AM23

It's certainly a nice change! It shouldn't be to difficult to get that title now. I don't expect it to come down to the last matchday this time which would be nice for my sanity.

February 2032 We've got all to play for still in multiple competitions. In the league we play three teams that we should win against of which PSNI is the most difficult opponent. We drew them in our home game, but they have not been in great form after they had a good start to the season. Our most exciting fixture this month is the first one. A huge opportunity to get into the quarter final of the Irish Cup. We were really lucky to draw Moyola Park there, as they are one of only three clubs from our level (and below) remaining including ourselves. Still, we need to play a good game to get past them. Warrenpoint Town - Moyola Park (Irish Cup) xG: 2.05 - 0.48; Shots: 20(11) - 9(0); Possession: 50% - 50% Simply phenomenal! We showed no sign of nerves playing in front of more than 1000 fans for only the second time this season as we completely overwhelmed Moyola Park in the first half. Striker Ben Magee excelled yet again today as he got his seasonal tally of goals up to 20 in all competitions. He gave us a very early lead by receiving the ball on the edge of the box and dribbling past his man like he wasn't even there, before placing the ball in the far corner past their goalkeeper. We kept the pressure high and doubled our lead when right back Aaron Paul chipped the ball over their defence for his second assist. Shortly after the break a good shot from outside the box made an end to any tension there still was. Again we have a home draw, and again we get very lucky with our opponent. We meet Loughgall, who are currently bottom of the table in the Championship. I honestly think we are the favourites for this one. Queen's University Belfast - Warrenpoint Town xG: 1.76 - 1.34; Shots: 11(4) - 11(6); Possession: 43% - 57% The scoreline suggests we had an easy time out there against second to last in the table, but I can assure that this was not the case in the slightest. This might actually have been the worst game we played all season. In the end all is well though, especially as both our rivals at the top dropped points this matchday. Our opponent was on top in the first half an hour and that culminated in them scoring a goal which was just centimeters offside. That looked to have gotten us awake finally, as we immediately scored within a minute from their disallowed goal. We finally got to playing football and quickly expanded our lead after the break. After our third goal we fell apart again though, with our clean sheet only thanks to some good saves from Colin Armstrong. Warrenpoint Town - Carrick Rangers (Intermediate Cup) xG: 1.51 - 1.80; Shots: 11(3) - 13(3); Possession: 49% - 51% We lose out on penalties after a game that could've gone either way. I could go on and write a whole essay about it here, but it wasn't a classic really. There were barely any chances and it took an extra time penalty to break the deadlock. I thought that the end result had been decided after that, but somehow we find some energy to get the scores back level immediately. I'm not too bothered by going out of this cup to be honest, although I do think we had some chance of winning it. I am unhappy about the extra time we played though. The players were absolutely knackered which means I probably have to rotate more than I'd like in our upcoming league game. Warrenpoint Town - Dundela xG: 2.31 - 1.73; Shots: 19(5) - 15(3); Possession: 70% - 30% We decide the match in a matter of minutes after Dundela missed an open goal opportunity to take the lead. Curtis Nimick getting a second yellow meant we had to keep our cool, which we did quite well. Our best performers today were left winger Aodhan Doherty and Josh Andrews, who both got an assist and the former a goal as well. It looks like Banbridge Town have been taken out of the equation in the title race after Moyola Park scored a late winner against them. We have a four point gap over the latter with only 6 games left to go. PSNI - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.46 - 2.45; Shots: 7(5) - 23(6); Possession: 34% - 66% We end the month with a comprehensive victory away from home. I'm getting very close to that first trophy now to finally get the count going. We started the game with the most beautiful bit of combination play I've seen all season which was finished of well by Jack Kehoe. An own goal helped us restore our lead after a sudden counter had led to an equaliser. In the second half Aaron Paul shined once again with a goal and an assist. The right back plays a crucial role in my tactic as an inverted wing back and has been amazing this season with 10 goal contributions in the league alone. Moyola Park have lost their last game of the month and the title looks all but certain now! 5 more games to play. Awards A month full of big victories gets me my third award of the year.

January 2032 Lots of home games here. In the league we meet teams of mixed stature, with Ratfriland Rangers the worst on paper, and Newington Youth the best. We just need to continue the way we are going there. In both cups we are playing for a spot in the round of 16 of the competition, with home games against a Championship club in the Irish Cup and an amateur side in the Intermediate Cup. Rathfriland Rangers - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.12 - 2.33; Shots: 2(1) - 24(6); Possession: 21% - 79% It took us a lot of work, but in the end we get past their defence for a third 1-0 win in four games. They parked the bus from the start, and to be fair to them they did a very good job of it. We got nowhere in the first half, after which we decided to go for more of a high press game. That small change of tactics gave us a little bit more to work with in attack, but still no abundance of chances. In the end Jack Kehoe helped us out massively by creating a massive chance out of nothing which was finished by Ben Magee. The former looks like he is finally starting to find some form, which is needed for him to justify his salary. Warrenpoint Town - Newington Youth xG: 1.94 - 0.83; Shots: 21(8) - 11(5); Possession: 56% - 44% Two injuries in the first ten minutes can't keep us from continuing our great form. Six wins in our last seven games and only two goals conceded in them now. One injury meant back-up striker Luca McGreevey Couchman came on early and he showed to be able to do a very good job. Only twenty minutes later he had given us a two goal lead which we didn't give away after. Institute up next in the Irish Cup. Will be a tough one as they are still fighting for promotion to the Premiership with currently a 4th place. We will have to miss experienced midfielder Lyndon Kane as he was one of the injured players this game. Warrenpoint Town - Institute (Irish Cup) xG: 3.79 - 1.16; Shots: 30(11) - 8(3); Possession: 55% - 45% This was amazing! Perfect start and we didn't lose concentration for a moment. These games against higher tier opposition have really shown how good this squad is for our level. Midfielder Odhran Casey had his best match of the season after he got the ball put on a plate by striker Ben Magee. The latter scored two himself too and got away with the man of the match award. Three goals up at halftime I told the players not to get complacent, as that had cost us dearly in the Mid-Ulster Cup. They listened and actually finished the match directly after the break to leave no doubt for me. We get a very lucky draw and a great chance to move on to the quarter final! We will host division rivals Moyola Park in early February. Warrenpoint Town - Portadown B.B.O.B. (Intermediate Cup) xG: 5.09 - 1.48; Shots: 39(15) - 10(6); Possession: 70% - 30% A very easy win against a lower league side. Luca McGreevey Couchman was the man of the moment with his hattrick. I have to say I don't really understand this cup. It consists of a lot of amateur teams, all Intermediate League teams and half of the Championship teams. For some reason though, it's the six teams that performed best in the previous season that get selected from the Championship. We will meet one of them in the next round in Carrick Rangers. They are currently in mid table. Warrenpoint Town - Bangor xG: 2.11 - 0.45; Shots: 17(3) - 4(2); Possession: 61% - 39% We are reminded of what losing feels like with an unexpected defeat. We had the upper hand throughout the game, but they took the lead when our goalkeeper Colin Armstrong made a mistake in going for the ball. When they got reduced to 10 men because of a direct red card I was quite confident that we would turn things around. We couldn't make it happen though, as it seemed as if all of our shots went high over the bar. It's honestly a very disappointing result especially as Bangor are sitting low in mid table. Sometimes you have these games though, so the most important thing now is to bounce back quickly. We had gotten ourselves a little margin over the two chasing teams, but with that defeat the gap is now back to two points. Both Banbridge and Moyola Park are in very good form as of late. The race for the title can be very interesting still with 8 games to go in the season.

December 2031 After three months with an abundance of cup games we can focus on the league for a little bit now. We meet our two closest rivals first. We have beaten Banbridge comprehensively twice already this season in cups, though those games were both at home. Moyola Park were the team that dealt us our only league loss so far though. Banbridge Town - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.36 - 1.54; Shots: 3(1) - 13(7); Possession: 33% - 67% We beat them again and it's a huge win! We replace Banbridge again at the top of the table. Our defence was the key in this one, as we had to wait patiently for the first goal. A tense first half whizzed past, until all of a sudden Banbridge looked to have gotten themselves the lead. We were relieved to see the linesman have his flag raised, but not fully recovered from it yet, as we gave away a big chance a few minutes later. Still, 0-0 was a fair scoreline at the break, as neither team had a lot to say in attack. We decided on a higher pressing game for the second half and it worked wonders. Defensively we didn't concede a single shot, while creating more in attack. Eventually it was Ben Magee who received a ball over the top and finished calmly to put us in front. Warrenpoint Town - Moyola Park xG: 1.98 - 1.34; Shots: 17(11) - 8(2); Possession: 61% - 39% We get our revenge on Moyola Park and with that we create a big gap to them in the table. They helped us into the driver's seat in the first half by giving away a penalty and through a big defensive mistake in the run-up to our second goal. Center back Jude Neill came on from the bench in the second half and decided the match from a corner after our lead had been reduced to one earlier in the half. Best player on the pitch today was Lyndon Kane. Usually bringing in older players is frowned upon in FM, but his transfer has looked like a very good choice so far. The 34 year old has been an integral part of our squad in midfield, whilst also being a dead-ball specialist. Exactly a year after I handed in my contract at Llanidloes, my successor has been fired. After 7 points in the first three games they have been having a horror streak. They find themselves near a relegation battle now in 12th place. Sad to see. Warrenpoint Town - Donegal Celtic xG: 2.02 - 0.10; Shots: 22(6) - 2(0); Possession: 71% - 29% One goal was comfortable enough today as our defence left them without any chances. Right back Aaron Paul appeared on the edge of the box from his inverted wing back role, and scored with a well placed shot in the bottom right corner. Our next game is against Belfast Celtic. They are pretty high up the table too and in very good form. He will be out for a few games which isn't great as we don't really have any depth at left back. Belfast Celtic - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.35 - 2.32; Shots: 7(2) - 20(7); Possession: 30% - 70% An early Lyndon Kane corner turned out to be of big value for us here. Our opponent kept us in check pretty well after we had taken that early lead, though the red card naturally saw a flurry of chances follow. For a second game in a row a one goal margin felt pretty comfortable, and again it was Aaron Paul who took home the MOTM award. Limavady United - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.76 - 0.50; Shots: 7(2) - 8(3); Possession: 51% - 49% For the first time in a long while we were dominated for a long period of our match. We had no say in the game from the start which eventually led to the 1-0. We managed to peg them back quickly though as right winger Jack Kehoe finally contributed again. From there neither team got some real chances, although we did think we had snatched away the win for a moment in injury time, but the linesman had his flag raised. More than halfway through the season and things are looking very good for us. Wins against place 2-4 in the last month have given us a little bit of room for error too. Only Banbridge Town and Moyola Park remain looking as if they could stop us from winning the title. That's number two.

