danmcconnell1

August 24 The first month of the new season is upon us and here in Haverfordwest, my tenure begins in the Nathaniel MG Cup which I won last year with Afan Lido. Unfortunately, we didn't get off to a great start. Ebbw Vale were our opponents in the 2nd round of the Nathaniel MG Cup and we were soundly beaten 3-1, with their striker Matt Bell scoring a hat-rick to knock us out at the first attempt. We did however get off to a winning start in the league against Bala, Wood, George and Eason with the goals for us. Our second league match resulted in another win, this time far more convincing as we thrashed Penybont 5-2. Youngster Ryan Murray got a brace, with Fawcett, Jones and Morgan completing the rout. The month ended with defeat though away to Barry, 1-0 was how it ended there. All of this means we sit in 4th place as we enter September with 2 wins and 1 defeat. Any ground lost to TNS means you'll more than likely not make it back up, however at this stage we are just a point behind them and still have to play them twice before the league splits (similar to how it does in the Scottish Premiership for those wondering). If we're honest TNS are going to win the league, it's more of a race for 2nd this time around. As mentioned before, Ryan Murray got a couple of goals against Penybont, and in doing so became the club's youngest goal scorer. I'm proud to keep breaking these types of records as it shows my commitment to bringing through younger players into the first team of the club I'm managing. Speaking of bringing players in, here are the final 3 signings of the summer. First in is GK Oliver Davies from Cardiff Met Uni. Davies is formally of Swansea City so has decent talent, however has never played for a professional club, only ever semi-pro. He comes in from Cardiff Met Uni who my Afan Lido side thrashed 7-0 in the Nathaniel MG Cup final last season and yes, he was in goal for them that day. He is by far the best GK that was available this summer so we took him and hope he can be the new number 1 for us. Next in was Adam Orme who was one of two deadline day signings for us. Signed from Newtown, Orme will provide experience in the middle of the park as well as out wide, so I'm hoping he'll be a good option for us going forward. The final player in was Danny Holmes from Connah's Quay. The experienced CB joins on a 1 year deal and will provide more cover at CB which is what we need, as well as an old head too. Experience is vital in a league like this if you want to do well, so I'm hoping his know-how will stand us in good stead going forward too.

Pre-Season Update After a summer that began with uncertainty, it ends with a new beginning in Wales, now with Haverfordwest County. This is how the squad is shaping up for the new season. We're still not done with our transfer business, however there may be some familiar names in the side which I'll get onto shortly. First in was GK Aaron Jones. He'd been released by Afan Lido this summer, so despite him being on trial at Penybont, I snapped him up. My scouts don't think he's quite as good as others in the league and whilst this is of course a step up in terms of quality of league, I still think he'll do a decent job for us. I am looking for another GK so Jones may well end up being the number 2, but if I don't get another, I'll still be happy. Next in was another former Afan Lido player Charlie Taylor. The teenager was brilliant in the middle of the park for me last season and even managed a couple of goals too, so after I noticed he too had been released I pounced straight away to bring him in. The final player through the door so far was Nathan Wood. He's a winger who can play either side which I like, versatility is great in these lower leagues, and has undoubted quality. He's 27 now so probably getting towards his peak, I'm hoping he can be a good option out wide for us, plus he won a trophy last season with Flint Town, the JD Welsh Cup, so had pedigree just as I do for winning trophies. As mentioned previously, I am looking at bringing more new faces in, but at the moment I'm confident this side will be able to mount a decent challenge towards the top end of the table. TNS are of course the overwhelming favourites to wipe the floor with the league, however the European qualification spots are anybody's. If we can challenge for them this season, then I think it'll have been a good campaign.

