forward pairing should be Simon Ormerod and Dean Piper this season. They demonstrated to over 74,000 ManU faithful at Old Trafford why that was the case today. Those same fans were roaring when we fell behind at 12 minutes as Aaron Lennon took advantage of a critical mistake by rightback Mike Wood, who was making his debut today due to injuries to Liam Hamilton and Milan Toman, as Wood missed intercepting a pass that went to Aaron Lennon and Lennon beat Chris May cleanly from 30 yards. We hit back when Dean Piper took a precision pass from MOM Bill Walton and zipped a shot past Kasper Schmeichel for the equalizer at 22 minutes. We turned that into a quickfire double as 17 year old Danny Barker, matched with our other 19 year old wunderkid Matt Phillips, laid off a deft pass that Simon Ormerod turned into a goal past Schmeichel at 25 minutes. ManU pressed hard to equalize, but May had settled down after the first goal and ably assisted by steady play from our backline we kept the lead to halftime. Our midfield play improved to start the second half and we came close twice to adding to our lead and then finally were able to do so. It was another good Walton pass that sprung Piper free and he whisked a shot past Schmeichel for his brace at 63 minutes. We played staunch defense from that point on and kept the ManU forwards frustrated by their inability to break us down. We still held the 3-1 lead at the final whistle for a nice 3-1 road win.

[Faramir]

30.8.14

We made one transfer acquisition just before the deadline as we paid 1.7 Million to Inter and were pleased to bring 23 year old Italian DC Daniele Ferri to the club. Ferri, who was struggling with being annointed the next Fabio Cannavaro by the Inter fans, was pleased to move to a new situation here. It doesn't appear that any of our transfer listed players will be moving at present, so we have time to work Ferri into our defender rotation.

***

NORWAY

3.9.14

Norway (2) Slovakia (2) Euro Championships Qualifier Group 9

To say I was a little annoyed with the Referee might have been a classic understatement. Alexander Banor Tettey was redcarded for a last man tackle in the 3rd minute when he was not the last man. We then went behind as Jozef Nemeth showed great vision in finding the seam between our three defender and midfield coverage as he rifled a shot past Iven Austbo off a laid off pass from Robert Vittek. We didn't back off on attacking with only 10 men and it paid off with the equalizer as Morten Gambst Pedersen blasted a shot past Peter Bartos on a cross from Daniel Johnsen. We grabbed the lead when Johnsen deflected a long cross from Oleg Malyukov, a dual citizen who chose Sweden to Cap for after playing for the Russian Under-21 side, past Bartos at 27 minutes. The Referee then handed them a penalty kick at 35 minutes on a very disputed tackle by Lars Martin Engedal. Austbo saved Vittek's penalty kick to keep us in the lead. Vittek had his revenge when a poor backpass and a terrible tackle attempt by Engedal let him run free from midfield. Austbo stopped the initial chance by Vittek, but Vittek took the rebound and rounded Austbo to score his 50th International goal. The second half was entertaining as both clubs had excellent scoring chances, but the keepers ruled and we settled for a 2-2 draw in a match that could easily have had a better result, but for the Referee. England defeated Scotland 1-0 in the other Group 9 match.

[Faramir]

8.9.14

Holyhead Hotspur (3) Birmingham (1)

A great start and a strong second half were enough to send us to a 3-1 win over Birmingham at The New Oval. We got off on a flyer as Theo Walcott picked up a rebound at the edge of the area and drilled a shot past Ian Ford. We quickly moved up 2-0 when Simon Barlow tried to head an innoncent cross away and instead knocked it past Ford for an own-goal at 12 minutes. Birmingham drew a goal back when Simon Carter outtimed and outleapt both Martin Hall and Chris Whitehead to deflect a cross from Scott Carr past Chris May. The keepers ruled the rest of the first half and May was especially sharp in keeping Birmingham from equalizing late in the half. The second half was closely played and we again depended on May's steady play to keep the visitors from equalizing early on. Birmingham seemed to lose a bit of their determination when Dale Taylor popped in a rebound for his 1st goal after Andy Thomas' rocket blast was parried at 83 minutes. We closed the win out from that point on with strong tackling.

[Faramir]

11.9.14

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Hadjuk (0) Euro Cup 1st Round 1st Leg

We did a lot of things well in our 1-0 win over Hadjuk at The New Oval, but our finishing was lacking, and that contributed to us only earning a 1-0 result in the first leg. We dominated the midfield the entire match as our pace advantage was clearly evident. We didn't make the most of our opportunities as we managed to put only 6 of our 19 shots on target in the match. The frustration level at halftime was high after seeing Amir Shahif make a couple superb saves to keep us off the board. Fabio was only tested twice in the match by the visitors and made good saves on both of them. We finally broke through late in the second half as we worked a nice play in their area.

[Faramir]

14.9.14

Aston Villa (2) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

Mark Duncan proved to be difficult to handle as he scored both goals in leading Villa to a 2-1 win over us at Villa Park. We started well in the first half and missed some good chances with our inaccurate shooting. Duncan gave Villa the lead at 41 minutes when he overpowered Matt Phillips to deflect in a cross from Sergey Kislyak. Kislyak missed a penalty kick shortly after as he blasted it over the crossbar after Mike Wood was whistled for holding Luke Moore in our area. We evened the match early in the second half as Paul Reeves scored his 1st ever goal for us when he snapped home a shot past Marcelo Grohe after a poor clearance attempt on a free kick. Duncan took full advantage of our miscue when we botched a throw-in in our corner and the ball scooted out to him. Duncan put away his shot past Chris May for his brace and the ultimate match winning goal at 64 minutes. We failed to rally well and went quietly to defeat.

[Faramir]

17.9.14

Grimsby (0) Holyhead Hotspur (3) League Cup 2nd Round

We were heavily favored to beat League 1 Grimsby and we accomplished it, but not without a lot of hard work. They pressured us in the midfield in the first half, but we were off on a flyer as Michael Bradshaw crossed to Michael Holmes and Holmes scored his 1st goal of the season at 3 minutes. We maintained the lead to halftime thanks to good backline play, led by MOM Nicky Webster, who was making his Senior debut at leftback. Our speed overwhelmed the home side in the second half as we took control of the midfield. Darren Barnes gave us a 2-0 lead when he headed Paul Wynne's corner past Pawel Smietanka. Holmes then made it a brace as he rifled a shot past Smietanka off a good cross from Gary Saunders. Kevin Murray earned the clean sheet in the match in his 1st start this season.