Good luck in your battle for the title then! Very impressive that you managed to get to the final of the Welsh Cup too. I only managed to get past the quarter final of any of the three cup once in my 8 seasons and that was the Tier 2 League Cup. I've personally decided that I will allow myself to sign all nationalities, although at this stage of the challenge that doesn't come into play too much.

November 2031 An interesting month with fixtures in all three cups. In the league Crewe United is our most difficult opponent. They are in 4th place only three points behind us at the moment. For the rest the Mid-Ulster Cup semi final is pretty exciting of course. St. Pat's Y.M. - Warrenpoint Town (Irish Cup) xG: 1.04 - 2.79; Shots: 7(4) - 23(6); Possession: 42% - 58% A semi-rotated side makes light work of amateur opposition. The best was saved for last, as Lyndon Kane set the final score at 5-1 with a beautiful free-kick. The last qualifying round has given us an away game to lower league opposition for the fourth time. That game will be played at the end of this month. Portstewart FC - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.66 - 2.37; Shots: 8(1) - 23(7); Possession: 46% - 54% That man Ben Magee just can't stop scoring! He got us a deserved lead on the brink of halftime, after which we forgot to score more. It lead to some squeaky bum time in the end, but our defence stood strong to keep the clean sheet. Our best man at the back today was left back Trevor McLaughlin. Next up the Mid-Ulster Cup semi final. It's only the second semi final for me in this save. We play Dollingstown who are fighting relegation in the 12 team Championship, currently being in 9th place. I feel like we have a pretty good chance of beating them to be honest. Dollingstown - Warrenpoint Town (Mid-Ulster Cup) xG: 2.69 - 3.64; Shots: 12(8) - 24(7); Possession: 42% - 58% Unbelievable... We get the short end of the stick as Dollingstown complete a crazy comeback. My first cup final seemed to be certain at halftime, after midfielders Josh Andrews and Lyndon Kane had put on a show together with 2 goal contributions each to build forward on the early lead that was thrown into our lap. An incredible first half in which they only got in one shot and we where already in the final. Complacency came into play again though, and even worse, personal mistakes. Goalkeeper Gareth Deane had a howler as he was responsible for two of their goals. Suddenly we found ourselves in extra time, and even there our fall continued. We even missed an open goal opportunity (0.68 xG) to at least get the game to penalties with the last kick. For the second time a semi final ends in heartbreak for me. Last time it was conceding an equaliser in the last minute of the game, this time, well... somehow a lot worse. Warrenpoint Town - Crewe United xG: 1.55 - 1.14; Shots: 12(6) - 7(4); Possession: 63% - 37% A closely fought battle at the top of the table. We're leading and looking good to increase the margin between us and 4th placed Crewe United to 6 points. Four minutes of extra time are given. Time is up, one last attack, it's a free kick. 20 meters away from goal, our wall 5 men strong. The shot is bad, straight into our wall, somehow it hits a leg and gets through though, goalkeeper misled by the changed ball trajectory and it trickles past him. 2-2. In a game where halftime looked to come without any chances, it was yet again Curtis Nimick's forehead that was found from a corner to put us in front instead. After escaping a precarious situation where Crewe hit the post two times from a scrimmage, we still conceded the equaliser minutes later. Immediately Gerard Black came in and directly he made things happen again winning us a penalty. The game ended undecided though, and now Banbridge have the chance to take over first place from us. Dundonald - Warrenpoint Town (Intermediate Cup) xG: 0.15 - 2.90; Shots: 4(2) - 28(12); Possession: 53% - 47% An easy win for a mostly second string side in this midweek cup game. Of course it was Gerard Black again who took home the MOTM award as he was involved in our first two goals. He restored our lead himself after we conceded a ridiculously good free kick. After that we finished of the game in the first half (although we have learnt to never be sure about that no matter the margin). One more cup game to finish the month against lower league opposition again. A win would bring us into the main draw of the Irish Cup. Glebe Rangers - Warrenpoint Town (Irish Cup) xG: 1.05 - 3.11; Shots: 5(1) - 28(8); Possession: 44% - 56% We've been strolling past all these amateur sides really. This time the tone was set early with Curtis Nimick heading home from yet another corner. He stands 1.99 meters tall and has 16 jumping reach, which has proven to a big weapon for us. In the first round proper we will meet mid table Championship side Institute at home. Not a bad draw given all the possible opponents to be honest. That late Crewe United equaliser has not only seen Banbridge Town pass us, but it also means there are still too many teams close to us for my liking. Next month is big though, as we meet both Banbridge and Moyola Park in our first two games.

Sounds good! I've generally been enjoying it too, although losing the league title on goals scored with Llanidloes did bring down my motivation for a bit. I hope you can have a more succesful time in Wales than I've had so far

October 2031 We start the month with a very exciting fixture in our regional cup. We will meet the side who are currently looking most likely to prevent Larne from winning a 9th league title in 10 years, as they are leading the Premiership. I'd think this match will at least be good for the finances. In the league we will meet the team in last place first, before playing against the current second place. Warrenpoint Town - Glenavon (Mid-Ulster Cup) xG: 1.00 - 1.98; Shots: 6(5) - 16(6); Possession: 62% - 38% Incredible! The best result of this save so far! There was definitely some luck involved but this is just amazing. Our corners have been great this year, with center back Curtis Nimick being the main finisher. He did that twice today to become the architect of this unlikely victory. Veteran Lyndon Kane showed the way from midfield today and had gotten both assists to have us 2-0 up at the break. The match had been quite even up until that point, and although we somehow added a third, the second half mostly consisted of them piling on the pressure. It was goalkeeper Colin Armstrong who had his first real standout performance with some good saves to keep Glenavon far away from us on the scoresheet. In the semi final we will travel to Dollingstown, who are currently low in the Championship table. There is a real chance of us making the final now! Dundela - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.15 - 2.42; Shots: 3(1) - 14(5); Possession: 25% - 75% An easy game against bottom of the table Dundela to get our third 3-0 win in a row! Captain Aodhan Doherty led the team as he provided two assists today, one of which from yet another corner. 4th placed PSNI up next as we look to extend our winning streak to 10 games. Warrenpoint Town - PSNI xG: 3.26 - 1.23; Shots: 25(13) - 7(3); Possession: 78% - 22% I can't believe we didn't win this... We were utterly dominant in the first half and didn't even allow a shot from them. Complacency crept into the team again though, and based on the second half it can't even be called that unfair a result. It seems like every time I start Gerard Black on the right wing he makes something happen. Today it was a tremendous shot curled into the left top corner from an odd 20 meters out. We had shot out of the starting gates and already missed a penalty too by then. Josh Andrews put it on a plate for our striker to double our lead and we looked to be cruising to yet another win. A loss of focus in the second half led to our first point loss at home instead. In the Irish Intermediate Cup we have somehow drawn Banbridge Town out of 127 possible opponents. We already played them in the first round of the Mid-Ulster Cup, and they are also our closest rivals in the league being level in points with us. Warrenpoint Town - Banbridge Town (Intermediate Cup) xG: 2,19 - 0.90; Shots: 21(5) - 11(0); Possession: 59% - 41% We beat Banbridge by three goals for the second time this season. Will be interesting to see how they handle those defeats in our league games against them. We started the game furiously again but forgot to score early on, after which the game quickly died down until halftime. We came out of the dressing room the same way we started the game though, and this time around it did result in goals. Our captain Aodhan Doherty was at his creative best today getting all three assists. The only bad news from this match. Back-up Gareth Deane came in for him in the 35th minute and kept a clean sheet. He didn't have to make any saves for it though, since Banbridge were unable to get their shots on target. It's safe to say now that I was an idiot for thinking I could get that crazy 4-1-4-1 tactic to work at the start of the season. We have looked so good since switching away from it with the highlight of course that 3-0 victory over Glenovan. Awards Second time for him already. 10 league goals now in 8 games.

