From the Fringe- Holyhead Hotspur

[Faramir]

2.5.08

Danny Morgan finally found a new home as he agreed to a contract with Marine and we allowed him to move for a 4K transfer sale.

***

2.5.08

18 year old forward Elieu Jailow was sold to Gateshead for 1K today. They also offered a sell-on clause, but I don't imagine that will ever amount to anything.

***

10.5.08

I was surprised when Chelsea released 18 year old rightback Sam Hutchinson from their youth program. I immediately made overtures and was pleased to be able to sign the talented youngster. His signing allows me to at least consider selling pricey Tyrone Mears- who was a bit of a disappointment for me at rightback last season. Mears is very much the highest paid player on our club and moving that contract would allow us more wiggle room against our weekly budget to keep adding talented youngsters. We also signed Hutchinson's blazing fast compadre Steve Cross after Chelsea released the 18 year old leftback. Cross is less likely to make immediate impact- thanks to Martin Hall- but was too good of a youngster to pass up on bringing him to Holyhead Hotspur.

[Faramir]

12.5.08

With the signing of fleet 17 year old rightback Phil Barnett after his release from the Aston Villa youth program, I transfer listed Tyrone Mears. Mears is just too expensive a player for our club- especially when we have three worthy possible replacements in Lewis Foster, Sam Hutchinson and Barnett. We also signed as a prospect 17 year old keeper Nick Doran after his release from the Arsenal youth program.

***

13.5.08

We also nabbed promising 17 year old center midfielder Martin Wood from the Aston Villa youth program after they released him. Wood has great fundamental skill and should challenge for Senior playing time next season.

***

17.5.08

We landed another youngster who was released by a major youth program when 17 year old center defender James Stewart joined us after being sent on his way by Liverpool. Stewart is blazing fast and if he can harness some of his other skills could be a real find for us. My scouts were very high on his prospects.

[pnalyd7]

great story, I live 20 miles from Holyhead.

[Faramir]

Thanks pnalyd7

***

18.5.08

I celebrated a wee bit as Michael Holmes was called up to the English Under-19 side for their match against Croatia. I am hoping this heralds more exposure for some of the talented youngsters we have on the club.

***

18.5.08

Woking defeated Aldershot in the Playoffs and will join us as the newly promoted clubs to League 2.

***

19.5.08

It was disappointing, but not surprising to lose Bob Pearson as a scout. Coventry came calling and it took Bob no time at all to make the decision to move to them as a scout.

***

21.5.08

We had two players named to the 2007-8 Conference National Players Select side. Robert Clarke was named starting Keeper for the squad, while Christopher Gilligan earned a Reserve spot on the side. It was a bit overwhelming to be named Manager of the Year, I never thought to see Raven Treader engraved on that trophy.

[Faramir]

24.5.08

I don't have particularly high hopes for 17 year old leftback Kevin Moss, but the ex-Manchester United youth player will give us a leftback for our Under-18 side- something we lacked at present. I don't see Moss beating out any of our other current leftbacks, but he is only signed for a year to help give us cover.

***

28.5.08

The transfer offers for our 17 year old leftwing Dave Fleming have been flying in from clubs- including Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and several other EPL sides. I continue to turn all of them down as Dave is a key player to our future success and I don't want to lose him. I am also worried about 16 year old rightwing Matt Preston. Preston is blazing fast and I have had several offers on him as well, but continue to also refuse them as I hope to pair him and Fleming for an impressive duo on our wings.

[Faramir]

28.5.08

With the acceptance and signing of 21 year old leftback/wing Ryan Lynch from Coventry as of July 1st- I decided to transfer list Michael Gillan. Martin Hall should still be number 1 leftback, but Lynch has a lot going for him and will see a lot of playing time. All of that spells problems for Gillan as he is bound to be unhappy about the loss of time- so now is the time to try and resolve the problem.

***

12.6.08

With several clubs pursuing him, I considered us fortunate to sign 18 year old forward Matthew Brown to a contract off free transfer. Brown had been released from the Everton youth program and had drawn the interest of my scouts several times previous to his release. I expect Brown to be part of our forward rotation for next season.

[Faramir]

18.6.08

Much as I wanted to make money on the sale of Tyrone Mears- I settled for an offer of nothing up front and 40% sell on from Halifax because getting his huge contract off our books is more important than making money. Mears was happy to be moving to them on July 1st.

***

19.6.08

Lots of news swirling today as our step into League 2 was confirmed with the release of the League 2 schedule. I was most pleased when our Board announced that Holyhead Hotspur is now a Professional Club!. The Board knows that battling against relegation is a reasonable expectation for this season and communicated that to me. They also announced we would receive 350K in TV money. Our budgets for the present are:

16K a week in wages

625K in transfer funds

We have a current balance on the black side of the ledger of 1.77 Million, which I consider excellent. I do wish I could convince the Board to upgrade our training facilities, but they continue to indicate we are not yet well off enough to consider accomplishing that.

Christopher Gilligan was named the Fans Player of the Year for last season.

[Faramir]

20.6.08

I was a bit stunned to get a bid of 2.2 Million and 50% sell on clause for Stephen Morgan from Aston Villa. After evaluating it for a day, I turned it down. Stephen will be 17 in 5 days and I hope to get him under a long-term contract. I believe he will be a key player for our future. I also turned down a similar, but smaller offer from Everton for Morgan.