Haverfordwest County AFC are based in the west of Wales and play in the JD Cymru Premier division. They play their home games at the Bridge Meadow Stadium in the town and has a capacity of almost 2500. The squad for the upcoming season is a little thin, so I'll be looking for some reinforcements before we get underway, but here are some of the players I'm most excited about working with. Josh Gray looks to be a fine defender. Decent heading ability is always good for a CB therefore he has that in abundance, then his marking and tackling abilities both are decent for this level. Still aged just 22, I'm hoping he can be a rock for us at the back. Jazz Richards was a member of the Euro 2016 squad with Wales, so we have international pedigree at the club just as I did back at Afan Lido too. A solid FB who can play either side, I hope Richards will be able to provide great experience as well as solid performances for us. Finally, Ben Fawcett has a decent scoring record at the club and boasts some pretty good stats too for a striker at this level. His finishing ability of 12 and first touch of 11 means he'll hopefully be able to score with first time efforts for us, as well as being able to hold the ball up and bring others into play on the attack. He makes good runs and makes good decisions on the pitch too, so hopefully he'll be the focal point in attack for us.

Job Update So, after leaving Afan Lido, it was time to start the job hunt again. The first club to offer me a role were Caernarfon in the JD Cymru Premier division. Their board were expecting European qualification this season while offering a shoestring budget, even for Welsh footballing standards. I decided to delay my decision for a week as I had attended another interview which, if I'm honest, I would prefer to join them, so I'll get to them later. Meanwhile, I had the most recent Fifa rankings come through, therefore decided to take a look at how we'd progressed after 2 years or so in charge of Zimbabwe. There certainly has been progress. I know many countries and people don't take too much notice of the Fifa rankings as the way they're generated can be seen as flawed, however there's no denying that progress has been made whilst in charge. When I arrived, we were 119th in the world, now we've risen 24 places to 95th, therefore into the top 100. I'm pleased with the advances we're making and if we can continue working well together there's no reason why we can't move further up the rankings. Back to the job hunt, and the aforementioned other club I'd been interviewed by was Haverfordwest County, also in the JD Cymru Premier. As you can see, they're expectations are far more realistic for the budget they're offering, plus they're offering £10 per week more for my services, therefore the decision was made. I am now the proud manager of Haverfordwest County.

Summer 24 So after much deliberation and unsuccessful attempts to renew quite a few contracts of first team players as well as a retirement of a key player, I've decided the time is right to leave Afan Lido. I feel like I did a very good job at the club, taking over with them down in 13th place, fighting relegation, to leading the club to two 3rd placed finished in succession, with the 2nd season being in the title/promotion race until the final 3 matches. The board did try and offer me a new deal, however with no investment being put into facilities despite multiple requests, no increase in wage for myself despite lots of negotiation, I feel like I could be rewarded financially for my work here elsewhere. At the end of the day, money talks, and despite a largely successful almost 2 year spell at Afan Lido, I leave them hopefully in a much better place and with plenty of reason for optimism. Moving on, I do still have the Zimbabwe post to concentrate on, as well as numerous interviews that have been attended with clubs in England which I'm waiting to hear back from, so I could be back in club management quite soon, but we'll wait for the right opportunity and the right project before diving into the next role.

April 24 The final month of the season begins and there is news to bring at the start. Buxton, who play in the Vanarama National League North in England, offered me the chance to interview for their vacant managerial role. I took the opportunity as I'm out of contract with Afan Lido in the summer and with no contract talks on the horizon and the club bleeding money, it may be time to start looking elsewhere. The final 3 matches were a bit of a disaster. We lost against Taffs Well which was the final straw in terms of our title hopes. Brock did give us the lead but we conceded twice before half time to allow them back in and they held on for the win. Our final win of the season came in our final away game at Llanelli Town. Rhys Kavanagh and Luke McDonald with the 2 goals there. Then the final match of the season away at struggling Cambrian & Clydach was a poor result and performance. We lost 3-1 with Charlie Roberts giving us the lead, but we conceded 3 after half time to compound out misery. Despite that poor end to the season, we did in fact finish 3rd for the second season in a row, which in the grand scheme of things isn't bad at all. We've had a highly successful season again on the whole and even capped it off with some silverware back in January too. Here's how the squad did over the season. Aaron Jones was our number 1 goalkeeper and he played well all season with an average rating of 7.13. He also kept 13 clean sheets in the league, a feat that'll win him the Golden Glove. Connor Young and Stephen Morris were our best performing defenders, the CB partners on the whole were solid all season. Rhys Kavanagh had a good first season with us, scoring 3 goals and registering 12 assists from wide right. David Cotterill also had a great final campaign in football, scoring 8 times, 6 of which came from the penalty spot and also getting 15 assists. He'll be a big miss when he retires in the summer. Tyler Brock had a great season up top too, scoring 18 goals and getting 10 assists. But the jewel in our crown is Steffan Coles. The 17 year old had an outstanding season, scoring 38 times in 39 starts, very nearly a goal a game in all competitions. Despite this great record, he didn't even finish in the top 3 scorers in the league, which just shows the quality is improving in this division. As we look back on the season, we remember the brilliant Nathaniel MG Cup run we witnessed, with an outstanding 7-0 win in the final against Cardiff Met Unit to see us to my first piece of silverware in management. We broke the club record for the youngest player again this season, for the 3rd time, when recent academy graduate Jonte Robinson made an appearance on the final day against Cambrian & Clydach aged just 15 and 153 days, he beats Jordan Jones' record set earlier in the campaign by 148 days. The Buxton board opted against offering me their managerial position, and in doing so the Afan Lido board did offer me another 1 year deal. I've rejected the talks initially as I want to see what else becomes available in the summer. If it means I stay in South Wales on a rolling month to month contract then so be it, or I may decide to leave when my contract comes to an end, we have a while to think about that though.