September 2031 New month, new tactic. I've decided to make the change to a more conventional 4-3-3 counterpress system. Our opponents in the league have both decent starts but nothing special, so they should be beatable. In the Irish Cup we will play another lower league side, while we meet the team currently leading our division in the regional Mid-Ulster Cup. Warrenpoint Town - Banbridge Town (Mid-Ulster Cup) xG: 1.54 - 1.13; Shots: 17(8) - 12(6); Possession: 56% - 44% If I had to use one term to describe our season so far it would be 'deadly effective'. It's astonishing how high our chance conversion rate has been up to this point. It has also distracted attention from our underperforming defence, although they did look more solid today aside from giving away chances with personal mistakes. We were cruising early on as we quickly doubled an early lead when Gerard Black found Aodhan Doherty with a cross, after which a thunderous header followed. The former has now started three matches this season and got 7 goal contributions in those games. I'm starting to wonder why I even attracted another right winger. A Curtis Nimick mistake gave away our clean sheet and got them back into the match, but we held them of quite well after that. We have gotten another home draw for the quarter final, but that is the only positive thing about it as we meet what is probably the toughest opponent we could've had in Premiership side Glenavon. They won 3 of the last four editions of this cup. Bangor FC - Warrenpoint Town xG: 0.24 - 1.55; Shots: 4(1) - 12(4); Possession: 40% - 60% This game looked destined to end in stalemate for most of it, and I was gonna say that at least our defence finally came together. We did however try to go for the win at the end, after the second half hadn't produced a single shot from either side by the 80th minute. From then the game suddenly broke loose. It was young center back Jude Neill who became the matchwinner by heading home from a corner, mere minutes after Ben Magee had missed a golden opportunity to put us in front from the penalty spot. In the end some controversy surrounds Jack Kehoe, who came on off the bench and looked to have the referee on his hand. First he won the penalty with a clear dive, while the goal he scored looked to be about a meter offside. He won't complain though, as it was his first real contribution for the club. Warrenpoint Town - Queen's University Belfast xG: 3.24 - 1.11; Shots: 24(13) - 9(4); Possession: 66% - 34% Our sixth win in a row in all competitions sees us move into top spot. We did make it very difficult for ourselves, but it was Ben Magee who helped us get the win once again, as he was involved in all of our goals. Defensively we were still asleep when their goalkeeper played a goal kick long and suddenly we were one down early. We turned things around though with an utterly dominant performance on the field and got the lead eventually through a Josh Andrews shot from distance. A quick to goals kept the margin as it had been, before we almost gave it away again in injury time when our opponents let a massive chance go begging. Chimney Corner - Warrenpoint Town (Irish Cup) xG: 0.12 - 3.90; Shots: 1(0) - 30(7); Possession: 42% - 58% Lower league opposition brushed aside easily. Jack Kehoe must have felt like he was the only man on the pitch today given the space he got the make his dribbles. He only got denied a few assists by a miracle. The third qualifying round sees us travel to another lower tier side. Where we want to be, and definitely where we should be. Awards I predicted I'd win it soon and did just that.

August 2031 A new adventure starts here. The easiest game on the season on paper to get the season going, as we host the sky high favourites for relegation. The other league fixtures are against teams predicted mid table at least. Warrenpoint Town - Rathfriland Rangers xG: 1.95 - 1.24; Shots: 23(9) - 13(7); Possession: 67% - 33% Couldn't have asked for a better start! It didn't end up being the monsterscore I was secretly hoping for at halftime, but a very convincing win nonetheless. Gerard Black was our starting right winger as top earner Jack Kehoe was suspended for this first game. He showed that he can be valuable to the team immediately when he found the head of striker Ben Magee with his first cross. We quickly expanded our lead in the first half, with Black scoring the last one himself. Moyola Park - Warrenpoint Town xG: 3.38 - 1.72; Shots: 10(6) - 13(6); Possession: 69% - 31% A first loss already and we can only blame ourselves for it. They only had 4 chances all game, but it isn't unjustifiable that all of those went in, as together they accounted for 3.12 of their xG. We started the game very well actually, though we shot ourselves in the foot by giving away a penalty. Ben Magee then scored one of the best goals I've seen in this FM save, by dribbling into the box and putting it straight into the net of the top corner. They immediately took back the lead though, and we took a lot longer to equalise after that. It was the man with the beautiful name who came on as a second striker and scored within 4 minutes who got the scores back level. Sadly we gave the goals away late in similar fashion to how we did earlier in the game. Newtowne - Warrenpoint Town (Irish Cup) xG: 0.20 - 2.84; Shots: 2(1) - 20(14); Possession: 55% - 45% We get past lower league opposition without too much of a fuss in the first qualifying round. A brace for midfielder Odhran Casey to get him the man of the match. For the rest the most notable thing was newly arrived goalkeeper Colin Armstrong finding himself unable to save the only shot on target he faced today. Newington Youth - Warrenpoint Town xG: 1.21 - 2.83; Shots: 13(5) - 25(12); Possession: 48% - 52% We're providing a lot of entertainment, that's for sure! I keep having this problem that my teams just completely switch off after being a few goals up, although it doesn't usually lead to any real disasters in the end. We were looking dangerous from the start today and although our first couple of chances went begging, we kept our head cool and found the breakthrough eventually after a perfect cross from Aaron Paul. 13 minutes later and we had quadrupled our lead already. Captain Aodhan Doherty was the big man today with a brace and an assist, while the best goal came from right back Trevor McLaughlin with a 25 meter screamer. We made it hard on ourselves in the second half but did pull through in the end. Warrenpoint Town - Limavady United xG: 1.96 - 2.24; Shots: 17(9) - 15(6); Possession: 45% - 55% I don't know what it is we're doing but it certainly doesn't look like it has anything to do with football. Somehow we get another win with a defence that has now conceded 12 goals in their first four league matches. I need to start looking at a change of tactics already. After a little bit of a shaky start which could have seen us trailing, Gerard Black put us in front. He was back as a right winger as top earner Jack Kehoe has not been good enough there yet, and showed he can do a good job there today getting two assists as well. The title of MOTM went to striker Ben Magee though. He has had a sensational start to his time at the club scoring in his first 5 competitive fixtures now. Today he got us an injury time winner which got him a hattrick too after we had just given up a three goal lead in the last 10 minutes of the game. 9 points from our first three games can't be called a bad start, but something definitely needs to change. On paper there is a big gap in quality between our players and those of other teams, so we should make that clear in the matches too. Awards I'm sure I'll win one of these in the near future. Just an amazing first month by him. Transfers Another three players have joined the club. Colin Armstrong: a new first choice goalkeeper who has not had a fun time so far. 8 goals conceded in his first 3 matches. Andrejs Piedels: a versatile player who can play at rigth back as well as in midfield. He will get enough starts as he looks like a good first back-up in multiple positions. Lyndon Kane: plays in the same positions as Piedels, but is a direct reinforcement. He might even be the best player at the club. Quite an interesting player actually, as he is already 34 years old but has only played at one club before coming to us. He spent 17 seasons at mid table Premiership side Coleraine, where even last year he started in the majority of their matches.

Pre-season 31/32 A very different situation for me from when I was at Llanidloes, as I was dealt the task of bringing in an almost completely new squad. At Llanidloes the way I used to work was getting in 4/5 players who should be good enough for the starting XI so that I could slowly get the club to new heights, but here I was mostly on the lookout for any decent players at all times. After contracts expired, there were only 8/9 first team players left, which meant a lot of business immediately. I have already gotten more than 10 players in, but am still on the lookout for a few more as we don't have much depth yet especially in the more attacking areas. I have noticed that we do have a significantly larger wage budget compared to all other teams in our division. This means I have been able to bring in some top players who are probably too good for our rivals. It does also mean that we really should be winning the league and bounce straight back to the Championship. The way our friendlies went is a sign of how good we are. I was still very busy in the transfer market throughout July, but despite that we immediately turned up. Our only loss came against top tier Ballymena United and could've been an even better result for us. We also met the side that got the Intermediate League Championship last year in Dergview and completely outplayed them to go back home with a 3-0. We ended our pre-season with a match against our big rivals Newry City, who are one of the better Championship sides, and got a draw there too despite being three goals down within half an hour. Finances Unlike the way I went around at Llanidloes, I did decide to make a lot of use of the wage budget here. This is partly due to the fact that a lot of the players I was looking at as reinforcements where asking for salaries in excess of €7k. To be honest, I didn't really realise how this budget compared to other teams in the division, but after just looking at it I see how ridiculous it is. The other big spenders are all in the €60k-€70k range, so we are spending double as much. The healthy bank balance is the big reason I haven't really tried to keep the spending down. If I am correct that big spike came because of an unlikely cup run in the otherwise horrible season for the club. They reached the Irish Cup semi final where they played in front of 10,000 at a neutral venue. Squad Just the two goalkeepers currently. Paul Moore is a big talent who came from AFC Wimbledon and got on my radar as he was apparently at the club before he came through the youth intakes. He will be the first choice if no other goalkeeper comes. Defence is where we have most depth already. I often have a hard time getting in some good backs, but that was not the case this time, as Aaron Paul and Trevor McLaughlin were the first two players that came into the squad. They will be rushing the flanks. In central defence Matthew Carmichael is a good left footed option next to big talen Jude Neill who was at the club already. The only position I might actively look to strenghten here is right back as there isn't much depth there yet. Not a lot of midfielders yet, but I am very happy about Odhran Casey as a more defensive option. Especially because he has agreed to a salary that isn't that high for his ability. Josh Andrews the other player I got in here. We could still use some more players in attack too. On the right side big talent Jack Kehoe has come in as our top earner, so hopefully he will live up to expectations. Ben Magee looks like a useful striker, while captain Aodhan Doherty is first choice on the left wing. Important players Aaron Paul: A young right back who is very good allround. I have high expectations of him. Matthew Carmichael: Not the tallest of players but at the moment I still prefer him to play as a central defender. Odhran Casey: Defensive midfielder with some experience under his belt. Jack Kehoe: Young winger with a lot of potential. Already our top earner, though I don't think he is the best player in the squad just yet. Ben Magee: My main striker. Also a bit more experienced and he has scored 10 goals in his past 5 seasons in the Championship, which is a tier higher than we play now. Tactic This is a little bit of a crazy tactic I came up with in pre-season when not a lot of players where at the club yet. A very defensive formation with some attacking minded players and most notably some very high wing backs. Somehow it worked very well in our friendlies though, so I'll give it a try in the league too. I do suspect we might switch to something else quickly though. Media prediction It's clear that we should win the league. A 14 team league so only 26 matches. Board expectation They are quite mild with only second place necessary. In the Irish Cup they expect us to get through four qualifying rounds while they want us to survive one round in the other cups. For some reason we are one of only two teams from our division that don't play in the NIFL League Cup, but I won't worry too much about that.