***

21.6.08

Colwyn Bay completed their 35K transfer purchase of young forward Alan Powell from us today. Powell was blocked by other youngsters his age and needed new opportunities.

***

21.6.08

We signed 15 year old DLC Matthew Cooke to his first professional contract today. Cooke will spend time on our Under-18 side this season and we will watch his development to see if he has a long-term future with Holyhead.

[Faramir]

22.6.08

Three more signings today- all destined for development time on the Under-18 side. 15 year old SC Andy Gough, 16 year old AMR Bill Walton, and 16 year old MC James Wilkinson all will start their professional careers tomorrow training with the Under-18 side.

***

23.6.08

Four more newly signed first-time professionals joined the club today. The signees are 15 year old DL Mark Hodges, 15 year old MC Gareth Berry 15 year old SC Josh Palmer and 15 year old AML James Ward- both destined for Under-18 side playing time.

[Faramir]

25.6.08

Three more newly minted professionals joined us to train with the Under-18 side. 15 year old GK Kevin Murray, 16 year old SW,DRC Jason Addison and 15 year old ST Gary Griffin signed on the dotted line.

A big blowup with Christopher Gilligan makes it very likely that last season's Player of the Year will find a new home at a larger club. Christopher wanted a new contract, but when I saw what his agent and he were demanding- I had to tell them no. They asked for transfer list at his request and I obliged- earning a couple immediate offers. We also have received several bids on transfer listed leftwinger Jamie Mullen and I should finally be able to find him a new home soon.

***

28.6.08

We completed the sale of Jamie Mullen, who went to Mangotsfield for 40K. We also signed 16 year old AMLC Mark Potter and 15 year old MR, ST Simon Hudson to their first professional contracts. Potter will move to the Reserves and Hudson will move to the Under-18 side for further development.

The big news was that we now have 17 year old Stephen Morgan under a long-term contract. Morgan's development is one of the reasons I don't mind letting Christopher Gilligan find his greener pastures.

[Faramir]

29.6.08

France defeated surprise finalist Romania 2-1 in Extra-time to capture the European Football Championship. France had knocked England out 1-0 in the Semifinals, while Holland fell to Romania 1-0 in Extra-time in the other Semifinal.

***

1.7.08

The opening of the transfer window brought a flurry of activity all around football, and Holyhead was no exception. One signing I somewhat regret at this point was the free transfer signing of 18 year old DMC Gary Wallis from Frickley. I thought he might be useful, but he may well be crowded out of our well populated center midfield picture- especially as he is much more comfortable at a deeper defensive midfield spot- something we typically don't use in our formations.

Others joining us are 21 year old D/WB/ML Ryan Lynch and 16 year old Welsh MLC Steve Passmore. Lynch cost us only 18K to obtain from Coventry and Passmore cost us 85K to sign away from Leigh RMI.

Leaving us will be Michael Merrick, Chris O'Grady, Michael Gillan, Dave Crossley, Tyrone Mears and Christopher Gilligan. Merrick signed with Farnborough on free transfer, O'Grady was sold to Torquay for 50K, Michael Gillan went to Barnet for 12K, Dave Crossley for 16K to Hereford, Tyrone Mears on free transfer to Halifax and Christopher Gilligan went to Tranmere for 65K. The sale of Gillan made our fans unhappy, but though he was a favorite of them- he was not a favorite of the staff and I will accept the unhappiness for the tranquility it may help bring to the dressing room. Gilligan also was a favorite of our fans too, but there was no furor about his sale.

[Faramir]

3.7.08

I was a bit stunned when Michael Bradshaw resigned as Assistant Manager to take a scouting job with QPR. Michael explained by phone that he felt he wasn't cut out for the Assistant Manager role and thought now was the time to make the change. I will have to find a replacement quickly.

***

5.7.08

There were a couple reasons to celebrate today. We found our new Assistant Manager in venerated ex-NI Keeper Alan Fettis. Fettis had been coaching but was not employed when I contacted him and was pleased to take over as Assistant Manager.

The other reason for celebration was getting just turned 17 Michael Bradshaw (weird that we lose one- but still have another one...) under long-term contract. Bradshaw joins Daniel Hayes, Michael Holmes and Paul Lee as home-grown forwards that we have developed in our youth program. I had turned several large offers over the summer from Major EPL clubs on Bradshaw, so am looking forward to adding him to our rotation.

[Faramir]

7.7.08

As we approach our first friendly- hosting Cardiff at The New Oval- we made a couple more transfer sales. Aaron Nowacki was sold to Macclesfield for 18K and Andrew Broadbent was sold to Rochdale for 4K. Both sales were because the summer additions and promotions from Reserve/Under-18 sides crowded the players out and it was time to allow them to move before the season.

***

8.7.08

We will have to wait until August 2nd to actually see him, but we surprised many people when we signed 22 year old Paraguayan defender Hector Caceres to a contract. Caceres contract with Cerro Cora expires on August 1st, which is why we have to wait. It took an appeal of the initial determination not to grant him a work permit to get them to issue a conditional permit for Caceres. I am really excited to add him, he may be one of the most dangerous free kick takers I have seen in our many scouting reviews and he is a class defender. It will likely take time to work him into the system, but I do expect him to become a starter for us. Where does this leave Darren Barnes and Jack Hobbs? They will also get a lot of playing time as the three of them will work in and out of the lineup. Caceres being a left footer also helped me decide to try to sign him.