March 24 After the disappointment of dropping more points last month, it was really now or never if we were to make a title charge. And we started brilliantly with a convincing win over, at the time, leaders Ammanford by 3 goals to nil. Young, Cotterill and Coles with the goals for us there. We then managed an important win against Swansea Uni too with Coles again on the score sheet. The final game of the month was the final nail in our title coffin though, a 2-1 defeat to Cwmbran Celtic away from home. We were 2-0 down within half an hour and despite Cotterill's late consolation we fell to another defeat. That left the table looking like this and with 3 games to go and 3 team ahead of us, we still had to make up 5 points on all of them. It wasn't impossible of course, however highly, highly unlikely. March also saw a return to international duty with Zimbabwe in AFCON qualifying and we got off to the perfect start with 2 convincing wins. The first came against one of Africa's top nations, Egypt by 3 goals to nil. Darikwa scored what would probably be his final international goal with his impending retirement coming this summer, Kadawere and Galloway with the others to give us the perfect start in qualifying. We then thrashed Lesotho in our second match 7-1 away from home. Takwara and Dube got one each, Chawapiwa got a brace and Kadawere completed a fantastic international break personally for him with a hat-rick. This meant we top the group after 2 matches and I'm confident with Togo losing against Lesotho, after how we thrashed them, that we should be able to beat Togo as well. Finally, I have also gained my Continental C License, another step forward in my progression. The Afan Lido board once again kindly allowed me to embark on my next period of studying by funding the B License course immediately after this one finished once again.

February 24 So, once again after the brilliant, trophy winning exploits of January, we get back to league matters as we hope to keep pressure on the top teams vying for the league title, therefore promotion. It was another month of what could have been with draws being our undoing in the league. The first came against Goytre United at home, however that was followed by a big win away at Briton Ferry, Coles with 2 that day, Kavanagh, Brock and Roberts with the others. Then back at home again we could only draw with Llantwit Major. Our unbeaten run now stretches to 17 in all competitions and with just 6 league matches remaining, there's still a good chance this form could continue going into the final stretch. We remain 6 points off the pace down in 4th, but with league leaders Ammanford up next for us, we're hoping we can claw back 3 of those points at the next available opportunity. We still need to face Taffs Well and Llanelli Town in the final month, so there are still plenty of points to be won and lost around the top of the table, we hope that we can win more than we lose over the coming weeks.