Job hunt After leaving Llanidloes halfway through the season in December, I decided not to look for a new job immediately. I didn't feel like joining a club halfway through the season, and I also felt like it would be quite realistic for a manager to take some time of after 7.5 years at a club. So instead I holidayed to the end of the 2030/31 season to find a club in need of a new manager. I've seen enough of the Welsh Leagues for now so I thought I'd look in the other playable leagues with low reputations. The two lowest besides the Cymru North/South were the Vanarama North/South and the Northern Irish Premier Intermediate League. As I didn't really feel like going to England just yet, I decided to focus on the latter. A perfect opportunity arose when the team relegated from the second tier decided to sack their manager. I applied for the job at Warrenpoint Town FC, became the leading candidate and eventually got appointed. The club Warrenpoint Town FC was established in 1987. The club is based in Warrenpoint, a town populated by around 9000 that lies close to the somewhat bigger town of Newry. Warrenpoint sits at the head of the Carlingford Lough, which is a fjord in the southeast of the country, next to where the Newry river flows into the inlet. At that same point the river also forms the border to Ireland, where Dundalk is not for away on the other side. After its founding, 'The Point' spent 23 years in the regional leagues, before finally being elected for promotion to the third tier after winning the Mid Ulster Football League for the third time in ten years in 2009/10. The club quickly rose to new heights from there, as they immediately won their division losing only one game in the process. After a year of adapting to the NIFL Championship where they fought against relegation, 'The Point' finished runners up in their second season and won the promotion play-offs to get them to the NIFL Premiership. So after 3 promotions in 4 years the club suddenly found themselves back in the top tier of Northern Irish football. After 3 seasons of fighting relegation the inevitable happened, but a championship in the next season meant the start of a second spell at the highest level from the 2017/18 season onwards. This time it took five seasons of playing at the lower end of the table before relegation finally happened again in 2021/22. In total 'The Point' played 8 seasons in the 12 team top flight, but they never managed any high positions (3x 10th, 3x 11th, 2x 12th). They did manage to win the Mid Ulster Cup twice in this time (2017 and 2022). In 2022/23 the club ended 2nd in the Championship and were set to play in the promotion play-offs, but instead they got relegated due to licencing issues. So at the start of this save game the club found itself back in the third tier, the Premier Intermediate League. They initially had a very good time though, winning the division and coming 5th in the 12 team Championship the following season. In 2025/26 they even ended in 2nd and only lost out on promotion to the Premiership by losing the play-offs 3-2 on aggregate. Another top half finish was reached in the next year, after which a decline started. The next few seasons the club ended in 9th, 9th and 10th respectively. Last season went even worse, as the media prediction of 7th proved far too high, with the club only winning 5 of their 38 league games and getting relegated in last place. The project After 6 years in the Championship the club now find themselves back where they started the save. The season update has not yet happened, but I suspect that we will be favourites for promotion. It's a perfect opportunity for me to finally win my first trophy. A lot still needs to happen before the season starts though, as most players have expiring contracts and don't want to stay at the club. It's going to take a lot of summer transfer window work. The good news is that financially the club has a very healthy balance, which was boosted last season by a famous Irish Cup run where the semi final was reached.

December 2030 No easy games this month. Holyhead - Llanidloes xG: 1.64 - 1.14; Shots: 14(5) - 6(3); Possession: 47% - 53% Awful again. We drop down to 5th place. You know what, I'm actually done here. I'm not going to struggle through another half a season just to lose a cup game. I might try and go back to Llanidloes later in the save, but I just can't go on like this. The lack of progress is what deflated me. Four 2nd places in five years. Especially giving the title away on the last matchday last season was a big blow.

November 2030 After winning 8 games in a row in all competitions, we got put with both feet back on the ground at the end of October, as we were dealt two home losses in a row. Especially the 5-0 humiliation against Aberystwyth is one that we will have in our mind for a while. There is no option to think about it for too long though, as we need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible again. Prestatyn Town is a team we should beat, while Caernarfon might be a tougher fixture. In the cups both games could go either way. Prestatyn Town - Llanidloes xG: 1.46 - 1.33; Shots: 9(4) - 12(4); Possession: 45% - 55% After that last match I hoped we would be focussed in this one. However, it only took them 16 seconds to create a huge chance and they finished it well too. A perfect Chris Owen assist got us a quick equaliser and we were much better in the rest of the first half. We couldn't keep that going after the break though, when neither team created a lot. In the end a draw was a fair result here. Afan Lido at home in the Welsh Cup now. It's definitely not an easy game in our current form Llanidloes - Afan Lido (Welsh Cup) xG: 0.36 - 2.11; Shots: 4(2) - 13(5); Possession: 53% - 47% This is a game we can lose, but the way in which we did is unacceptable. I just don't understand how after one loss, a team winning game after game can turn into a team that is too scared to look their opponents in the eye. We did get a good start thanks to a perfect through ball from Jack Preece-Davies. For some time after that we looked in control, but that changed quickly just before the break when they could have taken the lead already, missing a big chance shortly after the equaliser. Everything went south defensively in the second half and we only mustered one shot in there as well. Llanidloes - Caernarfon xG: 0.76 - 1.37; Shots: 8(2) - 9(4); Possession: 59% - 41% Deflated. Just giving away the whole season in a few games again. I started in the 5-3-2 and thought we were actually the better team in the first 30 minutes. Darren Williams should have put us 1-0 up, but instead some bad luck saw us two down, which even became three. The worst thing is that all teams above us have been losing points. Had we won our two games this month, we would only be two points away from first place. I am seriously thinking about resigning at the moment. We have almost certainly given the league away again, so the only thing to play for now is the Tier 2 League Cup. If we lose in the quarter finals against Holyhead next game I will probably hand in my contract. Holyhead - Llanidloes (Tier 2 League Cup) xG: 1.45 - 0.56; Shots: 11(4) - 8(3); Possession: 47% - 53% Acquiescence and relief is what I felt during this game. I felt it when we were completely outplayed in the first half and when they eventually took the lead. I also felt it when they scored a 94th minute winner, before I knew that it would be ruled offside. The last time I felt it was when Daniel Ola was the first to miss in the penalty shootout with only two more penalties to go. The game ends in mixed feelings. I had already given up on Llanidloes, and now I feel like I have to stay for this cup at least. Some weird kind of disappointment is what I feel. Produced by their keeper gifting us the equaliser, and by Louis Valere once again turning out as a penalty killer deluxe. 12 league games now before we play the semi final against Llandudno. I expect us to have an anonymous rest of the league season before crashing out in that same semi final. The least I can do is try though, right? Wins in our league games and we would have been right up there. Now it is a necessity to not lose our next match against Holyhead, as that would make the rest of our league campaign a painful road.

October 2030 Similar to last month, we have more cup than league games in October. Both league games are very winnable as they are against opponents lower down the table. The cup draws are a lot harder, with us meeting two Cymru Premier sides as well as one of the best sides we could have drawn in the Tier 2 League Cup. Caersws - Llanidloes xG: 2.02 - 2.03; Shots: 12(4) - 12(6); Possession: 43% - 57% We blew them away in the first half! It's a shame that we stopped doing anything again after a big lead, because that has brought us into trouble multiple times this season already. All in all though, it was an untroubled win. Aaron Baker has been a sensational signing really, and his third brace in a row put us in front twice early on. Someone who is giving early signs of being just as good a transfer is Darren Williams with 5 goals in his first four games now. Welsh Cup second round up next. We meet Holywell, who were promoted from our division 5 seasons ago after scoring a late goal against us on the last matchday. We have not beaten them in any of our previous five meetings. They have had a horrible start to the season though, with only 1 point in their 11 Cymru Premier games. Based on that, I might even say we are the favourites for this one. Holywell - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup) xG: 0.86 - 3.58; Shots: 8(1) - 25(10); Possession: 34% - 66% What. A. Game. We completely outplayed them in their own backyard. It could've been 5-0 at the break. Just an incredible match by us, one of the best under my reign definitely. We needed a penalty for the first goal, but should've been up already by then. After Daniel Ola had doubled our lead, we never looked in doubt again either. Simply amazing. In the third round we will host Cymru South title favourites Afan Lido. Just dropping this here. Aaron Baker is amazing. Bala Town - Llanidloes (Tier 2 League Cup) xG: 0.47 - 1.33; Shots: 4(3) - 12(5); Possession: 36% - 64% We just keep on going and get one over Bala Town this time! A convincing win as we played very well allround. A solid defence laid the foundation today, with Aaron Baker keeping his superb form going with two decisive assists. Jesse Ayoola has shown to be a weapon through the air so far, having already scored 3 goals for us now. No easy draws in this competition for us as we meet our league's leaders Holyhead in the quarter final. Two more games this month, with the League Cup quarter final coming up first. Our opposition Colwyn Bay are in the top half of the Cymru Premier and have qualified for European football in the past two seasons. It will be a tough ask, but we have provided surprises before of course. This is some bad news... We don't have a lot of depth there either. Llanidloes - Colwyn Bay (League Cup) xG: 1.02 - 2.35; Shots: 4(1) - 13(6); Possession: 52% - 48% There is no shame in admitting that Colwyn Bay were just a lot better than us. It means the League Cup is the first competition we go out of this year. We somehow managed to take the lead, as we scored our only shot in the first half with it being Matthew Dennis' first goal of the season. They just completely outplayed us all the way through though, and they got their deserved semi final spot in the end. Another important player injured for quite some time... He had to leave the pitch 15 minutes before the end just after I made our final substitution, which meant Jack Preece-Davies had to put on the gloves at the end. Llanidloes - Aberystwyth Town xG: 0.52 - 3.44; Shots: 7(2) - 14(7); Possession: 42% - 58% Oh no... This was awful. Biggest loss of the save and that too at a time where we seemed to be smooth sailing for the most part. I can't really comprehend how this happened. Back-up goalkeeper Dylan Shanahan had a howler of a game, but even if he hadn't, we would still have lost it. Truthfully, I did feel hard done by at the break, as they had to thank the referee for at least two of their goals. Their first was a clear 2 meters offside, while the second goal came from a penalty given after a clean tackle. To make matters worse, their third goal was 50/50 for offside too. But to be honest we only have ourselves to blame, as we let everything happen and didn't manage anything in attack. We had gotten the gap to first place back to 4 points, but with that disasterclass against Aberystwyth it is up to 7 points now. We still have Holyhead to play twice though, so everything can happen still. That last match wasn't great for our goal difference either of course.