[Faramir]

20.9.14

Holyhead Hotspur (3) Derby (2)

This would have been a lot more comfortable win- as we completely outplayed Derby- except for two things. One was the inability of Paul Reeves to keep James Day marked well in our area and the other was our inaccurate shooting as we missed the target on many good scoring opportunities. We outshot the visitors 16-6 for the match and dominated most of the first half of play. It took us until 41 minutes to finally find the goal with a good shot when Dean Piper snaked a shot inside the left post after Luke Gordon's good chip pass forward had put him away free. Derby answered in first half injury time when Day outmanuevered Reeves and wheeled to put away a good shot past Chris May on a pass from Andy Taylor. The second half went the same way as the first as controlled the ball and spent much of the time on the Derby side of the pitch. We finally regained the lead at 82 minutes when Piper made it a brace as he deflected a long cross from Mike Wood past Mick Smith. We went up 3-1 when Piper flicked a header on and Simon Ormerod finished well from just inside the edge of the area. The goal was needed as Day slipped past Reeves again to put away a shot on a pass from Neil Farrell at 89 minutes. We clamped down from there to finish out the win.

[Faramir]

25.9.14

Hadjuk (1) Holyhead Hotspur (3) Euro Cup 1st Round 2nd Leg (Holyhead Hotspur advances on 4-1 aggregate)

It was a very pleasing effort that carried us to a convincing 3-1 win over Hadjuk in Split as we move onward in defending our Euro Cup crown. Our quickness gave the Slovakian side fits and Gary Saunders gave us the lead in the 11th minute when MOM Matthew Preston laid off a pretty pass for him to put away past Amer Shafih. Hadjuk evened the match when Darren Barnes tried to get too fancy and saw his clearing pass cut out by Ilir Nillbani. Nillbani lofted a 25 yard shot over stranded Fabio and it tucked inside the right post. We cemented our lead and our control of the aggregate when Michael Bradshaw crossed for Michael Holmes to put away late in the first half. Holmes added another goal for his brace early in the second half as Dave Fleming found him unmarked to clinch our advancement to Group play in the Euro Cup.

[Faramir]

28.9.14

Ipswich (0) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

Superb backline play keyed our close 1-0 win over Ipswich at Portman Road. Our backline, led by MOM Paul Reeves, has really been playing much better of late and today they completely thwarted the home side- thanks to superior tackling, postional play and marking as they helped Chris May keep a clean sheet. The only goal of the game was a sensational one as Stephen Morgan scored another highlight reel special with a 30 yard laser blast past Craig Stewart for his 1st goal of the season. Stewart had trouble handling the ball and we came oh so close to adding to the lead three seperate times as the Ipswich backline managed to make saving tackles or sweep the ball off the line each time.

[Faramir]

1.10.14

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Chelsea (2)

We had them. This match was ours for the taking, but we handed it back to Chelsea and allowed them the equalizer in second half injury time to spoil what should have been a good win. We struck for two goals early in the first half, both thanks to the Dean Piper-Simon Ormerod combination up front. Ormerod shook free and blistered a shot that Petr Cech parried, only to see Piper drill the rebound past him to give us the lead at 11 minutes with his 5th goal of the season. The sequence was reversed at 25 minutes as Piper blasted a shot that Cech parried and this time Ormerod canned the rebound for our 2-0 lead. Chelsea began their fightback when we failed to play smart on a corner in their end late in the first half. We failed to cover the center of the pitch as Chris Whitehead was caught up the pitch and MOM Arjen Robben crossed for Richard Harris. Milan Toman tried to make the tackle, but Harris bulled past him and snapped a shot past Fabio to draw the visitors a goal back. We played a steady match, but had problems as our defenders continually gave the ball away with bad choices on passing and dribbling, which left us scrambling. It still looked like we were going to escape when Chelsea received a free kick in second half injury time. Robben lofted the ball and Guillaume Blechner drove past the attempted tackle of Whitehead to smash home the equalizer and leave us with a frustrating and disappointing 2-2 draw.

[Faramir]

1.10.14

We were slotted into Group D in the Euro Cup. Our opponents in the Group are: Stuttgart, Udinese, Lokomotiv Moscow and Xanthi.

***

NORWAY

4.10.14

England (1) Norway (2) Euro Championships Group 9

We stunned England in front of over 86000 at Wembley as we fought back for a late match winner to edge them 2-1 in a spirited match. England looked to be in control of the early play and Iven Austbo was challenged and made two excellent saves. We fell behind at 10 minutes when Wayne Rooney came free at the far post while our coverage was scrambling. Rooney put away a cross from Barry Atkinson to give England the lead. We managed a couple quality chances as we tried to fight back and Robert Clarke denied Daniel Kvam and Magnus Myklebust to keep us off the board. Austbo played a terrific first half as he kept us close as we closed on halftime. We managed the equalizer in first half injury time as we worked a pretty play. Daniel Kvam shook free in the area and after Clarke denied Kvam, Myklebust slammed home the rebound for the equalizer to send us to the dressing room 1-1. The second half saw us playing much steadier and both sides were playing hard, determined football. We lost Kristoffer Haestad and Myklebust to injury and it was Daniel Johnsen, Myklebust's replacement, who keyed our dramatic match winner. Johnsen slipped past two attempted tackles and found Per Ciljan Skjelbred moving unmarked into the English area. Skjelbred held the ball for a moment, until he saw a slight committment from Clarke and then fired his shot inside the right post at 84 minutes. We hung on from there with MOM Lars Martin Engedal standing firm on defense to blunt the best opportunities of the frantic home side. Armenia edged Slovakia 2-1 at Split in the other Group 9 match.