January 24 - Part 2 With the Nathaniel MG Cup final looming large, we made our way to Coychurch Road in Bridgend, the former home of the club in the town, where the final was going to be held this year against Cardiff Met Uni. We'd faced our opponents twice in the league already this season and not had great success, losing in our first home match of the season then being pegged back in the last minute from 2-0 to a draw last month in the return fixture, so we're due a win against them. Not only did we win against them, as you can see from the score line, we absolutely thrashed them in Bridgend, 7-0 is how it finished. Steffan Coles showed everybody what he's about with another 5 goals to add to his tally for the season, taking him to 31 for the campaign in 29 appearances for us. David Cotterill and Michael McCalmon got the others for us on what was a momentous day not only in my career as I lifted my first piece of silverware, but the club as well who lifted the Nathaniel MG Cup for the fourth time and the first time since 2011. I'm also becoming somewhat of a fan favourite in South Wales too, with the fans and former player and my DoF last season Mark Robinson praising me in the media which was nice to see. Following the euphoria of winning my first trophy of this journeyman save, it was time to get back to the slog that is the league. We face local rivals Port Talbot Town again in the Steel Derby at home this time to see out the month and I'm expecting a win with them sitting down in 14th place, here's how we got on. And win again we did against our local rivals, we ran out 4-2 winners in the end. Coles got another 2 to keep up his fantastic form, Cotterill opened the scoring from the spot and Tyler Brock got one too. We did concede 2 in the second half but all I'm worried about is the 3 points and that's what we got. That win see's us move back up into 2nd however due to us playing earlier in the weekend than everybody else we could drop down to 3rd depending on the weekend's results, any lower than 3rd would be unlikely due to our superior goal difference. Coles is now joint level at the top of the goal scoring charts for the season with 19 in the league, he has 33 in total in all competitions, remember he's still just 17.

January 24 - Part 1 The see in the new year, I will divide January into 2 different updates, the first of which is below. We've had a brilliant, high-scoring start to the new year. We kicked things off with another thriller against Cardiff Draconians, beating them 6-3 this time, Coles bagging himself another hat-rick wuth Brock, Kavanagh and Taylor also all getting on the scoresheet. We then got a momentous win over Holywell in the Nathaniel MG Cup semi-final, taking us to our first cup final under my tenure. Our two star strikers got the goals, Brock and Coles. The reason for the update being in 2 parts is because that cup final is upcoming very soon, and we'll face Cardiff Met Uni in it just 10 days after the semi. Our final league match before said final was against Lliswerry and we've managed another win, this time by 2 goals to nil with sub striker Charlie Roberts scoring a brace and Coles bagging his 26th goal of the season in 28 appearances already. With one more league game to play this month, we find ourselves back up in 3rd place with 10 league games to go, the title, therefore promotion, is still very much a possibility with matches against the current top 2 still to come.

December 23 The festive month is upon us once again and with us in a great position in the league we need to continue this good form and try to keep us at the top end of the table. Unfortunately, our winning streak has turned into a drawing streak. 4 on the bounce now after 4 wins on the bounce, 8 unbeaten sounds great but when you draw 4 in a row you can't help but be frustrated. Llanelli Town were first up and we finished 1-1 with them, which wasn't a bad result to kick off the month considering they're another one of the sides vying for the title. We really should have beaten Ynyshir considering we have already beaten them once this season on the opening day. Then came the most frustrating of them all, 2-0 up after 90 mins against Cardiff Met Uni, Andrew Green, who hadn't scored at all yet this season, scored 2 in stoppage time to rescue a point for the hosts and deny us all 3. We then drew 0-0 with Pontypridd in the final match of the month to round off what was a run of annoying matches to end the year. Due to these results we've now dropped down to 5th, however it is still pretty tight towards to the top of the JD Cymru South, so as long as we can turn these draws into some wins again, I'm sure we'll be back towards the top of the table in no time.