We also completed the transfer sale of Steve Hurst to Barrow for 50K. Hurst played a lot as a gameday sub and he may well turn out to be a quality forward, but he was eclipsed by the developing youngsters on our squad and that made him a candidate for a new home.

[Faramir]

10.7.08

Our first friendly turned out well as we battled Cardiff to a 1-1 draw to the delight of the crowd at The New Oval. Michael Bradshaw scored our only goal. Both of our keepers- Robert Clarke and Stuart Cain- played well in the match, as did Cardiff keeper Matt Hood.

***

12.7.08

Two departures and one arrival today. We completed the sale of James Evans to Tamworth for 1K and Chris Bull to Kendal for 4K. Arriving is 17 year old AMRLC Richard Booth from Droylsden. Booth cost 18K and we will now try to get him under a Professional contract as he just turned 17.

***

13.7.08

We lost to Coventry in our second friendly as the veteran Jared Borgetti burned us on a penalty kick and another goal from in front. We played a good second half but couldn't score in losing 2-0.

[Faramir]

13.7.08

Another sale today as Sean Kelly left for Scunthorpe. The deal will net us 18K and remove one of the larger contracts from our weekly wages.

***

15.7.08

Jason Morley is on his way to Stafford after they won the bidding war between four clubs to gain him on free transfer from us. Morley's wages were significant and he wasn't going to see any Senior playing time, so I was pleased to see him move.

***

16.7.08

We lost to Swansea 3-0 at The New Oval in our next friendly. We fell behind 2-0 in the opening moments (one another penalty) and though we played decently, we couldn't score.

[Faramir]

18.7.08

We completed our transfer signing of 17 year old DC Matt Nicholson from Staines. Nicholson was signed as a 16 year old with 80K in compensation to Staines but we will attempt to get him under a new contract immediately as he just turned 17.

***

20.7.08

We fought back to earn a 1-1 draw in our friendly at Blackpool. Michael Bradshaw continues to impress me and may well have earned himself a starting spot at forward with his fine effort today.

***

23.7.08

It looked like a loss to York in our friendly there as they scored late in the match. It turned into a 1-1 draw thanks to the hard work of Shaun Cummings who created an own-goal by the home side to earn us a 1-1 draw.

[Faramir]

27.7.08

Neil Teggart scored a late equalizer to earn us a 1-1 draw as we hosted Harchester in one of our last friendlies.

***

29.7.08

We concluded our friendlies by hosting the Leeds Reserves and it was an interesting match that wound up in a 1-1 final score. The match cost us Daniel Hayes for the next month after he strained his groin- our first significant injury.

***

30.7.08

Our starting lineup for our opening match at Brisbane Road against Leyton Orient will be:

GK- Robert Clarke

DR- Sam Hutchinson

DL- Martin Hall

DC- Darren Barnes

DC- Jack Hobbs

MR- Matthew Preston

ML- Dave Fleming

MC- Martin Wood (Richard Booth banged up in Leeds match and won't be ready to go just yet)

MC- Stephen Morgan

SC- Michael Bradshaw

SC- Michael Holmes

Sub- Paul Lee

Sub- Michael Terrell

Sub- Michael Tuohy

Sub- Stuart Cain

Sub- Carl Murkin

[Faramir]

2.8.08

Hector Caceres joined us today. He will need some training time to work into our system, but he should get a chance to play fairly soon- especially given the jumble of the early season schedule.

***

2.8.08

Leyton Orient (1) Holyhead Hotspur (3)

Our League 2 debut turned into a wonderful win for us as we outplayed Leyton Orient for much of the match and handed them a stinging 3-1 loss to open the season at Brisbane Road. Michael Holmes and Michael Bradshaw put the Orient backline to the sword in the first half. Bradshaw was unlucky and saw Joe Lewis make two nice saves on him, but Holmes made up for that as he put away a shot past Lewis off a pass from Bradshaw to earn us the lead. Holmes made it a brace late in the first half when a terrific pass from Martin Hall sprung him and he snapped his shot past Lewis. Orient roared into the second half and Gary Alexander blew past Jack Hobbs before scoring past Robert Clarke to put Orient right back into the match. We finally removed most of their spirit when Paul Lee, on for a tiring Holmes, whipped a shot past Lewis off a cross from Matthew Preston to cement the win. Darren Barnes earned MOM honours in the match for his steadfast backline play.

[Faramir]

4.8.08

League 2 Odds by Totalbet.com

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Tranmere 5-4

Hereford 7-4

Hull 7-4

Rushden 7-4

Blackpool 7-4

Bournemouth 7-4

Holyhead Hotspur 33-1

</pre>

I had to deal with a reporter who wanted to push me into conceding relegation for our side. I told him in no uncertain terms that I believed the club we currently had was well equipped to avoid relegation and that I really didn't see us strengthening the side. I didn't tell him that we have virtually no money to strengthen the side and that we are already over the weekly wage budget- but I firmly believe we have a good enough side to surprise many League 2 clubs- including Leyton Orient...

[Faramir]

5.8.08

Holyhead Hotspur (3) Hereford (1)

We put the naysayers out of our mind and put together a convincing performance in defeating Hereford 3-1 at The New Oval. We leapt on the visitors early and it was great to see Ben Woods score a fine goal after a pass into space sent him in free to give us the early lead. Shaun Cummings then setup Neil Teggart nicely to put away a shot at the far post as we moved ahead 2-0 and kept that margin at halftime. Paul Lee proved very opportunistic as he slammed home a rebound after Andrea Guatelli made a good save on Richard Booth. Hereford got a goal back when Dean McDonald flicked a header past Robert Clarke, but that was the only time the visitors would solve Clarke as he earned MOM honours in the match. Booth and Hector Caceres both had fine debuts for us, but it is too soon to single them out in the press coverage.