[Faramir]

NORWAY

8.10.14

Norway (3) Scotland (0) Euro Championships Group 9

Getting the early jump on a determined Scottish side turned out to be the key factor in our 3-0 win in Oslo. We got off on a flyer as Espen Eidsvag deflected a corner from MOM Daniel Friestad for a goal in the 4th minute. Chris Morris drew an immediate redcard for throwing an elbow at Per Ciljan Skjelbred when both were trying for a header at 15 minutes. Freistad made a second corner count with a curling one that Skjelbred deflected past David Marshall at 37 minutes. With the 2-0 lead and Scotland down to 10 men, we were content to play keep away in the second half. We capped the scoring when Daniel Johnsen took a poor goal kick from Marshall and drilled a 20 yard shot past the discouraged keeper. Iven Austbo had an easy clean sheet in the match. England crushed Armenia 3-0 in the other Group 9 match.

[Faramir]

11.10.14

Middlesbrough (3) Holyhead Hotspur (4) TV

A truly exceptional display of football by both sides must have pleased the TV audience as we scored a late, dramatic match winning goal to edge Middlesbrough 4-3 at Riverside Stadium. It was a see-saw match from the start, but the telly audience got to see the 'St.Michaels' at their best today. Michael Bradshaw kicked off the scoring in the match when he took a flick on from Michael Holmes and ghosted past two attempted tackles before firing past Daniel Mortimer for his 1st goal of the season. Middlesbrough answered back when Brazilian Schumacher, who along with fellow Brazilian Evander Roncatto gave our side fits all match, rapped home a shot past Chris May after he slipped free of his marking. We moved back in front when Holmes scored his 5th of the season at the far post off a good pass from Bradshaw. Middlesbrough hit back immediately as Schumacher made it a brace when he blasted home a rebound after May parried a drive from Roncatto. Just as quickly, we moved back in front when Bradshaw put away a close-in shot for his brace after taking a superb cross from Luke Gordon. We managed to maintain that lead to halftime, but Middlesbrough evened the match again early in the second half when Steve Barton shed his marker and drilled a rising shot past May for his 1st goal of the season. The match swayed back and forth with impressive passing and quick counter-attacks from both sides. The deciding goal came when May picked out Theo Walcott, on for an ineffective Bill Walton on rightwing, and Walcott drove hard into the Middlesbrough area. Mortimer parried Walcott's drive, only to see Holmes knock in the rebound for the match winner. We held on from there for a pleasing 4-3 road win.

[Faramir]

16.10.14

Holyhead Hotspur (0) Udinese (0) Euro Cup Group D

There were chances for us to win this match, but we couldn't get past good work from Udinese keeper Nikolay Mihaylov as we were forced to settle for a scoreless draw at The New Oval. Our best chance came in the first half when Paul Morris banged a shot off the crossbar, but it was cleared away before we could dump the loose ball into the open goal. We limited the Italian side to only four shots in the match with excellent midfield and backline tackling that helped make Fabio's clean sheet an easy one. It was one of those matches where you could sense a goal was just inches away, but we never were in just the right place to capitalize on our chances. The other Group D match found Xanthi and Lokomotiv Moscow also battling to a scoreless draw, so all four clubs are even at this point. Paolo Galli earned MOM honors in impressing his countrymen with his play. The match will cost us Dave Fleming for a month or two as he suffered fractured ribs in the second half.

[Faramir]

19.10.14

Holyhead Hotspur (4) Nottingham Forest (1)

We blew open a very closely played match with a pair of late goals on our way to a 4-1 win over Nottingham Forest at The New Oval. The match was taut from the start and our fans were overjoyed when we gained the lead as Michael Holmes took a deft short pass from Stephen Morgan and rammed his shot past the onrushing James Cousins for his 100th goal at Holyhead. We moved ahead 2-0 when MOM Matt Phillips collected his own rebound and scorched a shot past Cousins for his 1st goal of the season. Forest applied plenty of pressure in trying to rally and were rewarded when Jermaine Jenas drilled a rebound past Chris May in first half injury time to draw a goal back and help dampen our momentum. The second half saw quite a bit of dazzling midfield play- that was blunted by good tackling and positional play from both sides. We finally put Forest away when Phillips made it a brace with a powerful finish on a cross from Theo Walcott and then Gary Griffin, on for a tiring Michael Holmes, slashed a shot past Cousins after a nice touch pass from Martin Hall.

[Faramir]

22.10.14

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Birmingham (1) League Cup 3rd Round

It was a closer win than I would have liked, but we came away on the right side of the 2-1 scoreline at The New Oval against Birmingham as we broomed them from the League Cup. We stormed into the first half lead when Dean Piper made a great play to collect a pass into the area and Gareth Naylor was forced to trip him. MOM Mike Wood made his 1st Holyhead goal memorable as he converted the penalty kick to give us the lead. Ian Ford was very steady in the Birmingham goal and kept his side close as we bombarded him with shots late in the first half. We finally found our second goal against Ford when Steve Rogers dumped a Theo Walcott cross into the open left side of the goal at 73 minutes. We needed that goal as Roman Bednar sparked a revival and slipped past Chris Whitehead to score on Kevin Murray at 79 minutes. Both sides had good chances in the closing moments of play and it was Whitehead who redeemed his error with two saving tackles in second half injury time to preserve the close win.

[Faramir]

25.10.14

Leeds (1) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

I was furious with Luke Gordon and had a few choice words with him in private after his terrible decision to try a backpass with three Leeds forwards lurking around Chris May. Predictably, it cost us the win when Cristian Rodriguez reached the pass first and rounded May to score into the open goal. We should have had a win in the match anyways, but after we gained the early lead we just didn't finish as well as we needed to and never added on any more goals. We got off to a flying start when Michael Bradshaw crossed and MOM Bill Walton scored from a very sharp angle past Phil Howell. Howell played better after yielding the early goal and stopped both Bradshaw and Michael Holmes at point-blank range to keep the home side close. Up until Gordon's mistake we had played a stellar match and really hadn't given Leeds any good opportunities. It was a disappointing result, given how well we played most of the match.