September 2030 Knock-out games everywhere before we go back to the league. Lots of home games too, so a good opportunity to get through in at least 2 of the cups. In the league we need to get wins to stay near the first place. Llanidloes - Guilsfield (Tier 2 League Cup) xG: 1.51 - 0.66; Shots: 12(5) - 9(3); Possession: 58% - 42% A fairly easy win gets us through to the next round. We gave them a few chances too many to my liking, but that was only after we had taken a comfortbale lead. Jesse Ayoola scored his first goal for the club when the ball ended up on his head from a corner. We will play Bala Town away in the next round, so an early chance for revenge after our league loss. Llanidloes - Llanfair (Welsh Cup) xG: 3.60 - 0.37; Shots: 20(10) - 6(2); Possession: 53% - 47% As expected, a non-league side proves less of a challenge. No trouble for us winning this one, as new striker Darren Williams became man of the match with a brace on debut. We have a third cup fixture in a row coming up now against Haverfordwest. A win would put us in the quarter final of the League Cup. Llanidloes - Haverfordwest (League Cup) xG: 0.92 - 0.80; Shots: 8(1) - 14(4); Possession: 51% - 49% We manage another famous cup win over Haverfordwest. The third time we knock them out in 4 meetings in the past 6 years. Another penalty shootout meant another chance for Louis Valere to become the hero and he did just that. This time around he only needed one save as we took our penalties well. When they scored mere minutes into the match I thought back of our last meeting, when we got humiliated being 5-0 behind at the break. We bounced back well this time though, and got the equaliser after some good counter-press and anticipation from our attackers. We only gave up one more big chance after that and deserved to get it to penalties. Back to the league now. Morale is high so let's keep it that way! Llanidloes - Ruthin xG: 2.24 - 0.34; Shots: 19(12) - 4(2); Possession: 57% - 43% A great month so far! We got off to the best of starts thanks to Joel Hart who banged in a free kick from 30 meters out. It was a prelude for what was to come from him, as everything he touched turned into gold. After Ruthin had been reduced to 10 men Hart almost repeated his first minute heroics and it was his assist that doubled our lead. He assisted the only player that might have been better than him so far this season, as Aaron Baker got his seasonal tally up to 9 already. Hay St. Marys - Llanidloes xG: 1.93 - 1.90; Shots: 11(1) - 18(10); Possession: 41% - 59% A perfect month even! This time he played as a central midfielder, but Aaron Baker didn't let that stop him from deciding the match within 15 minutes. Another player that performed well here was John Foster, who got his 5th assist of the season from left back today. We are lucky to get the clean sheet as we completely fell apart in the second half and were only saved by the fact that they had a hard time hitting the target. Holyhead are still winning which means we are still 6 points behind them. We did move up a spot as we have taken over Bala Town again. Awards Could have been anyone of us. Could have been Aaron Baker just as well with nothing to really separate them. He is currently the league's top scorer with 9 goals. Dominating here after those two big league wins.

August 2030 A very busy month now. The game against Bala Town could be a big one, but we do need some league wins before that. Those 5 games are all very winnable, and should probably yield at least 10 points if we want to go for the title. We meet Cymru South Ammanford in the League Cup. We met them twice before in the cups and don't have good memories of those games, as we lost both with the last kick of the game. Llanidloes - Ammanford (League Cup) xG: 2.96 - 1.04; Shots: 24(9) - 8(4); Possession: 56% - 44% I was getting ready to give this team a lot of compliments, but then they decided to let 10 men score twice against them. Our defence has been a problem so far this season. Their goals didn't hurt us, as we had been simply phenomenal before that. Sam Michael just keeps surprising me as he got two more goal contributions, with the second leading to Daniel Ola scoring his third goal of the season already after being unlucky to hit the post twice earlier in the game. In the end we were still much better and fully deserved our first outright victory of the season here. We go to the last 16 where we will host top tier Haverfordwest. Llanidloes - Gresford xG: 2.69 - 1.21; Shots: 21(8) - 7(3); Possession: 58% - 42% This time we are the team to get the late goal! We deserved it too and get our first league win of the season with it. We were trotting along nicely early on, but it was Gresford who created their only big opportunity of the game and capitalised immediately in the 28th minute. We were dazzled for a little bit after that. After the break we dominated again and eventually got the equaliser through a penalty. We kept on piling the pressure and after they were reduced to 10 men we finally got the winner through Sam Michael once more. Guilsfield - Llanidloes xG: 0.92 - 0.90; Shots: 7(3) - 10(5); Possession: 42% - 58% Another win and a clean sheet for the first time this season too! Great result in a difficult away game. There was not much happening in the first half, but we did take the lead shortly into the second half. Ben Davies crossed it to left winger Jack Preece-Davies, who controlled the ball and calmly put it past the goalkeeper. We kept Guilsfield at bay for most of the match, but after the 80th they suddenly started having some opportunities and we needed goalkeeper Louis Valere to make some saves. Llanidloes - Flint Town xG: 3.95 - 0.26; Shots: 30(11) - 2(1); Possession: 53% - 47% Simply amazing. Could just as well have ended in 6-0 as we gave Flint Town a horrible evening. I was a bit worried that our inability to get a second goal would come back to bite us, but we were so strong defensively too that we didn't even give up a shot in the second half. Sam Michael is already the best player from the own academy we've had since my appointment at the club and he only made his debut a few months ago. It is absolutely ridiculous how he is performing. Our best player in this match was left back John Foster, who created 6 clear cut chances. He was very unlucky to not even get one assist, and it is probably Matthew Dennis who should be blamed the most for that. The striker has had a difficult start to the season and is still searching for his first goal. We've started getting wins this month and it would be nice if we could continue this form. Next match we will travel to Mumbles, who have had an unexpectedly good start to the season with 4 wins from 5. Mumbles - Llanidloes xG: 1.87 - 1.17; Shots: 18(9) - 7(3); Possession: 37% - 63% That was quite awful really. Very lucky to come away with a point from that match. We were completely outplayed in the first half. Luckily we were very effective as we only needed one good attack to get a goal, with Daniel Ola putting it on a plate for Aaron Baker. We switched to a 5-3-2 after the break to get more grip on the game and that worked well, although we still gave away one more big chance. Llanidloes - Denbigh xG: 3.34 - 1.53; Shots: 18(10) - 10(6); Possession: 60% - 40% Wow! What a spectacle! To be honest I am quite annoyed about the fact that we conceded 3 against the team in last place, but I have nothing to complain about our attacking performance at least. With a 4-0 lead at the break, it might look like we put on a show in the first half. The truth is different however, as we actually didn't create too much there, but somehow managed to score each of our first four shot. Giving away 3 goals after that is just inexcusable, but some late goals from our side still made it a comprehensive victory in the end. No rest for us as we travel to Bala Town in a few days. At the start of the month I said this could be a big game if we managed to get some wins before that and this is exactly what happened. We are level with them both in points and in goal difference. Ouch.. He had to be subbed of in the first half which denied him the chance at a hattrick. He already had an assist too at that point. He is somehow the league's top scorer currently playing from central midfield. Unreal by the youngster. Bala Town - Llanidloes xG: 0.93 - 1.10; Shots: 4(3) - 11(2); Possession: 36% - 64% First loss of the season and it was not necessary at all. We were very good defensively giving nothing away, but the penalty ruined the clean sheet for us. On the attacking side we should have scored at least one. Our biggest chance came in the dying seconds of the game, but Neil Millette headed over the goal from a few meters away. Good results this month, but that last defeat leaves a bit of bad aftertaste. 6 points of top already now. Awards Our two top goal scores so far. Both have 5 league goals. Transfers One more player has joined the club. Jesse Ayoola is a real improvement for us at the back. He arrived at the start of the month and helped us stop conceding as much as we did early on.

July 2030 We play the same opponent in the League Cup as last year in the first round! That time around didn't go so well, and we didn't beat Blaenavon Blues in our other two fixtures either, so an immediate test for us. Things don't get much easier in the league as we play recently relegated Llandudno first, before traveling to our bogey team Porthmadog. Blaenavon Blues - Llanidloes (League Cup) xG: 1.27 - 0.82; Shots: 12(5) - 13(5); Possession: 56% - 44% Not the way I hoped it would go, but we do get through as Louis Valere once again shows how much of a penalty killer he is stopping for in a penalty shootout where we had some very bad misses too. We conceded early on but pegged them back with Aaron Baker getting his first goal for the club immediately, continuing his good pre-season form. The best man on the pitch was playmaker Joel Hart and he helped us get the lead with an assist too. It looked like we would be the team going through after that, but a late goal made it that we needed penalties for it. Llanidloes - Llandudno xG: 1.09 - 1.01; Shots: 11(8) - 8(3); Possession: 54% - 46% It's a shame we concede the 2-2 in the 89th minute for the second time in a row, as we played a very good game. For the first time we started in our 5-3-2 and it really helped us restrict Llandudno's attack to just a few chances. It was Aaron Baker again who scored our first goal of the match, this time playing as a striker. They got the scores back level through a corner and were the better team for a while after that. Momentum slowly shifted back to us though, and it was Sam Michael who seemed to give us the win. The game ended in disappointment though, as we passed the ball to them for no reason at all to give them the equaliser. Not a bad result against one of the favourites for promotion, but given the way the match went I feel like we should have gotten the win. It's also the first time in 6 seasons that we don't start the league season with 3 points. Porthmadog - Llanidloes xG: 1.73 - 2.24; Shots: 12(5) - 12(6); Possession: 41% - 59% How is this possible! Three times in a row we concede a 2-2 at the death, while it is the second time that it came after we thought to have scored a late winner. Our first half wasn't great, and things almost got worse shortly after the break when Porthmadog missed a huge opportunity to double their lead. Luckily we got ourselves together and were very dominant in the rest of the match, with Daniel Ola and Chris Owen chipping in from the bench with a goal and an assist respectively. A first league win looked certain, but complacency got the better of us again. Could've been 6 points, should've been 4.