***

7.8.08

We let Scott Douglas go to Ilkeston for 26K as we try to trim a little bit of payroll to get back in the Board's good graces. Douglas really didn't have a solid role in our future plans and it made sense to let him leave.

[Faramir]

9.8.08

Hull (2) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

I feel a bit disappointed that we didn't win this match, but I am pleased that we fought back twice to earn a 2-2 draw at The Circle. After missing a couple great chances early on, we fell behind when David McGoldrick escaped marking and Ben Burgess slipped him a pass that allowed him to score past Robert Clarke. We fought back quickly as MOM Matthew Preston finished well for his 1st Holyhead goal from close-in after a good pass from Michael Bradshaw. We went a goal down when Neil Mellor made a superb flick header past Clarke on a cross from Chris Cleaver. The boys fought back once more as David Fleming fired in the equalizer after Michael Holmes blasted a shot that bounced back off the crossbar. We came very close to taking all three points, but Bradshaw and Fleming both missed close in the waning moments of the match.

***

12.8.08

We let Adrian Bristow move to Connah's Quay on free transfer as we are still trying to get in line with the Board's weekly wage budget.

[Faramir]

16.8.08

Holyhead Hotspur (0) Notts County (0)

The chances were there for us to win the match, but good tackling and good goalkeeping kept us from putting anything up on the scoreboard and we had to settle for a scoreless draw against Notts County at The New Oval. Nicolas Baker played extremely well for them in goal and he made the best save in the match when he stopped Shaun Cummings in close midway through the second half. Cummings also missed a sitter over the goal in a frustrating match for him. Stuart Cain played well also in earning his clean sheet and his timely save on Rurik Gislason kept us in for a split of the points. Notts defender Hjalti Jonsson earned MOM honours in the match.

***

18.8.08

We continue to draw down to the Board's weekly wage budget, this time with the sale of forward David Bartley to Bangor City for 30K. Bartley was facing an uphill battle to earn playing time at our crowded forward position.

[Faramir]

20.8.08

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Norwich (2) League Cup Round 1

We played a poor first half and that was the difference as we couldn't overcome the 2 goals Norwich scored as they broomed us out of the League Cup with the 2-1 result at The New Oval. Rob Hulse earned MOM honours and got them off to a flying start when he deflected a long cross past Stuart Cain in the opening moments of the match. Danny Murphy slipped his marking and made it a 2-0 lead just past midway in the first half as he blasted a shot into the roof of the goal past Cain. We showed more consistent execution in the second half and battled back as Michael Tuohy pushed a pass ahead and Paul Lee drilled it past Paul Gallacher inside the right post. They kept the clamps on us after that and we didn't really manage to get a good shot at equalizing.

[Faramir]

23.8.08

Rushden (1) Holyhead Hotspur (4)

Michael Bradshaw is an amazing talent and he proved as much today as single-handedly dominated the Rushden backline in scoring all 4 of our goals while carting off MOM honours in our impressive 4-1 win at Nene Park. Bradshaw scored a hat-trick in the first half and could easily have had another 2-3 goals as he hit the outside netting twice and skimmed the bar with another shot. They were completely unable to cope with our crisp passing as Bradshaw found space wherever he went on the pitch and our players capitalized on that fact. Just before halftime Rushden received their only glimmer of hope when Greg Pearson scored a terrific goal from 20 yards out past Robert Clarke. We didn't allow them to make good on their attempts to rally and Bradshaw added a 4th goal when Matthew Brown, on for a tiring Michael Holmes, slipped him a pass with space to wheel and blast past Lee Boyle.

[Faramir]

25.8.08

Holyhead Hotspur (4) Brentford (0)

I hope that I can bottle whatever magic our side has right now as we destroyed favoured Brentford 4-0 at The New Oval. MOM Shaun Cummings earned MOM honours as he sliced through the Brentford coverage time and again. Cummings got us off to a quick lead when he put away a shot after taking a corner from Hector Caceres early on in the first half. That was the only goal we could manage in the first half, but it wasn't for a a lack of chances. We continued to pressure the visitors in the second half and Paul Lee deflected in a cross from Cummings for a 2-0 lead. Carl Murkin added another when he converted a penalty kick after Chris Shanks took down Cummings in the area. Cummings then capped the scoring with his brace as he smashed a shot past Roberto Pampin after a taking a fine cross from Sean Evans. Robert Clarke earned the clean sheet for us in the win.

[Faramir]

30.8.08

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Torquay (0)

We concluded a sensational first month of play in League 2 with a 1-0 win over Torquay at The New Oval that should have been by a larger margin. It was a match we dominated for all but brief moments, outshooting the visitors 18-4, but the lone goal came on a penalty. Matt Hockley shoved Michael Holmes as he was leaping to try and deflect a cross, bringing an immediate whistle. Hector Caceres calmly converted the penalty kick for his 1st goal at Holyhead and the only goal of the match. We hammered away with Michael Bradshaw and MOM David Fleming taking turns with long runs down the pitch. Mark Howard kept Torquay in the match with his play in goal and they almost made that pay off, but Stuart Cain came up with a huge save on Shabazz Baidoo to keep the clean sheet and earn us all three points in the win. It is an amazing start for us as we are in 1st place in League 2- thanks to our goal differential over Boston United as we are both up to 17 points for the month.