[Faramir]

30.10.14

Stuttgart (2) Holyhead Hotspur (0) Euro Cup Group D

The equation was simple. Stuttgart finished one early chance and received a beneficial penalty kick, while we could not figure out how to score on Timo Hilderbrand as we fell to Stuttgart 2-0 in Germany. The effort was there all match for us and our execution was actually pretty good. Unfortunately, neither equaled goals for us as Hildebrand made the key saves. Stuttgart scored to take the lead at the 8 minute mark when we were caught out on a counter-attack and MOM Fernando Cavenaghi slotted his shot past Fabio inside the far right post for the lead. Milan Toman was whistled for holding Mario Gomez at the edge of the area and Thomas Hitzlsperger converted the penalty kick for a late first half goal that gave the home side a 2-0 halftime lead. We battled hard in the second half, but just couldn't find the twine and we may be on our way out of the Euro Cup with this loss as Udinese and Xanthi battled to a 1-1 draw.

[Faramir]

2.11.14

Holyhead Hotspur (2) West Ham (1)

Though the match was close after we yielded a consolation goal, for the most part we dominated the visiting Hammers in dumping them 2-1 at The New Oval. A great tackle by Davide Ferri keyed a quick counter-attack that saw Michael Bradshaw pick out Michael Holmes as he split the defense. Holmes put away his shot past Vincent Degre to give us a lead in the opening minute of play. We had several more excellent chances in the first half, but were just a bit off in our shooting as we squandered all of them. Early in the second half we struck to make the lead 2-0 at Matt Phillips snapped a shot past Degre off a fine pass from Mike Wood. We were working hard and trying to close out the clean sheet for Chris May, but we lost our focus as the match entered injury time and Dave Fisher whirled away from Paul Reeves to score past May to close out the scoring.

[Faramir]

NORWAY

8.11.14

South Africa (3) Norway (2) Friendly

Experimentation was the watchword for this match and some of it worked, while some didn't. Hakan Opdal didn't play well in goal and that proved costly in the outcome of the match. We took the lead at 28 minutes when Daniel Kvam headed down and Havard Knudsen drove his shot past Mooneeb Josephs. South Africa pegged us back immediately when Steven Pienaar took advantage of a poor Opdal goal kick and blasted a 25 yard shot into the upper reaches of the goal. South Africa then jumped into the lead when we allowed them too much space on a counter-attack and Larato Chabangu crossed for MOM Thabo Brown to deflect past Opdal. In the opening moments of the second half, we went two goals down as Chabangu drilled a 30 yard free kick past Opdal. We drew a goal back when Daniel Freistad rampaged down the left side and blistered a shot past Josephs, but that was as close as we could come in the 3-2 loss.

[Faramir]

16.11.14

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Charlton (1)

A dying moment goal allowed us to take all three points from Charlton in a dramatic 2-1 win that should have been much easier than it turned out to be. We peppered Charlton keeper Daniel Nieto with shots in the first half and he was equal to every challenge as he continually frustrated us with his acrobatics. The second half began with more of the same and it was also disappointing to see Steve Rogers miss very wide on two sitters in front of Nieto. Those accumulated misses were even more disheartening when Charlton took the lead at 70 minutes as Jan Doesberg stepped in and intercepted a Theo Walcott pass for Darren Barnes. Barnes was left flat footed as Doesberg sailed past him. Brian Carter got back enough to be in Doesberg's way, but then missed the tackle on him and Doesberg fired his shot past Chris May for a sensational goal to put the visitors in the lead. We were getting a bit desperate late in the match, but took advantage of Lee Molyeneux making a mistake as he lost the ball on a simple dribble. A long pass from MOM Paul Morris allowed Dean Piper, on for an ineffective Simon Ormerod, to put away the equalizer past Nieto at 88 minutes. Our boys weren't content to take the draw and kept the pressure up as we moved into second half injury time. It paid off in the last seconds of the match as Walcott atoned for his earlier mistake by drilling the dramatic match winner- his 5th of the season- inside the far right post as we escaped with the 2-1 win.

[Faramir]

19.11.14

Cardiff (0) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

Our strong string of good efforts continued as we worked very hard to defeat Cardiff 2-0 at St.Davids. Our midfield, led by MOM Luke Gordon was the key factor in the win as they were merciless with their pressure on the ball and quick to counter-attack once we had control. It was a counter-attack that gave us the lead when Bill Walton picked out Michael Holmes with a cross. Holmes withstood pressure from Clayton MacDonald to fire a shot past Shane Supple at 22 minutes. Supple played well the rest of the half as he kept the home side close, despite some good chances on our part. Fabio also played superbly and he palmed away two excellent scoring chances from Cameron Jerome to keep us in the lead to halftime. The second half was more of the same as both sides created chances. We missed a couple brilliant ones before we finally clinched the match deep into second half injury time as Matt Phillips put away a cross from Walton to seal our win.

[Faramir]

22.11.14

Newcastle (2) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

Our unbeaten streak came to a crashing halt at St.James Park as Newcastle outplayed us, but still had to lean on a huge indivdual effort from Neil Campbell to edge us 2-1. The match was entertaining, but we weren't as crisp with our passing today and many chances withered as we made the one bad pass that killed the opportunity. Newcastle gained the first half lead when we failed to clear away a rebound after Chris May parried Mark Marshall's shot and Neil Campbell rapped home the loose ball. We evened the match in the opening moments of the second half after Phil Scott pushed Theo Walcott in the air on a corner and Mike Wood converted the penalty kick to take us back to 1-1. We would not stayed tied long as Campbell blasted a precision 20 yard free kick inside the right post with nothing that May could do about it. We tried to equalize and had a couple good chances- but failed to beat ancient Shay Given one more time and were left with only a close loss.