Pre-season 30/31 In the last 5 seasons we have been runners-up four times. We made the jump from relegation candidates to title challengers fairly quickly, but it has stayed at that for far too long now. Of course things could have just as well gone our way last season with that dramatic last matchday. However, our problem has been that we can't make the step from a good team at the top to a dominant team. We just keep getting around 60 points, while there have regularly been teams getting the title in our league with closer to 70 points. I promised to stay until we win the title, but my patience is slowly running out. Although we have not had a single summer transfer window with a complete squad overhaul, I do feel like we have managed to get a better squad every season with a few very good newcomers. That does however make it more striking that we haven't been able to get better on the pitch. This transfer window hasn't been any different so far, although I do once again feel like we are very capable of getting that championship. I'm happy with how our friendlies went. First up we had got an easy win against a non-league side, before we hosted three top tier teams in a week, including Conwy who we lost the title to on goals scored last season. Two good draws in matches where we arguably were the better team in both, after which we had an expected result against TNS. I was espescially pleased with the performances of attacking reinforcement Aaron Baker, who showed he can be a crucial player this season. Finances More of the same here with the wage budget being a little bit higher again, with us still not making full use of it. Over the years the spending on wages has increased slowly though. I've not necessarily started handing out bigger contracts, but I have given more players relatively high salaries. The biggest news of our pre-season comes here. After a few years of rumours and two temporary transfer embargos in the past year, we have finally had a takeover. The new board immediately took out a €100k loan to get us out of debt, although the balance has turned red again already. Transfers 5 players in so far, one of which does not show up on the above as he already joined the club in June. First the notable outs though, with two very interesting ones: Billy Osborn: The first real long term player that leaves the club. He actually just pipped Ben Davies for most club appearances by a squad member after last season with 166 league matches. I have let him go on a free after 6 seasons though. After being an important player in his first 4 years at the club, and even the best player at the club in his fourth year, he gradually started getting less playing time in the last two seasons, with only four league starts last year. He has been a great servant of the club. Wayne Staines: Another long time servant leaving the club on a free transfer. The right back came in at 17 years old halfway through my first season, and was immediately one of our best players back then. But through the years our squad improved, while he didn't as much. He slowly became more and more of a rotation player, and now the time has come for him to continue his career elsewhere. 151 league appearances for him. Danny Williams: After two good seasons as our starting left back he got passed by John Foster last year. He did well for us though. Abraham Odoh: He came in last summer as a rotation winger and started around half of our games in the end. Was a good member of our squad in the title race, but was asking for too much money for his ability. Kai Ludvigsen: Another player that came in last year. He never really convinced me at center back, so I decided to let him go after just one season. And now on to the fun part! The 5 newcomers: Makai Welch: A very decent defensive midfielder with some experience as well. 24 years old he has been under contract at Leyton Orient for his whole career before, where he made 44 appearances in the Football League over the years, though most of them came of the bench. Had a few good loan spells in the Vanarama Regional Leagues as well. Jack Preece-Davies: A very well-rounded and versatile player, which is always nice to have. He comes from Gap Connah's Quay, where he made 80 Cymru Premier appearances in total. Was one of their biggest talents and even was a regular starter for some time, but he couldn't fulfill his potential there. Aaron Baker: another very versatile player, although I mostly see him as a right winger. He played very well in pre-season, and is probably the one I am most excited about. Josh Beecher: a player who can rush the right flank. Pleased to get this wing back in as I have been looking at a 5-3-2 formation for games against better opponents. He fits in perfectly for that. Zack Ali: a nice back-up at center-back. Not great mentally, but he definitely has some good defensive qualities. I'm already quite happy with the squad now, although I won't pass on a player if I think he would be a good fit for us. Squad Louis Valere still the obvious first-choice here, though he will miss some games due to international duties. The star ratings look a bit underwhelming here at the moment, but I actually think we have got some quality players here. Maxwell Edwards and David Roberts showed to be a good duo at the back towards the end of the previous season. Ben Davies can join them when we play with three center backs, while also being able to compete for a spot with John Foster and Josh Beecher at both sides of defence. Some younger players in there too, although a few might be demoted back to the under 19's. Midfield is where we are at our best right now. A good mix of quality and talent there. Joel Hart has been amazing for us last season as a playmaker, and I hope Makai Welch can be the one to relieve him of some defensive work. The third position is up for grabs, although youngster Sam Michael was very impressive there at the end of the last season. Our attack will probably see a lot of different combinations this season, with all the versatility there. Matthew Dennis took a long time to renew his contract, but I am very happy he did so in the end. Season preview We really missed an opportunity last season as there where no teams that came down that year. This season there are two again, with Bala Town the big favourites once more. We are one of only 4 teams that have been in the Cymru North from the start of this save together with Guilsfield, Porthmadog and Gresford.

Season review 29/30 You can't come much closer without winning the league than we did this season. I really feel deflated after having lost the title on that final day. We had our faith in our own hands but couldn't deliver, while Conwy did exactly enough. Looking at the points we accumulated, we actually had the second worst amount for us in the last 5 seasons. It mostly had to do with us losing to many points due to inconsistency in the middle part of the season. Also, our problem kind of lies the fact that in those last 5 years our worst points total has been 54, and our best 64. This shows that after our fast rise from relegation candidates to title challengers, we haven't been able to make real improvements. In the last two seasons moaned about the fact that there was one time that was clearly better than the rest of the league. This season I did get the competitive league I had hoped for, but didn't make use of it well enough. I fear that the league will get stronger again next season, as this year we were lucky not to get any from the relegated teams in our division. Maybe we should just step up ourselves as the dominant team now. Competitions We had a very good start to the season with 4 straight wins to get us top of the table. Gresford got us of cloud 9 when they dealt us our first defeat, but a good draw and another win saw us back on top after matchday 7. It was then that inconsistency kicked in. In the nest 11 matches we won 4, drew 3 and lost 4. Only once did we get back-to-back wins in that streak of results. We did go top once more after beating Conwy, but again gave that place away immediately again. Some bad luck was also involved in that streak, as we didn't get what we deserved in some matches, while also being the victim of late goals on numerous occasions. On matchday 18, in early January, we lost at home for the only time this season against Holyhead. After this loss we were 8 points behind league leaders Conwy, and our title hopes were slowly fading away. From then on we started winning again though, with 5 wins on the bounce. When Conwy then started dropping a lot of points in March we were suddenly level with them on points at the end of that month. Well, the rest is history. In a season like this you can literally point at every goal against and every chance missed as the difference maker. One match I really think we gave it away in though, was that against Baglan Dragons on matchday 27. 3 points behind Conwy at the time, who went on to lose a day later, we knew that there was a very realistic possibility of the title being decided on goal difference. We were 4-0 up at halftime, but gave away 2 goals in the second half, one of them in injury time. To me it feels like those goals were the difference. The furthest we have ever gotten in the Welsh Cup, though I can't say we had a special run really. Thrice we played non-league opponents and we knocked all of them out without too much trouble. The other two games were against good teams in our tier and twice it came down to penalties. To be honest, we were the better team in both of those games, although we were the ones needing a late goal to even get it to a penalty shootout against Pontypridd. In the end I am mostly happy about the money we got from this run. This game was just awful. 3-0 down at halftime in our season opener. It was a warning by Blaenavon Blues for the rest of the season as well. As we only managed a draw at home in the league, and they were the only team that beat us in our last 12 games. Similar to the League Cup game we were three goals behind at halftime. We had a good run in this cup last year for the first time, but this time around all went back to business as usual. Squad Louis Valere: I've been real happy with him as our goalkeeper. He did have little bit of a tough start, but after that proved himself to be a solid player to rely on. Also, he has shown to be a real penalty killer. Ben Davies: Led the team as our captain again this season, and performed very well from his right back position. Scored some crucial goals too. David Roberts and Maxwell Edwards: I did expect a little bit more from the both of them. They had good matches, but also too many bad ones. They need to become more consistent. John Foster: One of the best transfers from last year. After battling for the starting left back spot with Danny Williams early in the season, he eventually found some very good form and showed to be a real improvement in his position. Neil Millette: He honestly wasn't great as our defensive midfielder. Joel Hart: Our best player for me. In games we lost he was often our best player on the pitch, really someone that can carry the rest of the team on his back. Sam Michael: A little bit surprised that he has made this team over Sonny Lewis due to him only breaking into the first team squad in the second half of the season. Still well deserved though, as he scored some very important goals for us. He also developed well in recent months. Chris Owen: Didn't score nearly as much as last year, but he has shown that he isn't a one season wonder. Abraham Odoh: Was a good regular starter for us, but will be leaving as he wants too much money. Matthew Dennis: One goal too little to become the league's top scorer, but a good season by him. Not sure if he will be back next year either though due to his wage demands. Awards Next season Budgets stay around the same. I am actually looking to get the wage budget down though, as we are still slowly leaking money. Every year I feel like I've gotten the average ability in the squad a little higher, but still our performances haven't really improved in recent years. I need to really take my time for transfers this year, as to get a squad that should win the title. Progress