[mark wilson27]

Brilliant start to the season, at this rate you'll be in the premiership in no time

[Faramir]

mark- Heh, it's not that *short* a road

***

6.9.08

Port Vale (1) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

It took a good effort after we fell behind, but we fought back to earn a 1-1 draw and came close to winning the match at Vale Park. Neither side played particularly well in the first half and the heat had a lot to do with that. Both sides were suffering in the sweltering sun and looked more than a little lethargic. I thought we were in deep trouble when they took the lead early in the second half as Danny Phillips rapped home a rebound after Robert Clarke stopped the initial shot from Sekou Baradji. I can't say how pleased I was when the boys responded and took control of the rest of the match. We drew even on an excellent counter-attack. Michael Bradshaw made a deft short cross and Paul Lee put away the shot past Jonny Brain for his 5th goal of the season. We forced Brain to come up with a diving stop on Stephen Morgan's free kick and he also managed to tip a header from Matthew Preston over the bar to ensure the clubs would split the points.

[Faramir]

13.9.08

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Swindon (1)

To say I was furious with the Referee was putting it somewhat mildly. In the second minute of an important match between the 2nd and 3rd placed clubs in the table and he has the temerity to send off Martin Wood for a mild tackle from behind? I was fuming. We were fortunate as I told the boys to keep attacking as able and that resulted in us gaining the lead when Sean Evans deflected a cross from David Poole inside the far post past Rhys Evans early in the first half. We kept battling, but it was clear that Swindon was beginning to use the space to their advantage. They finally found the opening midway through the second half when Stuart Fleetwood was left alone in front and put away a shot past Stuart Cain. We came close to scoring again, but eventually we had to settle for the draw. Hector Caceres earned MOM honours for his steady backline play. Cain suffered a badly broken finger that will keep him out a couple months, so we will have to see if Nick Doran can do a worthy job as Robert Clarke's understudy.

[Faramir]

20.9.08

Holyhead Hotspur (3) Woking (1)

Though it looks like we dominated this match, it was much closer than the stats and scoreline would tell. We got off to a quick start when MOM Michael Bradshaw took a deft pass from Stephen Morgan and rifled it past Clint Davies. We hammered away at Davies in the rest of the first half of play, but failed to score again. Woking didn't show much life in the first half, but clearly upped their play as the match moved into the second half. They began putting us under pressure and a nice save by Robert Clarke on Lewis Gobern kept them off the scoreboard. We moved ahead 2-0 when Bradshaw ran on to a long, deflected goal kick and then mis-hit a shot that fooled Davies for his brace. Woking roared right back when Chris McPhee took a bad clearing attempt by Darren Barnes and turned it into a goal past Clarke. They came close to equalizing, but skimmed the bar. I was relieved when Paul Lee, on for a tiring Daniel Hayes, forced Marc Joseph to trip him in the area. Hector Caceres converted the penalty kick and we had our final winning margin of 3-1.

[Faramir]

23.9.08

Macclesfield (1) Holyhead Hotspur (0)

Macclesfield handed us a stinging loss as they edged us 1-0 at Moss Rose Ground. The lone goal in the match came late in the first half when Jack Hobbs missed a tackle on Billy Clarke and Clarke made us pay with a well placed shot inside the far left post past Robert Clarke. We had plenty of opportunities in the match, but our shooting was abysmal as we continually missed the goal from close range and allowed Lance Cronin an easy clean sheet. Macclesfield's young South African defender Joshua Vermooten earned MOM honours for his fine work in keeping Shaun Cummings under wraps throughout the match. Our midfield passing contributed to the loss as we wasted several chances with poor passes.

[Faramir]

27.9.08

Bournemouth (2) Holyhead Hotspur (3)

We parlayed a strong first half effort into a very close win as we survived intense pressure from Bournemouth in the second half to edge them 3-2 at Fitness First Stadium. We fell behind early in the first half when Michael Standing whistled a wonder-strike from 30 yards past Robert Clarke. We rebounded nicely when Dave Fleming equalized with a scorching free kick from the middle, just beyond the edge of the area. The lead came later in the half when Michael Bradshaw scored past Lewis Price on a superb chip after taking a perfectly timed pass from Richard Booth. Daniel Hayes helped us end the half in fine fashion when he crossed to unmarked Bradshaw for his brace and a 3-1 halftime lead. The second half belonged to the home side. They drew a goal back early when Guy Bates hammered home a rebound after we failed to clear the ball away. Jack Hobbs was sent off with his 2nd yellow card moments later and their pressure intensified. Darren Barnes appeared to have handed them the equalizer when he was whistled for a handball in the area, but Clarke showed why he earned MOM honours when he dove and palmed away Gerard Nash's penalty kick. We spent the rest of the match under siege and it was Clarke's brilliant play that earned us the three points today.

[Faramir]

1.10.08

Both good and bad today for us. The good was seeing Michael Bradshaw named League 2 Young Player of the Month for September. Bradshaw is on fire of late and really deserved the award. The bad was finding out through the press that keeper Robert Clarke wanted a new contract. I told Clarke and his agent that we would make them a new offer tomorrow, because he really is the linchpin player on our club- the one I can not afford to have unhappy or to lose.