November 23 After some poor results last month, it was time to get back to winning ways. And that's exactly what we did. A fantastic month began with a brilliant win in the Nathaniel MG Cup quarter final over Penybont, Steffan Coles with the solitary goal to send us to the semi finals where we'll face Holywell in January. TNS have been knocked out of this cup competition too, so despite being a 2nd tier side, there's still a chance we could lift silverware this season. We then managed a slender win against high-flying Ammanford, David Cotterill scored a penalty which will help his confidence after not scoring for a while. He's also muting regarding possibly retiring at the end of this season which would be a shame as he's been brilliant for me, however those conspiracies won't write themselves on Twitter... The remaining 3 matches this month were outstanding. We thrashed Cwmbran Celtic 5-0. Taylor, McCalmon and Brock all got one while Cotterill scored another 2, both penalties but they all count! Then came the best result of the season so far, a 7-2 win over top of the league Taffs Well, with all 7 goals being scored by the outstanding Steffan Coles. 4 of his 7 came direct from free kicks too, it was a day where everything he touched turned to goals. We rounded off November with another win, this time against Cambrian & Clydach away from home by 3 goals to nil, Brock, Hanbury and Coles with another saw us gain another 3 points. These 4 wins in a row in the league saw us shoot up the table into 2nd and put us right back into the title race. Taffs Well still set the pace and are 2 points clear however we know, of all teams, how vulnerable they can be so they'll drop points, as will we no doubt, but I'm confident that with the form we're in we can potentially cause an upset this season. In other news, I bagged my national A coaching license which was great news, plus the board agreed for me to begin my Continental C License too. This of course means that I may potentially be over qualified for this role with Afan Lido, should I get that license, and being out of contract this summer again means I may begin to look elsewhere depending on whether we can get promoted or not. Unsurprisingly, Coles won player of the month this time out, with 8 goals in 4 matches, 7 of course coming against league leaders Taffs Well. I also won manager of the month which was nice! November also saw some important matches with Zimbabwe. We'd played a few friendlies in the last couple of months with our form staying pretty consistent with wins against Burkina Faso, DR Congo and Eq. Guinea, with our only loss coming away to Cameroon. We faced Mauritania in a 2 legged affair in qualifying for the World Cup. As we won the tie 4-1 on aggregate, this meant we qualified for the group stage of qualification in Africa. And we will be facing familiar opponents. We've already beaten DR Congo and Burkina Faso this year, however Angola will be another test. I'm confident we can beat all 3 of these sides, despite having the lowest world ranking according to Fifa.

October 23 After a difficult month last time out in terms of competitions, we're hoping we can steady the ship a little going into October to try and pick up some more points. Unfortunately though, we only managed 1 win from 3. That came in the first game of the month against Briton Ferry, Brock scoring both of those. The remaining two league fixtures both ended in defeat, firstly against Swansea Uni, for the 2nd time in less than a month, then away to Llantwit Major, the side we'd beaten in our first game of the season in the Nathaniel MG Cup. This meant we'd dropped down to 8th place in the league after 10 matches. We are still in a much better position compared to this time last season when I arrived, however we're already 9 points off the pace at the top, so need to hit a run of form similar to the one when I arrived if we're to do anything meaningful this season.

September 23 A busy month upcoming with matches in 3 different competitions, we go again this month. A big win against Cardiff Draconians got us underway, with Tyler Brock scoring 4 and Coles getting the other 2, the month began brilliantly. We then progressed in the JD Welsh Cup with a win against Denbeigh. Lliswerry were next up and we managed to beat the newly promoted side too. Unfortunately, Swansea Uni knocked us out on penalties in the Tier 2 League Cup, then we lost for the 3rd time in the league against Goytre United. We managed a very impressive win against Cymru Premier side Aberystwyth in the Nathaniel JD Cup, sending us to the quarter finals where we'll face Penybont. The month ended with another defeat, this time in the JD Welsh Cup away at Newtown. We ended the month in 6th place in the league, but were knocked out of 2 competitions this month. Tyler Brock also won Player of the Month for September.

August 23 After a perfect start to the new season, our credentials will be tested in August with ties against recently relegated Cardiff Met Uni, as well as the Steel derby against Port Talbot Town. The month didn't start well with the first back to back defeats of my tenure in the league against Cardiff Met Uni and Pontypridd, managed by my former DoF no less. Things did turn around though back in the Nathaniel MG Cup where we progressed against Cambrian & Clydach thanks to a 2-0 there, we've been drawn against JD Cymru Premier side Aberystwyth at home so that'll be a tough tie The final match of the month was the aforementioned Steel derby against Port Talbot and we came out on top at Victoria Road thanks to a solitary Steffan Coles goal, his 4th of the season already. We find ourselves in 8th place at this early stage of the season. I'm disappointed with the 2 defeats, however both of those sides were in the JD Cymru Premier last season, so they were always going to be difficult matches. I was pleased however with the derby win over Port Talbot town which will hopefully boost us going into September. We did lose CB Toby Link-Jones to Mumbles Rangers who play in the North equivalent of our league. He was a talent however wasn't getting into the matchday squad with any regularity so although his potential will be missed, his impact on matches for us was minimal. We wish him the best.