Championship? So this is what it all comes down to. One more match. We have been in a title fight up until the last matchday one time before. That was two years ago. That time was different though, as we needed to rely on another result, which did not go our way. This time around we are the team leading the way. These are the different scenarios: Win - The best option for us of course. No relying on other teams, just get the championship by using our own ability. Draw - Here it gets a little more complicated. If Conwy lose or draw, we will still be crowned champions. If they win by one goal we will get the title too on goal difference. In the case of a two or more goal margin for Conwy they will end up on top though. Lose - Not preferrable, but if we do we will still ge the title if Conwy lose or draw. A title win would mean this would be the last game of my current period as a Llanidloes manager. I really hope it will be. Aberystwyth Town - Llanidloes (Matchday 30) We travel to 4th place in the table for our final push towards the championship. Definitely not an easy game, especially as we have not liked our awaydays this season, with only 6 wins from 14. We will need to keep a grip on our nerves and be at our best to get a result here today. In our home game against them earlier this season we were left in disbelief, as we gave away a 2-0 lead by conceding an injury time equaliser. Conwy have an easier fixture and at home too. Not a walkover for them by any means though. Porthmadog are a good team but have been just a tad too inconsistent this season. They are in 7th place. We are playing with the exact same starting XI as in our last league match against Guilsfield. Maxwell Edwards playing as a defensive midfielder means Neil Millette starts on the bench, while Kai Ludvigsen is one of our two central defenders. For the rest the most notable thing is Abraham Odoh being back in the matchday squad. I thought his season was over after his injury, but have been told he can play 45 minutes today. Kick-off Goal alert - There has been an early goal at Y Morfa and it's in our favour! Porthmadog have taken the lead against Conwy. 21:04 - A corner for Aberystwyth is headed away by us. It comes to them end eventually gets to one of their players an odd 20 meters away from our goal. He goes for glory and strikes the ball very well! He hits the post. Phew... We have started this match nervously and are yet to get in a shot. 25:34 - A free kick for them this time on the right wing. We get it away from our goal and they build up again from the halfway line. A ball over the top towards the right side of our penalty area drops down just before our goalline and it's one of their attackers who gets to it first. He immediately crosses it and perfectly finds their striker's forehead. It's an easy header, we're 1-0 down. Goal alert - More bad news as I get back to the dugout. Conwy have just equalised too. 28:46 - They have another set piece. It's a corner again, and again we head it clear. It does come to one of their players on the edge of our box once again too, he hits it. Outside of the post! Aberystwyth Town are all over us at the moment. 35' - We have not been dangerous at all so far. I've decided to make some small changes so we will press a little bit more. Goal alert - It's a horrible 15 minutes for us. The news of Conwy taking the lead has just come in. They are now the virtual champions! 40:47 - A goal kick for Aberystwyth Town and after some buildup Maxwell Edwards puts in a very good tackle around the halfway line to win the ball. We move it to Chris Owen on the right, who makes a short run with it before he crosses it into the box. There it is Daniel Ola rising up high above everyone else and he gets his head against the ball! Outside of the post! We hit the woodwork this time. 41:46 - Straight into another highlight with their goal kick again. Some slower passing play gets them over the halfway line, but this time it's Ben Davies who intercepts. Now we move the ball up the field. Joel Hart plays a high pass over 25 meters to Daniel Ola, who now has it on the left wing just outside their penalt box. He dribbles inside and looks to be in a good position to play a short pass to the center. He opts for the shot from a tight angle though. It's in! Ola surprises their goalkeeper with a shot just past the near post. We are back on top of the table! Halftime - We had a hard time in the first half an hour before finally getting into our groove a little bit after that. Neither team had a lot of chances. All to play for still in the second half. Currently we are in front of Conwy by just one goal. 46:32 - A throw in for us on the right wing. Some quick passing play leads to a small chance with a header for Matthew Dennis. Just over the goal. Goal alert - Emotions are screaming as two goals have quickly followed each other up at Y Morfa. Porthmadog scored an equaliser but gave it away just minutes later. 62:16 - A free kick for us with Sam Michael over it. A similar position from which he scored it against Conwy, can he do it again? No, not this time. It's flies over the crossbar. Goal alert - Another goal and again it's Conwy. They are back on top of the table now on goals scored! 65' - Our first substitution as left back John Foster leaves the field. He was on a booking and not great this match. Ben Davies moves to his spot with Livesey Barkhuizen coming in of the bench at right back. 72' - Nothing happening here still. We need a goal right now. I have moved up our defensive midfielder one place so that we now play with three central midfielders. Maxwell Edwards has moved to center back where I have taken off David Roberts who was having a difficult time out there. Neil Millette is the one coming on to the pitch in midfield. 75:13 - A throw in for us on their half. Our midfielders pass the ball around and eventually Sam Michael goes for glory with a shot from 25 meters. He hits it well and it's flying towards the top left corner! Their goalkeeper dives and fully stretches himself to tip it wide. The following corner results in nothing. 79:49 - We have the ball at the back but lose it when we cross the halfway line. Twice we stop their progress going forward, but both times we can't keep hold of the ball. In the end a very similar situation arises from how their first goal was scored. Again a perfect cross is put in immediately. We lose the aerial challenge and it's headed home! We're 2-1 down. Our situation is looking very bleak now. 80:48 - Wait a minute! The linesman has his flag up, it's disallowed! We still have a chance, though in need of a goal. 82' - We immediately go for our last subs. Matthew Dennis comes off for back-up striker Stuart Wilkinson. On the left wing Daniel Ola looks absolutely knackered, so he will be replaced by Abraham Odoh. 88:18 - One last highlight? A cross from Aberystwyth is intercepted by goalkeeper Louis Valere. He plays a long ball and it's absolutely chaos with possession changing between teams. Now Louis Barkhuizen makes progression on the right side of the field. He finds Sam Michael who is left unmarked at the near post with a low cross. The youngster takes on the volley for glory! Just over the bar. That was a real chance. 91:32 - We've been given 6 minutes of added time. They put in a cross from a free kick which is headed away by Kai Ludvigsen. We try to catch them on the break but lose the ball and are outnumbered at the back now. Captain Ben Davies has to stop them with a foul, which gets him a second yellow. We have 4 more minutes to get that goal, but are down to 10 men now. Full time - It's over. Another season at Llanidloes is what will follow. We were by far and away the better team in the second half, but couldn't get the goal we were desperately looking for. Same amount of points, same goal difference, less goals scored. A cruel, cruel way to miss out on the title.

April 2023 So these are the matches in which we will need to step up. No easy opponents for us anymore, as we travel to 1st and 4th place, and meet mid table Guilsfield at home. First up is the huge match against Conwy though. Usually I would only have done the live commentary for the last one or two games, but since it is a clash at the top of the table I will do it for that match too. Conwy - Llanidloes (Matchday 28) It is going to be tense, it is going to be tough. This match is so, so important for both teams, as they are only separated by goals scored at the moment. We played Conwy twice in a row at home earlier in the season, and kept a clean sheet both times. We won the league game 1-0 in a match that had close to no chances for 90 minutes. In the cup game we had a scoreless draw and won after penalties, where we should have decided the match in normal time despite red card for us. Both Holyhead and Aberystwyth Town might have some very slim hopes of the title still, but with both of them 6 points behind us I won't be focussing on their matches too much. No surprises in our starting XI, as we line up in a 4-3-3 formation with Neil Millette as our defensive midfielder. Another thing of note in this match is that the joint top goal scores of the league face of here, with both Matthew Dennis and their captain Nathan Sandison having scored 16 goals so far. Kick-off 08:14 - We have the ball around the halfway line on the left side but Daniel Ola losses it when he tries to cut inside with a dribble. Conwy move it to their right winger who puts in a cross. Ben Davies losses the aerial challenge, but luckily for us their header is not dangerous and goes over our goal. 11:39 - A free kick for us on the left side. It's pretty wide and looks like one to cross, although a shot can't be ruled out from this position around 25 meters away from their goal. Youngster Sam Michael is over it. He does go for it and tries to put the ball in the top left corner at the near post for him. It's hit perfectly and the ball goes just over the line after hitting the post! We go 1-0 up with our first shot of the day! 26:06 - It's Conwy with a throw in on the right wing. They move the ball to the other side of the pitch and dribble into our penalty box from there. A low pass from there finds one of their midfielders completely free at the penalty spot, a huge opportunity. He shoots it wildly though and the ball flies high over our goal. We escape the equaliser. Halftime - Just like in our two matches with Conwy earlier in the season chances have been very scarce. Only 4 shots for Conwy, with none them on target, while we had even less with just 2 shots. 57' - Nothing has happened still. We are going to make our first changes of the day. Daniel Ola has not had a good match and is on a booking, Stuart Wilkinson comes on and will be our striker, which means Matthew Dennis moves to the left wing. The same as for Ola goes for David Roberts, he is replaced by Livesey Barkhuizen. 58:34 - A corner for Conwy is crossed to the near post. Lots of bodies looking to get to the ball there, but none of them do, as Maxwell Edwards has made a foul. It's a penalty! Louis Valere has saved 3 out of 6 penalties he faced this season in the league, can he do it again? No he can't, the scores are back level. 62:27 - A goalkick for us and we swiftly move forward with it. Chris Owen can't keep hold of the ball on the right wing though and now Conwy are coming our way. A through ball gets behind our defence and suddenly their top goalscorer Sandison is in a one-on-one! Louis Valere saves it, some very good goalkeeping. 73' - We haven't been able to come up with anything in attack this game and are lucky the scores are still equal. To be honest I wouldn't mind just keeping it at a draw here now. Meanwhile Billy Osborn comes on for Neil Millette in defensive midfield. 73:20 - Immediately after our subsititution another highlight starts. Conwy play a long ball that finds no one and is instead picked up by our goalkeeper. A quick buildup from us and Stuart Wilkinson gives the ball to Matthew Dennis who moves into the box. He goes for the shot from a difficult angle with two defenders in front of him, but does get it on goal! It's not placed well enough to beat their goalkeeper though, who tips it wide. Our first real chance of the match though. 82:33 - A throw in for Conwy on the right side near our goal line. They move into the box after a one-two and find a player at the near post. He shoots it quickly but Louis Valere comes in clutch with another good save! 91:17 - 6 minutes of added time and now it's a corner for Conwy. Maxwell Edwards heads it away but it comes back to their corner taker who finds someone on the edge of the box. He goes for the shot and it looks to be flying towards the top far right corner! Just over, we escape again. 93:42 - A long ball by them is picked up by Ben Davies, who goes for a long ball too. They head it away but it falls to Joel Hart, who sends Matthew Dennis into space on the right side. The latter dribbles into the box and holds of two defenders in the process. Stuart Wilkinson has ran into the middle of the box in the meanwhile and is completely free there. Dennis finds him and he has an almost open goal from 7 meters! He misses it! Unbelievable. The whole goal was free but he puts it in the hands of their goalkeeper. It looked a certain goal. Full time - We end the game thinking what could have been had we scored that last chance, but overall we should be the happier team with the draw here. We took an early lead through a magnificent free kick by Sam Michael, but they deserved the equaliser they eventually got from the spot. In the end Conwy had the better chances and we can't complain with the draw here, with our goalkeeper Louis Valere picking up the MOTM award by making some crucial saves. Both Holyhead and Aberystwyth Town won their respective games, though they are still 4 points behind us. One win from either us or Conwy and they are out of contention for the title. Because we are still equal on points, it is already a certainty that the championship will be decided on the last day of the season. With that given, I won't be doing live updates of the next match against Guilsfield. It's our last home game of the season, so one we should be able to win. Llanidloes - Guilsfield (Matchday 29) xG: 1.95 - 0.69; Shots: 8(6) - 9(6); Possession: 62% - 38% We move into the driver's seat! Conwy extend their winless streak to 6 games with a draw against Mumbles, and we have control now. We play a pragmatic game to entertain our fans with an 11th home win of the season in the league. We could have been in the lead by halftime, but didn't let the absence of a goal bother us. Shortly after the break it was that man Sam Michael who dribbled into the box and put the ball on a plate for our striker to get us in front. A header by Maxwell Edwards from a corner doubled our lead not much later and we didn't get in trouble after that. Had we not won, that last matchday could have turned in to a real spectacle with four times fighting for the championship. We did our job though, and have our best chance at winning the league we have had. There is only one thing I'm worried about now. This is the 4th time this season we've moved up to first place, and all previous times we couldn't hold on for even one game. The same thing happened the only other 2 times we ever became league leaders.