***

4.10.08

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Bristol Rovers (0)

Though we got off to a flying start, it took a dazzling match by Robert Clarke- celebrating his new contract, to preserve our 2-0 win over struggling Bristol Rovers at The New Oval. The lead came quickly to us as Michael Bradshaw burst past their backline to run on to a long header from Darren Barnes before burying a shot past Andy Dennis. We built on the lead midway through the first half when Paul Lee deflected a cross from Sam Hutchinson past Dennis. We came close to adding a third goal, but Bradsaw missed a sitter late in the half. The second half belonged to the visitors as they turned the pressure around. If not for the fine work of Clarke, this would not have been a win- but we managed to take all three points from the match and Clarke's MOM honours were well earned.

[Faramir]

7.10.08

Exeter (1) Holyhead Hotspur (0)

We didn't play well enough to deserve anything better than a loss, but it grinds me to see us lose when a player gives away a dumb penalty kick- and that is exactly what happened when Shaun Cummings made a bad challenge in our area. Cummings had no place to be challenging anyone, especially when the player was well marked by Jack Hobbs on the other side. Ian Moore converted the penalty kick past Robert Clarke for the lone goal of the match. We failed to challenge Dave Cummins as he managed an easy clean sheet, thanks to our inability to put any shots on target against him. It was a disappointing match in which we played poorly.

[Faramir]

11.10.08

Holyhead Hotspur (0) Mansfield (1)

For a second straight match, we were less than stellar and that caused us to lose 1-0 to Mansfield at The New Oval. The only goal of the match came when Remo Meyer deflected a free kick from Paul Gilchrist past Nick Doran, to ruin Doran's debut in goal for us. Doran actually held us in the match, because we didn't play well on either side of the ball all match. It didn't help that we had lost Matthew Preston, Richard Booth and Martin Hall to injury by the time we reached halftime. Despite the injuries, there wasn't much excuse for us- we just didn't do anything well today and paid the price for our lackluster effort. Defender Andrew Kelly earned MOM honours for them. Preston and Hall were only lightly injured, but the big blow was the loss of Richard Booth for the next 5 months due to his torn calf muscle. Booth was one of the keys to our success so far, and we really don't have anyone who can adequately replace him.

[Faramir]

14.10.08

Preston (2) Holyhead Hotspur (1) LDV Vans North 1st Round

We gave League 1 Preston Northend all they could handle at Deepdale, but our mistakes were telling as they fought back to edge us 2-1 to move on in the LDV Vans tourney. We missed a golden chance to move off on a flyer when James McFadden was yellow carded for holding Shaun Cummings in the area in the opening minutes of play. Steve Harper guessed correctly and palmed away Cummings penalty kick to deny us the early lead. Preston dominated the play in the first half and only strong play by our two center backs- Keith Hughes and Darren Barnes- allowed us to keep them off the board. Nick Doran was again steady in his play. We grabbed the lead in first half injury time when Harper rashly challenged a cross and Cummings made him pay by looping a header over him. We hung on for dear life to begin the second half, but finally yielded the equalizer midway through the half when Phil Barnett missed a tackle on MOM Patrick Agyemang and Agyemang smashed a shot past Doran. Agyemang's brace turned out to be the match winner as their counter attack sprung him and he fired past Doran at 81 minutes to broom us out of LDV Vans.

[Faramir]

18.10.08

Northampton (1) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

I must admit I am getting a bit tired of the disputed penalty calls against us. We suffered another one today on a challenge by Jack Hobbs on Andy Kirk and went behind when MOM Neil Danns converted the penalty kick past Robert Clarke. It was a strong first half for us, but we failed to score on Sergei Lepmets despite some wonderful chances. The second half featured more of the same for us as we played very well, but Lepmets kept us off the scoreboard with a couple of acrobatic saves. We salvaged the 1-1 draw when Michael Bradshaw deflected a cross from Sean Evans past Lepmets for his 10th goal just as the match moved into second half injury time.

[Faramir]

25.10.08

Holyhead Hotspur (3) Barnet (0)

It was finally back to winning ways for us as we took full advantage of the frayed tempers on the Barnet side in rolling to a 3-0 win over them at The New Oval. We got off to a flying start in the match when Michael Bradshaw scored another terrific goal in the opening moments. Bradshaw took a chipped pass from MOM David Poole and fired a well placed shot inside the far left post past Lyall Beazley. Minutes later Barnet was down a man after Wayne Thomas drew a redcard for a flagrant elbow against Bradshaw. We controlled the tempo of play through the remainder of the first half and added another goal when Martin Wood deflected a Hector Caceres free kick past Beazley for his 1st ever goal at Holyhead. We certainly welcomed the return of Caceres, who had been gone the previous month on International duty with Paraguay. Things got worse for Barnet when Nathan Dyer was also redcarded for vicious push from behind on Bradshaw late in the first half. With the visitors down 2 men, we were content to play the percentage passing game in the second half. We added a final goal later in the half when Stephen Morgan stepped up and scorched a 25 yard rocket that Beazley got a hand on, but was unable to keep out of the goal for Morgan's 1st ever goal for us. Robert Clarke had the easy clean sheet in the match.

[Faramir]

27.10.08

I personally celebrated the signing of 17 year old Paul Morris to a new professional contract. Morris will move directly from starting for the Under-18s to pairing with Stephen Morgan on the Senior side. Martin Wood impressed me with his best match in our jersey against Barnet, but Morris is an excellent youngster and I have been waiting to promote him until we had him under a fully professional contract.

