AM23

January 2030 Two big home games this month where we will play two of our fellow top 5 teams. We had a convincing outing against Holyhead in the league earlier this season, but did get destroyed by them in the Tier 2 Cup. They have also been in some very good form as of late. The match against Mold Alex is one we should really be winning, as they are in last place right now. We don't have a good record in away games at all though, so I can't say it will be a walkover. Gresford dealt us our first loss back in August, so this is a perfect opportunity to get revenge. Llanidloes - Holyhead xG: 0.84 - 1.97; Shots: 12(2) - 13(6); Possession: 52% - 48% We can't even get two wins after one another. This was just not good enough, and to concede another late goal only makes thing worse. Center back David Roberts severly lacks in pace, which is something that has shown multiple times already this season when a long ball is played by our opponents. I sort of fixed it by starting to play him as a stopper with a cover behind him. Today though, it was one ball over the top were our cover wasn't in his right position, and of course Roberts couldn't keep up with their attacker who calmly scored the only goal of the game. Before all that Holyhead had given us a hard time already. Our goalkeeper Louis Valere was the best man on the pitch and had already stopped a penalty too in the first half. They were really all over us in that first half, so in the second half I decided to switch to a 4-4-2 as that had worked in similar situations last season. It seemed to work again as we got a lot more solid at the back, but it only took one chance for them after the break. We have lost 5 league matches now, which is already more than in our last 2 seasons. Mold Alex - Llanidloes xG: 0.06 - 1.43; Shots: 2(1) - 16(6); Possession: 47% - 53% We get the win but could have made it so much easier for ourselves. We shouldn't concede in these kinds of games but somehow we do every single time. I am really getting sick of conceding every shot we face against bad opponents. After left back John Foster had put us in front early with his first goal for the club, I was hoping to get an easy match. The last time we won a game by a margin of more than one goal in the league was back at the start of August, and it still is, as we couldn't expand our lead and conceded the equaliser instead. We did get the deserved win through Joel Hart, who got the MOTM award today as he also got an assist on the first goal. Llanidloes - Gresford xG: 2.06 - 1.52; Shots: 15(6) - 11(3); Possession: 58% - 42% We do win by a margin this time! Not a game where I expected it either. Matthew Dennis had been struggling with his form with only 1 goal in 9 matches, but got a very hand brace today. We were simply phenomenal in the first half and I felt like we had not done ourselves justice with only one goal at the break, which came after a perfect Ben Davies cross. Gresford had barely done anything up front up until that point, but came out of the dressing room a lot better. Luckily for us we were deadly in the second half and put the game to bed with a quick double strike. I think we got exactly what we deserved in our matches this month and that keeps the gap to Conwy at 5 points as they lost one game too. We need to keep this going. Joel Hart might've been our most important player so far in this season. Good to see him get some recognition here. Not often that we have so many players in this team! Especially pleased by the performances of John Foster as of late. He is starting to show he is a real reinforcement at left back.

Good to hear! I fear the wait for a trophy might last longer than just this season as we haven't been able to string some wins together. It has been a real struggle so far but that will only make me relish it more when we finally do get the count going.

December 2029 An exciting month ahead, as we first have a chance to get into the quarter finals of the Welsh Cup, after which we immediately have a huge league match. The league is most important of course, and we should finally get some consistency there with hopefully a few wins in a row. Seven Sisters is the first team we meet though. We have never reached the quarter final of the Welsh Cup before, so this is a golden opportunity to do just that as we play a non-league time. Getting there would not only be good news on a footballing front, but also finance wise. Getting through would mean €8k in prize money for this round and another €10k even if we lose in the next round. That money would really help us to prevent making a loss this season. Seven Sisters - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup) xG: 0.46 - 2.47; Shots: 8(3) - 18(5); Possession: 46% - 54% We get the job done! A convincing win in the end, with two players scoring their respective first goals for the club. Seven Sisters kept our attack very quiet in the first half an hour, and it looked like we might have been in for a tough match. After that it looked like we had settled into the match though, as in the next 15 minutes before halftime we created loads of chances and got a two goal lead. Captain Ben Davies was the one leading the way, as he got both assists today. Only 4 Cymru Premier teams remaining in the competition and again we don't meet one of them! In the quarter final we will travel to Pontypridd, who are currently 2nd in the Cymru South. Not an easy game by any means, but one of the better draws we could have gotten. The match will take place in February. Llanidloes - Aberystwyth Town xG: 1.33 - 1.56; Shots: 12(4) - 10(3); Possession: 43% - 57% It's happened again! 5 points given away in extra time in the last two league games, and it went in very similar fashion to last time here. We were the better team here and some good finishing in the first half helped us get a 2-0 lead. That margin didn't last long though, as David Roberts gave away an unnecessary penalty shortly after our second goal. That was Aberystwyth's only real opportunity for the whole match though. Until extra time that was, when first Roberts made a mistake to give them a big chance, which they missed. I thought we had won it after that, but then a late corner came. They managed to head the ball towards goal, but it hit the crossbar and bounced right up, and down again still in play. Somehow none of our defenders or goalkeeper could get to the ball, which meant they could easily head it in. We're now at the halfway stage of the league, and without all the injury time goals against us in the last two games we would have been on top. Instead we are four points behind league leaders Conwy, who have been a real surprise package. Buckley - Llanidloes xG: 0.32 - 2.40; Shots: 6(3) - 15(6); Possession: 44% - 56% 15 matches, 6 points, 0 wins, last place. That is how things had gone for Buckley prior to this match. They won today though, and it makes a title look very far away for us all of a sudden. It is really inexcusable that we lost this match, but I can't really blame how we played. We bossed Buckley around the pitch for 90 minutes straight, but were unable to finish our chances, while they scored two goals from distance. It was just one of those days really, one that hurts a lot though. Yeah, we should really have won this one... Llanidloes - Hay St. Marys xG: 2.07 - 0.62; Shots: 21(6) - 7(2); Possession: 64% - 36% He scored on his debut in the cup, and now he scores on his starting XI debut in the league as well to become the match winner. Sam Michael is doing some special things this season. Always great to see a player from the own academy performing well, especially as no academy player has really broken into the first team in my time here. We played another very good match, but took a long time to secure the win. Our problem lately has partly been our own effectiveness in front of goal, but mostly just how good our opponents have finished their chances. Anyhow, we're back to winning ways in the league with what is only our 2nd win in the last 7 league games. We really need to step things up now. A little bit of a seperation between the top 5 and the rest has formed now. We're on the good side of that seperation, but I do feel like we should have had more points by now.