July 23 The new season is upon us and we get ours underway with two matches at the end of July, the first in the Nathanial MG Cup, then our first league match. We got off to the perfect start with 2 wins, firstly in the cup against Llantwit Major thanks to a brace for Coles. We then managed a comfortable opening day win against Ynyshir too, the goals scored by Cotterill from the spot and Tyler Brock with the second. This meant after 1 league match we were in 2nd place, only a side we'd already beaten were above us on goal difference, which bodes well for our hopes of finishing higher up the table this time around. As previously mentioned, Jordan Jones is a very highly rated prospect, therefore I gave him a start against Ynyshir, which in turn meant he became the club's youngest ever player, aged just 15 years and 301 days old. The record was also broken in our first match of this season by Charlie Taylor, who was just 16 years and 8 days old, which means we've broken our own record twice in the space of 2 matches, with young players who will hopefully give Afan Lido a bright future. Moving back to AFCON, Ghana are the new champions after beating Mali in the final thanks to a penalty shoot out. Mali were 3-1 up at one point, but a 93rd minute equaliser for Ghana from Yakubu took the game to extra time where the teams couldn't be separated, therefore penalties was the difference and the Black Stars win the African title for a 5th time.

Pre-Season Update So whilst I was off in the Ivory Coast with my Zimbabwe team, I had to make signings primarily via MS Teams this summer! First in was Rhys Kavanagh signed from Penybont on a free. He's a winger who can play upfront too so provides a good option towards the top of the pitch, plus he's still pretty young so will hopefully be at the club for a while. Alex Downes also came in from Colwyn Bay. He's a CB who can also play at RB too so again, quite versatile and will do a job if required. In order to sign him I had to promise improvements to the club's infrastructure, something I've asked the board about but nothing has been done yet, so I'm anticipating him being unhappy in the near future, however if the board won't do it there's not a lot I can do about that! Charlie Taylor is a player I'm quite excited about. Coming in from Swansea Uni, he's a youngster who's got plenty of scope for improvement but my backroom team raved about him from the moment we first saw him, as did I, so decided to bring him in. He'll be getting plenty of game time this season in the centre of the park. Rhys Sture was next in after being released from Pontardawe. They struggled in the division last season and after seeing Sture a couple of times in the games we played against them he impressed me, one with his versatility in midfield, but also his performances too. He'll be a backup in central midfield. The most recent signing is Connor Young from Penrhyncoch. He's another CB however with a few youngsters being released we were still pretty short in that area, so Young coming in and being a starter will be vital for us. As for outgoings, we lost a few players at the end of their deals, including Carlos Indjai, Liam McCreesh and number 2 GK Steve Cann. We also released a few players who, after 6 months or so at the club, it became clear they weren't going to make the grade. Sam Matthew, Ben Jones and Adam Liddy all left after other, better players came in. Finally, we had an outstanding youth intake this summer, with a total of 16 players being signed. Some of these, including Nicky Turner, Ashley Evans and Jordan Jones will be in and around the first team this season to help provide cover and even potentially get a few starts themselves depending on injuries and suspensions. This has been a huge help in terms of boosting numbers as well as morale around the squad, plus having homegrown talent is always a bonus. I'm hoping a few of these lads can become first team regulars as we look to push on from what was a brilliant second half of the season last time out for us.