***

28.10.08

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Boston United (0)

Another flying start and another redcard to our opponents helped us to a comfortable 2-0 win over Boston United at The New Oval. We scored quickly when Michael Bradshaw was in the right place to knock home the rebound after Shaun Cummings headed off the crossbar in the opening moments of the match. Dale Tonge took Cummings out of the match with a nasty tackle from behind and drew a redcard for his efforts. Hector Caceres blasted a swerving 25 yard free kick past Jamie Green and we coasted to a 2-0 halftime lead. A strong second half kept us the visitors end most of the time, but we weren't able to add any more goals. Dave Fleming earned MOM honours for his work on leftwing and Robert Clarke notched the clean sheet.

[Faramir]

29.10.08

I decided to promote 16 year old MLC Steve Passmore to the Senior side. Passmore has been featured regularly on the Wales Under-21 side and was clamoring for a move to the Senior side. I hope to be able to have him under a professional contract in December (when he turns 17), but I wanted to both expose him to Senior-training and convince him he has a place in our plans for our upcoming contract talks. He will get playing time to help convince him of that.

***

1.11.08

Two of our players were in the running for October awards, but Hector Caceres finished runner-up to Steven McLean for Player of the Month and Michael Bradshaw was third in the balloting for Young Player of the Month.

[Faramir]

1.11.08

Scunthorpe (1) Holyhead Hotspur (1) FA Cup 1st Round

A replay is looming after we failed to take advantage of a 10-man home side and allowed Scunthorpe to equalize late in the match to earn a 1-1 draw. We took the lead midway through the first half when MOM Michael Holmes fired a well placed shot past Kevin Pilkington after Steve Cross threaded a through ball to Holmes. Shortly after, the home side was reduced to 10-men when Martin Woods tripped Daniel Hayes as the last man. Our efforts to try and get another goal were thwarted by good play from Pilkington and that would turn into a critical issue as Nick Doran showed his inexperience in dallying with the ball and allowing Billy Sharp to push the ball past him to unmarked Tommy English- who scored the dramatic equalizer into the open goal. It was a bitter way to lose what had looked like a nice win. Martin Wood suffered virtually the same injury that felled Richard Booth and is doubtful for a return to play this season.

[Faramir]

5.11.08

We will be missing five players for our weekend match as Hector Caceres was called up for a Paraguay friendly, Steve Passmore was called up for a Wales Under-21 friendly, Robert Clarke, Matthew Preston (just back from injury) were called up to play for the England Under-21 friendly and Darren Barnes was called up for the England Under-19 friendly.

***

7.11.08

We receieved late word that the FA were rescheduling our Saturday match because of our callups. I was very relieved that they finally were willing to postpone the match.

***

9.11.08

They also pushed back our scheduled FA Cup 1st Round replay with Scunthorpe due to International callups. They pushed it back a week from when it was originally scheduled on this Wednesday the 12th.

[Faramir]

15.11.08

Scunthorpe (4) Holyhead Hotspur (4)

The quirk of the rescheduling process left us facing the same club we will meet on replay on Wednesday and it was a terrific match as we fought back to salvage a 4-4 draw at Glanford Park. We were down by two goals three times in the match and still managed to battle back and came close to taking all three points from the match. Our backline play was abysmal today and Robert Clarke had little of his usual magic as Scunthorpe jumped to a 2-0 lead at the 10 minute mark on goals by Jamie Hyde and Mark Walton. We drew a goal back late in the first half when Nathan Stanton tripped Paul Lee in the area and Hector Caceres converted the penalty kick. The home side hit back again when Alex Tapp deflected a cross past Clarke for his 5th goal of the season, but we also hit back immediately in first half injury time as MOM Stephen Morgan lofted an audacious 35 yard shot that bounced in off the right upright past stranded Kevin Pilkington. Scunthorpe gained their 3rd two-goal lead when Cleveland Taylor took the ball past Clarke to score in the opening moments of the second half, but we continued to come back and Michael Bradshaw brought us back within a goal thanks to Morgan's laser pass that found him unmarked in the area. Sean Evans scored the equalizer before the second half reached the midway point, but that would be the last goal as both keepers settled down and played solidly in the late stages of the match. I was proud of our effort to keep fighting back, but if our backline had played better- we wouldn't have been in the dire situations we found ourself in today.

[Faramir]

19.11.08

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Scunthorpe (2) FA Cup 1st Round Replay (Scunthorpe advances on Penalties)

This was a bitter pill to swallow. We had scored twice just after halftime and had been completely outplaying Scunthorpe when we collapsed defensively in the late going and allowed them to score a quickfire double in the last minutes of play. We came within inches of taking the match in Extra-time and then lost on Penalties. Neither side played that well in the first half and chances were at a premium. We came out and executed much better to begin the second half and MOM Michael Holmes setup Daniel Hayes nicely for a goal before scoring one himself as we asserted ourselves offensively. As the match wound down, we looked well set to move on- until we fell apart. Tommy English and Mark Pritchard scored only three minutes apart just before injury time to stun the crowd at The New Oval. Stuart Cain, making his return from injury, tired badly and couldn't come up with the key save we needed. Paul Lee took the ball away from Sean Kelly and broke in free, but Kevin Pilkington got his fingertips on the shot and it cannoned back off the crossbar. Their experience paid off in the Penalties and we are out of the FA Cup.