November 2029 Conwy have just become league leaders and now we face them twice in a row. We have played teams back-to-back two times before in this saves, and both times we drew the league game 2-2 and then lost the following cup game 3-1, so no good past with this. As for the league, we need to become more consistent now. We won the first four games, but after that our record has been 3-3-2 which is just not good enough if we want to go for the title. Llanidloes - Conwy xG: 0.51 - 0.24: Shots: 8(1) - 4(0); Possession: 53% - 47% A not at all entartaining match gets lit up by a tremendous Ben Davies strike. Our captain received the ball just outside the box and sent it straight towards the top right corner. It was the only shot on goal this match by either team, but beautiful it was. Another standout performer was central defender Maxwell Edwards, who was absolutely brilliant in his defensive actions today. This result means we overtake Conwy, and as Gresford lost to Aberystwyth at the same time we actually take first place! He is a back-up who I was looking to move on in the winter anyway. The first time I have seen this though! Llanidloes - Conwy (Welsh Cup) xG: 1.57 - 0.56: Shots: 13(3) - 8(3); Possession: 50% - 50% A great fight! We deservedly go through, albeit after needing a penatly shootout. We had the best chances during the match, and kept their offence at bay even with 10 men. The first chance of the match came early, but was squandered by Matthew Dennis, who has not been in great form lately. Like last match, not much happened after. Until our red card that was, after which we surprisingly actually got better and created another 2 good chances courtesy some good dribbles from Abraham Odoh. We had the best chances and although we didn't finish those, we did take our penalties better. We have gotten incredibly lucky in the draw, as we will play the only non-league side left in the cup. We will play Seven Sisters for a place in the quarter final. And this again... I mostly hope the embargo will be lifted before the winter transfer window. Guilsfield - Llandidloes xG: 0.79 - 0.86: Shots: 7(5) - 11(6); Possession: 42% - 58% We gave it all away! After we had taken the lead we looked to be cruising towards victory as Guilsfield had no say in this match whatsoever. Only 2 shots by them before the 85th minute, but there was a big twist in the tail. It was no spectacle again, but another solid defensive performance and another screamer scored by a defender in Wayne Staines looked to give us the win here. All fell apart very, very late though. Other teams keep losing as well, but we should have been right up there together with Aberystwyth Town. We really are just not consistent enough right now. Anyways, our last match of the first half of the season is against the current league leaders, so a good chance to stay close to them. The big underperformer of the league is Bala Town once again. For the third season in a row they were sky high favourites to win the title, but again they look unable to do so. Good to see our defenders get some recognition. We were close to 3 clean sheets in a row until those last few minutes against Guilsfield...l