[Faramir]

26.11.14

Holyhead Hotspur (4) Xanthi (0) Euro Cup Group D

Finally! A good result in Euro Cup Group Play as we demolished Xanthi 4-0 at The New Oval in a score that could easily have been more lopsided in our favor. Playing without usual strike partner Michael Holmes, out with a slight injury, MOM Michael Bradshaw stepped up his play- but it took time for he and Steve Rogers to get their timing down. Bradshaw helped us storm into the lead as every one of our goals came not from pretty passing or crossing, but instead from us pushing men into the Xanthi area and taking advantage of rebounds. Bradshaw scored two goals in a five-minute span in the first half as he smashed home a rebound and a loose ball. Rogers then lost a goal when he was ruled offside, but rallied to hammer home his own rebound to send us ahead 3-0 to the dressing room. We kept up the pressure in the second half and added on Antonis Dedes own-goal to cap the scoring. Bradshaw lost his hat-trick when he was also ruled offside late in the second half. Micahalis Athanasiou made some superb saves during the match to keep his club from looking even worse, while Fabio earned his clean sheet with several timely saves in the first half before we took complete control of the match. Lokomotiv Moscow went into Stuttgart and beat them 3-2 in the other Group match. This leaves us with the unenviable task of needing a good result in our trip to Moscow, in December no less, to give ourselves a chance to get out of the Group.

[Faramir]

30.11.14

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Bolton (1)

One defensive mistake cost us dearly, as did our lack of finishing, as we were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Bolton at The New Oval. Daniele Ferri made a poor choice to challenge in the midfield and the play promptly flowed past him to allow unmarked David Douglas to snap a shot past Chris May midway through the first half as Bolton took the lead. We saw Stephen Williams make several fine saves to keep us from equalizing, but finally found the goal when MOM Brian Carter deflected Dean Piper's corner past Williams late in the half. We hammered away at the Bolton goal in the second half, but never found the match winner that we were searching for and were left with a disappointing draw.

[Faramir]

3.12.14

Peterborough (0) Holyhead Hotspur (3) League Cup 4th Round

We are on to the League Cup Quarterfinals after we played a fine match in dispatching Peterborough 3-0 at London Road. Precision passing was the key to this win and it took some time for us to really get rolling as we struggled in the early minutes of the match. We took the lead after our scuffling when MOM Luke Gordon sent a cross that Michael Bradshaw let pass by so that Bill Walton could deflect in at the far post. A tic-tac-toe passing sequence allowed Steve Rogers to tee up and blast past Sean Lake at 28 minutes for a 2-0 halftime lead. We quickly squelched the home sides rally hopes early in the second half when another superb quick passing sequence saw Gordon lay the ball off for Michael Bradshaw to hammer past Lake. There were other opportunities for us to build the lead after that as Peterborough never threatened to score again and Fabio had his clean sheet in the win. We will face Plymouth in the Quarterfinals.

***

5.12.14

We will face Lokomotiv Moscow without Fabio as the Brazilian was hurt in practice today and will miss a couple months with knee problems.

[Faramir]

10.12.14

Lokomotiv Moscow (0) Holyhead Hotspur (0) Euro Cup Group D

I was proud of our effort as we dominated Lokomotiv Moscow, but our failure to find a goal sends us out of the Euro Cup as Udinese defeated Stuttgart to drop us into 4th place in the Group. We worked hard, generated good chances all match long, but just weren't able to find the goal we so desperately needed. MOM Kim Winther headed up a strong midfield effort and we only allowed Lokomotiv two shots the entire match. Our best chances saw Michael Bradshaw and Steve Rogers both shoot wide on sitters. It was a disappointing end to our time as Holders of the Euro Cup.

[Faramir]

13.12.14

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Tottenham (1)

A dramatic match winner in second half injury time allowed us to come away with a 2-1 win over Tottenham in a match that looked like a frustrating draw until the strike. We played a stellar first half, but found ex-mate Robert Clarke difficult as usual to solve in goal. We took the first half lead thanks to a wonderful 25 yard rocket from Stephen Morgan than Clarke was unable to get a hand on. Clarke made several spectacular saves- notably on Paul Wynne and Dean Piper- to keep the match close. We hadn't allowed Tottenham many chances, but a late one proved costly as Giovanni Torre rifled a shot off the inside of the right upright from 25 yards for a sensational goal past Kevin Murray and the equalizer at 83 minutes. We kept our heads up and kept working and it paid off when Matthew Preston, who had narrowly missed two dangerous headers earlier in the half, snapped home a loose ball past Clarke for a match winning goal with his 1st goal of the season that sent our New Oval faithful home happy.

EPL Table (matches played)

1- Chelsea (19)              36 pts (+16)
2- Holyhead Hotspur (19)     36 pts (+11)
3- Arsenal (17)              34 pts (+13)
4- Middlesbrough (19)        33 pts (+3)
5- Aston Villa (20)          32 pts (+1)
6- Manchester United (19)    30 pts (+7)
7- Newcastle (20)            30 pts (+5)
8- Everton (19)              30 pts (+3)
9- Liverpool (19)            29 pts (+9)

[Faramir]

17.12.14

Holyhead Hotspur (4) Plymouth (0) League Cup Quarterfinal

We played like clockwork as we easily dumped Plymouth 4-0 in the League Cup Quarterfinal. Our finishing in the first half was clinical and the 'St.Michaels' tandem of Michael Bradshaw and Michael Holmes was finally in evidence again as Holmes had recovered from his maladies. Bradshaw led off the scoring when he snapped home a rebound after Warren Senior somehow got a hand on a blazing shot from Holmes. It appeared that the one-goal margin would be our halftime scoreline, but we suddenly reared up and scored twice in the span of three minutes as Holmes fired a shot past Senior and then fed Bradshaw a precise cross that he deflected inside the right post for his brace as we moved ahead 3-0. Paul Morris had come very close to scoring in the first half and finally scored his 1st goal of the season when he headed a cross from Milan Toman past Senior to cap the scoring early in the second half. Chris May had an easy clean sheet to help us move on to the League Cup Semifinals.

***

20.12.14

The League Cup Semifinal draw gave us Chelsea, while Tottenham and Everton face off in the other Semifinal.

[Faramir]

20.12.14

Liverpool (1) Holyhead Hotspur (0)

Sometimes, the other keeper is just too good. That was the case today where we outplayed 'Pool at Anfield and still wound up with a 1-0 loss because of Jose Manuel Reina's brilliance. We had 20 shots on the match, to only 8 for 'Pool. They made one chance count as sloppy passing on our part following a free kick in Liverpool's area set up a counter-attack that saw Alves Rafael loft a pretty 20 yard goal over Chris May. May left with an injury at 32 minutes, but Kevin Murray filled in quite capably the rest of the way to keep us close. Reina had help from his fierce tackling backline, but he came up with some scintallating saves- especially in the second half after Sergio Ramos was redcared for a last man tackle. The save of the match came when Reina made the intial stop on Simon Ormerod and then somehow got back to get a hand on Matthew Preston's follow-up, when it appeared Preston had the goal to shoot at. It was a good effort on our part, but we need to show better finishing in close matches like these.