Thanks for the support. They have been doing pretty well in this save, as since their last promotion to our division 3 years ago they have been in the the top half every season. It would definitely be nice to finally win the league, especially as we have already been runners-up 3 times now.

March 2030 4 of the 7 league matches that remain will be played this month. It is crucial for us to continue our current form, as we are still 5 points behind Conwy (who we'll play next month). Both home games are against relegation fighting teams and should result in wins. The away games are a little bit trickier, but still fixtures where we will be the favourites. Porthmadog - Llanidloes xG: 1.62 - 1.00; Shots: 12(6) - 12(2); Possession: 46% - 54% Porthmadog prove to be a very difficult opponent for us once more, as we are lucky to go home with a point. They were clearly the better team for 60 minutes, while we were lucky to only trail by 1 goal after that with Louis Valere making some good saves. We finally took some initiative in the last half an hour of the game and got an equaliser when Matthew Dennis put it on a plate for winger Abraham Odoh. No real chances for either team came after that though. Conwy had a scoreless draw against Holyhead, which means the gap to the top is still 5 points. Llanidloes - Ruthin xG: 2.74 - 1.70; Shots: 19(8) - 16(8); Possession: 49% - 51% A big win which helps the goal difference too! This win was made possible by our youth academy, more specifically the coaches that helped develop Sam Michael into the player he already is. In recent times I have often preferred him as our most attacking central midfielder above Sonny Lewis. He had already put in some good performances and gotten some goal contributions, but today everything came together for him with two goals and an assist. It was in the first half that we really had the game under control. Like has been the case before in this season, we couldn't finish our chances then, but were much more clinical in the second half to give us a comfortable lead. We did start giving Ruthin space to attack themselves after our 3-0 which resulted in us not able to keep the clean sheet. Chris Owen has not been talked about too much this season, after he had his recordbreaking goalscoring last year. He has still been of good value for us though and chipped in with two assists today to bring his tally up to 8 in the league. This is not a great moment. Probably out for the rest of the season. He has been a regular starter for us on the right and left wing, where we don't have that much squad depth either. Blaenavon Blues - Llanidloes xG: 2.15 - 1.29; Shots: 17(8) - 13(4); Possession: 45% - 55% Ouch... I was already a little bit scared of this as we were unable to beat Blaenaveon Blues in our two previous meetings too. It wasn't good enough from our side and the match got a fair result. Big blow to our title hopes. We started the game in the worst possible way. Our opponents created loads of chances in the first 15 minutes and could well have been up by more than 1 goal. We got more grip on the game after that, although we never had the upper hand. An equaliser by Sam Michael again did Blaenavon no harm as they got a deserved win in the end. We do have some good news though, as Conwy, who played a day later than us have lost to Gresford. They had already drawn their previous two games too. We are 3 points away from them now. Aberystwyth are 3 points behind us right now. All teams still with some difficult matches to go. Llanidloes - Baglan Dragons xG: 2.01 - 0.98; Shots: 12(7) - 6(5); Possession: 58% - 42% A perfect first half gets us the win. We took the lead from the spot and after that it was our wingers that helped us build our lead together with some clinical finishing. Two assists by Chris Owen and two goals by Daniel Ola. We allowed no shot in the first half either. We did get complacent in the second half which meant some of the goal difference we had won got taken back, and that may prove costly in a few weeks time. One of their goals was scored by our former player Mac Masters. What I thought might happen finally did, as Conwy lost the plot this month and accumulated only 2 points. In their last match they got hit with a 96th minute winner by Bala Town. Also notice how our goal differences are tied. We would've been on top if we did not concede that late goal ourselves. Next month will be very, very tense. I think I might split the monthly update up and do the live updates for all 3 matches, as we immediately have the game against Conwy coming up.

February 2030 Three difficult away games before we get the chance to take revenge on Mumbles for our defeat earlier in the season at home. In the league Denbigh are actually our highest placed opponent. They were tipped as relegation candidates and played like it early in the season, but have now made an incredible rise with 7 wins in their last 8 matches. Bala Town - Llanidloes xG: 1.07 - 0.94; Shots: 9(2) - 9(2); Possession: 35% - 65% Oh yes! What a morale boost this is. After losing quite a lot of points because of late goals against us recently, we now show we are capable of scoring late as well. It was a tense match with not much spectacle. We were a little bit better in the first half, but after the break it looked like Bala Town had the better chance to get the win. A late second yellow for our opponents was a real blessing for us, as it led to us going on the front foot for the last few minutes. A good cross from Chris Owen and an even better finish from Matthew Dennis got us a somewhat lucky win. We travel to Denbigh next. We completely outplayed them earlier in the season, but I don't expect that to happen again as they have just improved their streak to 8 wins from 9. Denbigh - Llanidloes xG: 0.88 - 3.19; Shots: 10(6) - 18(5); Possession: 47% - 53% We do dominate them again! What an amazing display this was. Matthew Dennis has completely turned his bad form around with another two goals today, but it was a real team performance here. Especially the first goal was one to remember, as after some quick passing play youngster Sam Michael gave perfect through ball to assist Dennis and get us the lead. We have a big game coming up now. A Welsh Cup quarter final against Pontypridd, who are 2nd in the Cymru South. We have played 5 cup quarter finals before in this save (2x League Cup, 3x Tier 2 Cup), and only won one of them, so history does not go in our favour. Pontypridd - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup) xG: 1.07 - 1.43; Shots: 6(2) - 12(6); Possession: 37% - 63% We crash out sadly. I can't blame it on our performance as they are a very good team and we managed to play an even game against them away from home. Also, we put up a great fight to even get to the penalties. The way they took the lead was very dispiriting for us too. We had a corner, hit the bar, they countered, scored via the post. They got one more big chance in the rest of the match, whilst we did have a hard time to get in front of goal. That changed when we started searching for the equaliser in the last 20 minutes. Our substitutes delivered as Abraham Odoh won the ball in midfield and made a dribble to the right wing from where he put in a good cross to back-up striker Stuart Wilkinson. In the penalty shootout our shooting was disappointing. Louis Valere looked to bail us out by twice stopping one of their attempts after we had missed, but in the end we missed one too many. Llanidloes - Mumbles xG: 1.36 - 0.16; Shots: 8(6) - 1(1); Possession: 59% - 41% 5 league wins in a row! Chances were very scarce today, but we did get a big win in the end. Our defensive performance was very pleasing today, giving op no shots after the 5th minute when Louis Valere was needed to make a good save. We kept Mumbles quiet, but they did the same to us. We had also only had 3 shots prior to our first goal, which came from to subs linking up with Daniel Ola getting the assist. After that we started to relax and got another couple of goals that might be important for our goal difference in the end. Joel Hart had a great outing in midfield today, distributing the play and controlling the tempo. Conwy have really surprised me with their ability to just keep their good form going. They were predicted midtable so a very special season by them. We look to be their only real threat right now together with maybe Holyhead. My first this season. For the second month in a row four of our players make the team. Already the third time for Ben Davies this season.