AFCON 23 With the tournament, which is being held in the Ivory Coast, set to begin, let's see how we got on. We managed an opening win against Algeria, who were supposedly one of the favourites to win the tournament. A crazy end to the match culminated in us being 1-0 up after 92 minutes, then Bentaleb equalised for the Algerians, before Chawapika scored a momentous winner just a minute later to give us the 3 points from our opening match. We then suffered back to back defeats against Morocco and Congo. This meant we were made to sweat down in 3rd place to find out whether or not we'd go through as one of the best 3rd placed teams. From 6 groups, 4 third place finishers progress, just as it works in the Euros. As you can see, we did go through thanks mainly to that win against Algeria. Who incidentally had a really poor tournament and finished bottom of the group, despite beating Congo in their 2nd match, they were thrashed by Morocco 5-0 in the final match, meaning Morocco went through as group winners, Congo in 2nd after their win against us and we went through as one of the best 3rd place finishers. Unfortunately, we were thrashed by Tunisia in our 2nd round tie by 4 goals to nil which meant our AFCON dream was over, however progress has certainly been made in seeing Zimbabwe make the knockout stage for the first time in a tournament since 2014 and only the 2nd time ever, the footballing future is bright for this nation who've had their troubles in the past. In other news, just before the new season begins, I've bagged my National B coaching license, another step in my progression, and I've been rewarded with funding for my National A License, the highest National license before continental licenses become available.

April 23 The final month of the league season was upon us and while we'd had a bad start before my arrival, the resurgence in form since then has been meteoric. Just one defeat since my arrival has been testament to this group of players and there's no reason why we can't push on next season and try to achieve something special. The season ended with another 2 wins away to Cambrian & Clydach, 3-0 there and on the final day away against Ynyshir, another clean sheet and 2-0 win. This meant we ended the season in 3rd, stark contrast from where we were when I arrived. From the 19 matches I was in charge, we recorded just 1 defeat and 13 wins, picking up a total of 44 points in total from those 19 matche, when I arrived we had just 8. Now the season is over, attention turns back to Zimbabwe and the upcoming AFCON. We had been drawn in Group A alongside Morocco, Algeria and Congo. A tough group with Morocco and Algeria, however if we could manage a win against Congo I'd be pretty happy, however I'm not expecting much against the other 2.

March 23 After losing for the first time against Barry, it was the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways, this time against 2nd placed club Llanelli Town to begin March. And that's exactly what we did. A solitary David Cotterill penalty meant we handed the initiative to Barry at the top of the league and gave them a 5 point lead with just 4 games left this season. Next up was Taffs Well at home and we managed to beat them 3-0 in our final home match of the season. Tyler Brock got us going after 10 minutes, then Steffan Coles scored for the first time in 5 matches, going on to score 2 in the end. Finally we ended March with another win away to Llantwit Major, winning 1-0 with Coles scoring again. We finished the month up in 3rd place, which is a great achievement at this stage of the season considering I arrived with the club down in 13th. There has been rapid progress under my tenure and with just 2 games to go we can't finish any higher, however I want to make sure we retain this position and hope we can better this next season with the right additions. I also managed to gain my National C License coaching badge, then immediately began studying for my B license too. Moving on, I have decided to take on the Under 23 matches for Zimbabwe alongside the senior team in Under 23 AFCON qualifying. The Under 23 side face Togo in a 2 legged qualifier. Unfortunately, we lost the tie 4-2 on aggregate, losing the opener 3-1 then managing a draw in Togo. Also, the senior side had 2 more AFCON qualifiers this month to secure a place at AFCON (after checking the qualification rules, if we finish in the top 2 of our group, we're off to the tournament!). We had 2 more matches against Liberia and Mauritania. And we won them both, not only securing a place at the next AFCON this summer but we also won our group with those 2 wins. Finally, I ended the month celebrating a new deal in charge of Afan Lido.