[Faramir]

22.11.08

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Blackpool (0)

We rebounded with a convincing 2-0 win over Blackpool at The New Oval. Paul Morris threaded a pass through to Michael Bradshaw and he put a trademark finish past Jim Provett to give us the lead at the 18 minute mark. We spent the rest of the first half trying to build on the lead, but couldn't find a way to get another shot past the steady Provett. We managed to strike for a second goal early in the second half when Matthew Preston sent a pretty cross into the area and Paul Morris put away a shot past Provett for his 1st goal at Holyhead. We kept them off the scoreboard with good midfield play and Robert Clarke had an easy clean sheet.

***

1.12.08

I was pleased to get Matthew Preston under a professional contract as he just turned 17. Preston is the fastest player on the squad and I am convinced he will develop into an impact rightwinger.

[Faramir]

2.12.08

Carlisle (1) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

Except for a consolation goal- that was clearly offside, but not called- we played a super match against Carlisle as we defeated them 2-1 at Brunton Park. Michael Bradshaw made it 15 goals in 15 matches when he scored to give us the lead early in the first half on a through ball from MOM Keith Hughes. We hammered away the rest of the half, but Ludovic Butelle gave a stirling effort and kept things at 1-0. We broke through in first half injury time when Paul Harsley was whistled for pushing Bradshaw in the area on a throw-in. Hector Caceres converted the penalty kick for his 5th goal of the season and we had a 2-0 halftime lead. Carlisle tried to rally in the second half, but out backline gave a stalwart effort and Robert Clarke was solid. Clare undeservedly lost his clean sheet when Ramon Calliste- who motored 10 yards beyond the defenders before a pass was made on the play- lofted a 25 yard chip over Clarke for his 15th goal of the season in second half injury time.

[Faramir]

6.12.08

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Bury (1)

The fact of the matter is that we were our own worst enemy as we allowed struggling Bury to come away with an underserved 1-1 draw at The New Oval. MOM Daniel Hayes skinned David Buchanan and then took the ball past Dimitrious Konstantanopoulos to give us the lead midway through the first half, but Phil Barnett- who has been a huge disappointment at rightback this season- put the ball past Nick Doran on a corner for an own-goal to equalize. We peppered the Greek keeper with good chances the rest of the match, but could not find a way to get the other goal we needed to take all three points from a match that we dominated.

[Faramir]

9.12.08

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Leyton Orient (1)

We managed to pull out a late win in our showdown match with 1st place Leyton Orient at The New Oval. In a match that all of us dearly wanted to win, we got off on a flyer when Michael Bradshaw showed great vision in crossing to Shaun Cummings at the far post. Cummings outleapt Gabriel Zakuani and deflected the ball inside the post to give us the lead. I was very pleased with our first half of play, with the exception of a whopper of a defensive mistake by Hector Caceres that allowed Steven MacLean to score the equalizer past Robert Clarke. Instead of playing solid positional defense, Caceres tried to finesse a tackle on MacLean and missed- allowing MacLean to walk in free. The second half saw us trying to regain the lead, while Orient was clearly just trying to hold on for the draw as our attack swirled around their area. The match winner came at 81 minutes when MOM Stephen Morgan blistered a 25 yard shot inside the right post past Joe Lewis for a dramatic match winner. The win was a huge boost as we reached the midseason mark.

League 2 Table- Midseason

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Leyton Orient 49 pts (+18)

2- Bournemouth 48 pts (+16)

3- Holyhead Hotspur 46 pts (+23)

4- Hull 44 pts (+16)

5- Swindon 44 pts (+14)

6- Boston United 39 pts (+6)

7- Blackpool 38 pts (+7)

8- Hereford 35 pts (+2)

</pre>

[Faramir]

13.12.08

Notts County (1) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

The second half of our season opened with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Notts County at Meadow Lane. We outplayed the home side by a large measure, but handed them the lead in first half injury time when Stephen Morgan's backpass went directly to Jon Kurrant and the counter-attack ended with Horbur Sveinsson tucking a shot inside the right post past Robert Clarke- their only shot on goal in the first half. Our shooting was poor today, as the opportunities were there for us to score. Michael Bradshaw brought us even in the opening moments of the second half after a superb pass from MOM Michael Holmes put him in free to score past Nicolas Baker. Bradshaw missed close over the goal and Paul Morris missed just wide of the post in glorious chances late in the second half.

[Faramir]

20.12.08

Hereford (0) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

It took a late goal for us to defeat Hereford, but I was really pleased with how well we played in our trip to Edgar Street. The only reason we didn't win by more than the 1-0 scoreline was a brilliant effort by Hereford keeper Andrea Guatelli. Guatelli frustrated us for most of the match and was especially good in the first half when he made two dazzling saves on Michael Bradshaw and other good ones on Michael Holmes and Paul Morris. We kept the pressure up in the second half, though Hereford finally generated some chances of their own, and the pressure paid off after Craig Fagan was sent off midway through the half with his 2nd yellow card. The match winner came late in the second half when Matthew Preston made a terrific pass that picked out Bradshaw bursting free of the backline. Bradshaw finally solved Guatelli as he took the ball past him and slotted it home. We came close to adding to the margin, but missed close and settled for the 1-0 win. Robert Clarke put up the clean sheet. Jack Hobbs earned MOM honours in the match.