[Faramir]

26.12.14

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Everton (0)

The introduction of Gary Griffin for Michael Holmes was the key decision for me as Griffin scored in the first two minutes he was in the match and that was the only goal as we edged Everton 1-0 at The New Oval. We held sway over much of the match, but our attacks were continually blunted by MOM Michael Dawson and the rest of the Everton backline. The 'St.Michaels' looked like non-factors all match long, though Michael Bradshaw did have a couple good chances that were both saved by Darren Ryan. With the lead late in the second half, our backline stood tall as they helped Kevin Murray earn a clean sheet. Murray will continue to get chances to impress in goal for us, as both Fabio and Chris May remain out with injuries.

***

1.1.15

We surprised everyone by making a big splash in the transfer market. With over 40 Million in the transfer fund, I thought it worthwhile to pursue another young forward. The 'St.Michaels' have been good this season, but the scoring from the rest of our forwards has been sporadic, so I was seeking a good young forward to pair with Dean Piper. Who did we get? 20 year old Craig Hunt from Sunderland for 10 Million- though he had been on loan to Doncaster. Though we have a very fast club, Hunt may now be the fastest player on it and should fit right in with our attack.

[Faramir]

3.1.15

Grimsby (2) Holyhead Hotspur (1) FA Cup 3rd Round

It was embarrassing to be broomed out of the FA Cup by Grimsby, though we deserved it for it poor play. The Referee didn't help matters much as we played most of the second half with only 10 men after Theo Walcott was given two quick yellow cards. Despite dominating the first half we found ourselves trailing at halftime as Grimsby had worked a nice free kick play and Josh Palmer was left unmarked by Leon Knight to deflect a centering pass from Marc Pichonnaz past Kevin Murray. Pawel Smietanka was on his way to MOM honors as he continually stymied our forwards with good saves. In the opening moments of the second half, we were down to 10 men after Walcott's sending off. We still pressed our attack and gained the equalizer when Paul Wynne made a good play to create space and then crossed for Simon Ormerod to deflect inside the left post past Smietanka. Grimsby scored the dramatic match winner thanks to an awful clearance attempt by Danny Barker. Barker's mis-hit ball was just a beautiful setup for Palmer to drill past Murray for his brace at 85 minutes. It was a frustrating match for us and a difficult loss.

[Faramir]

7.1.15

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Chelsea (2) League Cup Semifinal Leg 1

I was furious with the Referee. How could he call the first tackle of the match- a decent, not dirty challenge by Darren Barnes- and turn it into a redcard?! Barnes was sent off at 7 minutes and it left us under the gun the entire match, because not only did we lose our best defender, we lost our Captain as well. We played a poor first half and fell behind as Liam Hamilton was hesitant to challenge Stephen Ayodele Makinwa in our area after Makinwa had been the one Barnes was sent off for challenging. Of course Makinwa made Hamilton pay for the hesitation as he deflected a cross past Chris May. May, who was forced to start after Kevin Murray injured his groin in the Grimsby loss, looked very rusty- not having had much training at all since just healing from his injury. We went down 2-0 in the opening moments of the second half when Richard Harris deflected a long pass past May. To their credit, the boys didn't quit and we had a chance after Luke Gordon setup Gary Griffin and Griffin scored past Petr Cech. We kept working and Cech had to make two good saves on Griffin in the waning moments as we came up short, but not for lack of trying. The loss leaves us in grim shape for a 2nd leg at Stamford Bridge.

***

9.1.15

It surprised me, but the FA agreed with me on the Barnes matter and rescinded the ban, not that it really helps our League Cup situation out after the Referee's decision so drastically changed the balance of the match.

[Faramir]

11.1.15

Manchester City (0) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

It was really pleasing to see the focus showed today as we outplayed Manchester City in defeating them 2-0 at City Stadium. I wondered if they had it in them when Michael Holmes crumpled in the opening moments of the match and I was forced to take him out. It was the other half of 'St.Michaels' who broke through for us and scored a sensational goal after taking a long through ball from Darren Barnes. Bradshaw's goal at 26 minutes really seemed to boost our play and we put City under the vise for the rest of the first half. We may not have scored, but we did wear them down with our pressure. The second half began with the same type of effort on our part and we finally clinched the match when Simon Ormerod suddenly took over play in their area and he deflected a precision cross from Dave Fleming past Mathieu Dreyer in the 80th minute. The win was ours after Aythami received a 2nd yellow card moments later. Chris May had an easy clean sheet in the match.

***

13.1.15

I allowed Gary Griffin to leave for Derby for 3.1 Million. Griffin had never convinced me that he should be a starting forward here, though he had been a key sub for the last several seasons. It was time to allow him to pursue a starting role on another club and his contract was coming up soon, so accepting the bid from Derby and allowing him to move now seemed a sensible solution to his unhappiness about not starting.

[Faramir]

14.1.15

Holyhead Hotspur (0) Arsenal (0)

Despite what the press said, it was anything but a 'bore draw' as we outplayed Arsenal, but were forced to settle for splitting the points in the scoreless match. Carlos Idriss Kameni again got the better of Michael Bradshaw and that was the real difference in the match as we generated four superb chances for Bradshaw and Kameni made the save each time. Chris May was very solid in goal for us as well as he stopped Alan Byrne and MOM Alan Price on quality chances in the first half. Our wingers- Luke Gordon and Matthew Preston- made key contributions in all-action efforts as that helped keep favored Arsenal in check throughout the match. Darren Barnes also continued to step up with key headers for us as we helped blunt the Arsenal aerial assault with his play.