February 23 After what's been a great start here in South Wales for us, February came with the end of the transfer window at the beginning of the month. We lost Bradley Flay who wasn't getting much game time at all so when Pontardawe came in for him it made sense to get him off the books, especially considering the relatively expensive signing of Cotterill. It was a month that saw us stretch our unbeaten run to 13 before we met the league leaders Barry at the end of the month, but before that we drew with Pontardawe 1-1, then beat Cwmbran Celtic again thanks to a hat-rick scored by new man Cotterill. He has 6 goals for us in 5 appearances at that point, 4 of which have been penalties, so he's been a brilliant signing so far. My first defeat in charge as mentioned previously was to league leaders Barry. We did peg them back to 1-1 thanks to a Chris Jones goal but a stunner scored by their striker Gavin Beddard won it for them early in the 2nd half. We're moving steadily up the table again, now up to 5th, which is in stark contrast to where we were when I arrived at the club down in 13th. It's been a highly successful spell in charge but with my contract up at the end of the season, and no indication of being offered another deal, it's anybody's guess as to whether I'll be here again next season. Just 5 games remain therefore promotion isn't possible this season, however if I were to remain, based on the form this team have shown in my time here, there's no reason why that can't be a realistic aim for next season if we can keep hold of some of our better players in the off-season.

January 23 The new year began with us in good form and we were hoping to continue this good form as we started against our final opponents of the previous year. 6 days after getting a draw against Trefelin BGC we managed to thrash them on their own patch 4-1. Coles managed another brace which was pleasing too. We then beat bottom club Abergavenny 2-1 at home and then impressively beat Ammanford, who boast a certain Lee Trundle (now 46), 1-0 away from home too. We ended the month with another draw, this time against Goytre United, meaning a total of 10 points from 12 to welcome in the new year which is fantastic, we're also still unbeaten since my arrival in south Wales. So with just 8 games remaining this season we sit in 8th place, a far cry from where we were when I arrived. It's quite tight in terms of points in mid-table, therefore a couple of wins could see us move much higher up in the league if other results go our way, plus with us in great form there's no reason why that can't happen. We also did some business in this January window, with everyone's favourite conspiracy theorist David Cotterill arriving. The former Birmingham and Wales winger went to the Euros in 2016 so that big match experience will prove vital for us. He also scored 2 on his debut against Abergavenny. He's obviously not quite the player he once was, however I'm hoping his undoubted quality will help propel us further up the league. Due to the departure of David Dima back to his homeland, we needed a new starting RB, so in came Ben Jones. Plenty of room for improvement as there is with all players at this level, however I'm hoping he'll be a solid replacement for Dima whose departure will be felt no doubt.

December 22 After a perfect start, we entered the festive month with a spring in our steps and hoped to continue our good form. December started brilliantly with a 4-1 win over Ynyshir which included a first senior hat-rick for our star striker Steffan Coles. Still just 16, Coles now has 8 for the season. We then embarked on 3 draws in a row beginning at home to Carmarthen, then away to Swansea Uni and finally back at home against Trefelin BGC. Coles managed a goal in each of the score draws, taking his tally to 10 for the season now, when I arrived he only had 1. Again there has been steady progress up the table as we now sit in 9th. We're of course on a run of 3 draws currently, we really need to start turning those matches into wins if we're to find ourselves further up the table as the season goes on. Coles also now appears in the top 3 goal scorers too.

November 22 So after a positive start in south Wales, the remainder of November was all about trying to pick up points. The first piece of news however was bad. Daniel Dima, arguably the club's best player, will be leaving in mid-January to go back to his homeland of Romania. It's a blow for us as he's still pretty young and a star player, however this is the nature of semi-pro football. The final 2 matches in November were a resounding success. A 4-0 triumph over Cwmbran Celtic resulted in 2 each for winger Chris Jones and young protoge Coles. That win was followed by another 3 points against Briton Ferry, Coles managed another 2 against them while strike partner Tyler Brock got one too. This fantastic start has seen us pick up a maximum 9 points from 9 and also enabled us to move into 11th in the table, taking us further away from the danger zone. Hopefully we can carry this good form into December and beyond. Youngster Coles won player of the month with 4 goals in 3 matches taking his tally for the season to 5. And to round of the perfect first month and first 3 matches in charge, I was awarded the manager of the month award for November.

Another quick update, we signed 2 more players to bolster the defence, and provide more cover in the LB position as well as at CB too. First in was Luke Jones who we initially took on trial and offered him a deal until the end of the season. He'll be a decent option for the remainder of this campaign as we look to ensure our place in the division. Ioan Evans will also be joining us in January from Haverfordwest. A LB who as mentioned previously will help to provide cover in that position to ensure our defence is well stocked for the remainder of the season.