[Faramir]

17.1.15

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Manchester United (2)

We should have beaten ManU today, but our own mistakes cost us as we could only manage a 2-2 draw despite playing a stellar match at The New Oval. We surged into the lead when early pressure allowed Paul Morris to deftly pass ahead for MOM Simon Ormerod to finish past Kasper Schmeichel at 8 minutes. ManU hit back immediately when Thiago Motta, flirting with being offiside, timed his run well enough to go free down our right side. Brian Carter did not play his position, nor mark Wayne Perry, as Motta crossed and Perry deflected it past Fabio. It was Ormerod's brace that quickly returned us the lead as he deflected a cross from Theo Walcott past Schmeichel. Schmeichel played well the rest of the first half as he kept us from building on that lead, despite some excellent opportunities. I warned the boys that ManU would try to pressure us to open the second half and that left me extremely frustrated when Kim Winther made a silly no-look pass that wound up with Perry again unmarked to score the equalizer with his brace. The chance was there for us at 65 minutes when Liam Hamilton was knocked down in the ManU area by Dave Watts, but Schmeichel made a terrific pair of saves on Paul Morris as he saved both the penalty kick and the rebound to keep ManU in for a split of the points. The match featured the debut of Craig Hunt and overall he played well but he also hurt his back and will miss a month of play.

[Faramir]

21.1.15

Chelsea (5) Holyhead Hotspur (3) League Cup Semifinal Leg 2 (Chelsea advances on 7-4 aggregate)

It was entertaining, and a bit nervy for the Stamford Bridge fans, but in the end our faulty backline play and lack of big saves from our keeper allowed Chelsea to broom us from the League Cup. We struck in the opening minutes of the match when Michael Holmes took a short pass from Matt Phillips and put it past Petr Cech at 3 minutes. MOM Yakubu answered with the equalizer when Darren Barnes was skinned by Yakubu and then he sailed a shot past Chris May. We moved ahead again after Colin O'Keefe was whistled for tripping Holmes in the area and Matt Phillips converted the penalty kick. Chelsea pulled even agains as Yakubu had his brace after Liam Hamilton got caught standing around and watching as a loose ball was laying there for Yakubu to take advantage of. Barnes was called for a trip of Stephen Oyedele Makinwa in the area and Guiallaume Bechner converted the penalty kick to give Chelsea a 3-2 halftime lead. We evened the match in the opening minutes of the second half as Brian Carter deflected a Luke Gordon cross past Cech. That was to be our final highlight as the backline twice failed to make plays on Michal Kubala and he scored a brace past May in cementing Chelsea's appearance in the League Cup Final.

[Faramir]

28.1.15

Birmingham (1) Holyhead Hotspur (0)

Our forward injuries are getting to be critical and it cost us today as we outplayed Birmingham, but could not finish well and were left with a bitterly disappointing 1-0 loss. The lone goal in the match came when Darren Barnes couldn't adequately mark John Wood and Wood snapped a shot past Chris May after Colin Lee threaded a pass through to him. Simon Ormerod, who wound up playing much of the match hurt, and Steve Rogers had opportunities but both were well off their shooting mark today and most of their chances were squandered. Paul Wynne, on for injured Theo Walcott, had our best chances and it was fine work from keeper Ian Ford that kept us off the scoreboard. Milan Toman earned MOM honors for his relentless attacking up the right wing for us from his fullback slot. Walcott tore his calf muscle and will miss the rest of the season, leaving us no healthy rightwingers at present- so Ryan Holland will have to move up and make his debut. Ormerod also hurt his calf, not as badly, and will likely miss a month. Because of that, Dan Pearson will have to come up from the Reserves to help provide cover at forward.

[Faramir]

31.1.15

Holyhead Hotspur (3) Aston Villa (1)

After our last few matches, I was happy when the 'St.Michaels' showed what they are known for as their scoring carried us to a 3-1 win over Aston Villa at The New Oval. MOM Michael Homes got us off to a wonderful start when he took a precise pass from Paolo Galli and pushed hard into the area and slipped his shot past Manuel Pinto for a goal in the first minute of play. We weren't able to build on that lead and were fortunate that Fabio came up with a priceless stop against Alex Johnson to keep us in the lead at halftime. The second half began cautiously and neither side could create early chances. It was Holmes again as he took a terrible clearance by Richard Kay and rifled his shot past Pinto for his brace. Villa hit back quickly when Paul Reeves missed intercepting a through ball and that left Mark Duncan with an easy finish past Fabio to get to 2-1. Michael Bradshaw then took his turn at scoring as he made a rising shot past Pinto off a good pass from Matt Phillips. It was Bradshaw's 100th goal at Holyhead, as now both he and Holmes have over 100 goals here. With the two goal lead restored we put the clamps on the visitors and closed out the much needed win.

[Faramir]

7.2.15

Derby (1) Holyhead Hotspur (3)

It wasn't long before we met up with Gary Griffin again as he started for Derby against us. Michael Holmes duplicated his feat of last match as he scored in the first minute of play to get us off to a flying start as he snapped a shot past Mick Smith after taking a good pass from Ryan Holland. Holland collected a loose ball and raced down the right before scoring an 'excuse-me' goal when his cross to the far post carried past Smith for his 1st Senior goal at Holyhead. We maintained that 2-0 lead to halftime, but saw the tables turn when Darren Barnes received his 2nd yellow card moments into the second half. It was more of a nail-biter when James Day found space and then drilled a rising shot past Chris May. Despite having 10 men we roared back as MOM Steve Rogers ran on to a through ball from Brian Carter and finished well past Smith to give us our 2-goal margin. We played better defense and May made some key saves as we kept Derby from rallying to close out the 3-1 win at Pride Park.

[Faramir]

21.2.15

Holyhead Hotspur (3) Ipswich (0)

I would count this effort as one of our finest performances of the season. Though the stats show we were outshot 13-11 by visiting Ipswich, we were in control of the match from early on as MOM Michael Holmes struck for a brace in the first 10 minutes of the match. With the lead we pressured the ball constantly when not in possession and moved into flowing attacks that didn't always result in a shot, but many just kept Ipswich struggling to deal with our passing and pace. Our backline was very solid in supporting Fabio who had to make several difficult saves late in the first half to earn his clean sheet. Stephen Morgan scored another sensational goal, a 30 yard rocket past Ryan Blake early in the second half to help dampen Ipswich's determination to fight back. It was an impressive win that our New Oval faithful enjoyed.

EPL Table (matches played)

1- Holyhead Hotspur (28)    53 pts (+19) 
2- Chelsea (27)             52 pts (+25)
3- Arsenal (27)             52 pts (+18)
4- Liverpool (26)           47 pts (+19)
5- Middlesbrough (27)       45 pts (+1)
6- Manchester Utd (27)      43 pts (+8)
7- Tottenham (27)           43 pts (+8)
8- Aston Villa (28)         41 pts (-1)

[Faramir]

28.2.15

Chelsea (2) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

I have no quarrel with Arjen Robben's match winning goal- he made a great play on the ball and made a great shot past Fabio. I do have a big problem with the only goal of the first half as Stephen Ayodele Makinwa was a good ten yards offside when the ball was played out from the Chelsea area. The officials lack of willingness to make the proper call left our defenders with no chance to make a play on Makinwa before he slipped his shot past Fabio. We didn't play a particularly good first half and I let the boys know it- but there was still no reason for us to have been behind- if the officials call the match the way it should be called, and not how the Stamford Bridge crowd dictated. We equalized early in the second half when Michael Bradshaw hammered home the rebound for his 10th goal of the year after Petr Cech parried Michael Holmes drive. We had chances to equalize after Robben scored and it was good work from Cech that kept us from working our way even again. It was a disappointing loss, but we battled well and I give our boys credit for that. We are getting closer to challenging the big clubs every match.

***

1.3.15

After missing practice for the 3rd time, I fined Jack Hobbs a week's wages (he had been warned twice). He accepted the fine without comment and I offered him the option of mutual termination (since his contract runs through next season). Through discussions with him, his agent and myself we worked out a mutually acceptable amount of 650K and I let the unhappy Hobbs go free from our Reserves.

[Faramir]

8.3.15

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Middlesbrough (2)

If we could find a way to defense Brazilian forward Schumacher, we might do better against Middlesbrough. We started the match in fine shape when Michael Holmes took a pass from Darren Barnes and slipped a shot inside the near left post past Leandro at 6 minutes. Schumacher then provided the spark the visitors needed as Darren Barnes was caught flat footed- neither marking Steve Barton as he got an initial blast away that Chris May parried, nor clearing the rebound away as Schumacher snapped it past May. Minutes later Schumacher overpowered Leon Knight, on for injured Martin Hall, as he deflected a cross from Evandro Roncatto past May. After our first flurry in in the first half, we played poorly, and I let the boys know it during halftime. The message had its affect as they played harder in the second half. We worked to move the ball in their area and it paid off in the equalizer as Michael Bradshaw deflected a short cross from Luke Gordon past Leandro. Neither side could come up with a late match winner as finished with a split of the points.

[Faramir]

14.3.15

Nottingham Forest (0) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

I have to give a lot of credit to Forest keeper James Cousins. We had 22 shots in the match and at least a dozen of them were superior scoring chances. Despite that, we were only able to clinch the match late in the second half as we finally capped our 2-0 win. It was a superb effort for us- excellent passing all over the pitch and timely tackling from our backline. Fabio and Kevin Murray combined on the clean sheet as I pulled Fabio with a slight injury at halftime. We held a 1-0 halftime lead when Michael Bradshaw hammered home a rebound after Cousins got his hand on a rising shot from Michael Holmes. Holmes finally put the win to rest by driving in his own rebound late in the second half. The win will cost us Bradshaw for a month due to a twisted knee. Martin Hall earned MOM honors as he dominated the match from his leftback slot. Another milestone for Darren Barnes as his 213 appearances broke the club record.

***

28.3.15

Our stadium expansion is now complete. Though we remain a very small venue at The New Oval, there are now an additional 5844 seats to give us 12500 seats and a total capacity of 13295. I will keep pushing for further additions.

[Faramir]

30.3.15

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Leeds (1) TV

Though the score was close, it was only because we made one sloppy defensive coverage in the second half and because Phil Howell had a sensational first half in goal for Leeds. We dominated the first half and were a bit unfortunate to not have scored by the midway point as Howell had offered some amazing acrobatic saves to keep us off the scoreboard. A great through ball from Matthew Preston gave MOM Dean Piper, filling in for injured Michael Bradshaw, time on the ball to wait and then scorch a shot past Howell for the lead. In first half injury time we added to the lead when Preston deflected a cross from Milan Toman inside the right post to make it 2-0. We wound up needing that goal as Fabio lost his clean sheet when we left Matty Fryatt unmarked between three defenders and he put away his shot from just inside the edge of the area. We played better defense after that and kept Leeds from any more really dangerous opportunities to equalize.

***

31.3.15

Steve Rogers is done for the season after he strained knee ligaments in training today. We should still have enough depth to outlast his and Bradshaw's injuries.

[milanfan_apoorv]

going strong i see.

You don't know how heartening it is to see something familiar

[Faramir]

milanfan apoorv- Good to see you around again Yep, still plugging away at this one

***

4.4.15

West Ham (2) Holyhead Hotspur (4)

A terrific fightback for us as we fell behind 2-1 and roared back in the second half for an impressive 4-2 win. We started off well and gained the lead when Michael Holmes skinned Mark Woods and rifled a shot past Vincent Degre at 28 minutes. West Ham hit back immediately when we left Dusan Djuric unmarked just inside the edge of the area and he took a good pass from Andres Rodriguez before driving a rising shot past Chris May. The home side surged into the lead in the opening moments of the second half when Brian Carter failed to mark Michael Sutton and Sutton smashed home a rebound after May blocked away a shot from Phil Moran. I urged them to be more aggressive and we started pushing forward. MOM Craig Hunt showed the promise that prompted our huge purchase of him as he wheeled past two defenders to score after taking a deft pass from Holmes. Hunt then made it a brace as he half-volleyed a winner on a short cross from Matthew Preston to give us the lead at 75 minutes. Hunt capped a superb second half as he finished his hat-trick by deflecting a cross from Milan Toman past Degre to cap the scoring in second half injury time.