October 2029 No tough matches this month, which means I want to see 3 wins here. A non-league team in the Welsh Cup at home again. In the league Blaenavon Blues are in the top half at the moment, but we should be able to beat them to get redemption for our League Cup defeat. Baglan Dragons are with the relegation candidates. Llanidloes - Blaenavon Blues xG: 0.67 - 0.91; Shots: 6(2) - 7(3); Possession: 52% - 48% Not good enough for a home game. It was the most boring of matches, but for a long time we were in the lead as a ball over the top by Ben Davies had put Matthew Dennis in front of their goalkeeper. It looked like we would hold on to the lead, as they were creating even less than we did, but in the end a similar goal from them got the match a fair result. Llanidloes - Kerry (Welsh Cup) xG: 2.02 - 0.71; Shots: 16(6) - 4(2); Possession: 57% - 43% An easy win with a very much rotated side. A great moment for the club as 17 year old attacking midfielder Sam Michael who came through our youth intake a couple of years ago made his debut and scored his first goal immediately with a beautiful free kick. We will take on league rivals Conwy at home in the next round. Could definitely have been worse, although Conwy are no pushovers. Baglan Dragons - Llanidloes xG: 1.23 - 3.93; Shots: 7(4) - 22(10); Possession: 55% - 45% We save a point with two late goals, but it should have been so much more. We can add this game to the list of matches this season were our opponent have just scored almost all of their shots. The worst thing about this match was that our best period besides the last few minutes was actually the first 10 minutes after halftime. We created 4 good chances in that time, of which at least one should have been scored. Instead of that Baglan Dragons got a lead of two as we gifted them both goals. Chris Owen then saved us a little bit with his first hattrick of the season, and showed me he belongs in the starting XI after I had dropped him in the previous 2 league games. Luckily for us most other teams high up the table also dropped points this month which means we still have first place in sight. Talking about first place, Conwy have taken advantage of the other teams not winning and are surprisingly in the lead for now. The league so far has been very competitive this season, which is really in our favour as it may allow us to drop some more points.

September 2029 We meet some mid table teams in the league this month, so I'm looking for at least two wins there. In the Welsh Cup we host a non-league team, while we do have a relatively tough draw in the Tier 2 League Cup. Mumbles - Llanidloes xG: 1.65 - 1.17; Shots: 13(2) - 13(4); Possession: 39% - 61% It just wasn't our day. Two of our midfield trio got injured within 30 minutes, and although we had been the better team in that time, we could not follow that through without them. Holyhead - Llanidloes (Tier 2 League Cup) xG: 3.04 - 1.30; Shots: 12(7) - 12(3); Possession: 46% - 54% It's crazy how we just manage to replicate the first cup game we played this year. Down by three goals at the break as we let every shot on target they had go in. We went all out on attack in the second half, but even then we couldn't create anything for some reason. A terrible game with a likewise result. Our third loss in a row in away games. Let's hope this doesn't turn in to anything. Llanidloes - Rhayader (Welsh Cup) xG: 4.34 - 1.18; Shots: 23(10) - 5(4); Possession: 64% - 36% We needed to bounce back from those previous bad results and poor Rhayader found that out in the first half. A crazy performance from midfielder Sonny Lewis as he got a hattrick in 18 minutes. For the rest I am still a little bit annoyed that we completely switched off after halftime, as this isn't the first time that has happened when we have a comfortable lead. We need to take this win with us to our league form now. We meet Porthmadog at home next, and somehow we have never beaten them in our own backyard before. Our last three league home games against them have all ended in a 0-0. Llanidloes - Porthmadog xG: 2.07 - 0.72; Shots: 14(5) - 8(2); Possession: 59% - 41% We beat them! They got the lead very early but we didn't let that spoil the fun for us. First it was Daniel Ola who surprised the goalkeeper with a quick shot when the ball came to him after it was headed away from a corner. Just after halftime left winger Abraham Odoh dribbled past a few men before putting the ball on a plate for our striker to get us the lead. Ruthin - Llanidloes xG: 1.81 - 2.35; Shots: 15(7) - 14(5); Possession: 45% - 55% We didn't have an easy time out there today, but we do manage to get the win and break the small streak of away losses that was building. We conceded very early again and initially weren't able to really trouble them. A boring first half without any chances followed, where the most notable thing happening was our second goalkeeper Dylan Shanahan getting injured on his league debut, which meant our third goalkeeper had to come on as Louis Valere is away on international duty with Mauritius. We needed goals, so we switched to a 4-2-4 formation at halftime. The match got very entertaining, and in the space of 15 minutes we twice levelled the scores through Matthew Dennis and took the lead too eventually. We were looking to play out the game without too much trouble then, but almost gave it all away in injury time when we gave up an enormous chance. Luckily for us their striker couldn't get it on target. Our loss to Mumbles means we haven't held on to first place, but we're still right up there. Gresford have been the real surprise so far as they were predicted to finish mid table.

Transfers Forgot to put these in the last post, but we have managed to attract a few extra players. Abraham Odoh: a relatively experienced winger who can play on both sides. He has put up some good numbers in the last two seasons at Ruthin in our division, and has also played quite a lot of League Two football a few years ago. He will probably be our first back-up on both wings, so enough playing time will come his way. John Foster: a left back who is good enough for the starting XI. This guy got relegated with Prestatyn Town last season, but he actually looks like quite a good player for us and is still young as well. We were in need of an extra left back, so happy to get him in. Maxwell Edwards: a very good center back. He should be able to be a regular starter. I am also looking to retrain him to be a defensive midfielder, as that is a position I was looking for reinforcements, but couldn't find anyone. I feel like he could be very good there too. Joel Hart: has already been at the club for half a year, but I don't think I ever showed his profile. Besides these incoming transfers, Daryl Williams has left the club, as he didn't have sight on a lot of playing time with the new center back signings.

August 2029 The league season really gets going here. Two difficult fixtures against other teams expected to fight at the top, as we meet Holyhead and title favourites Bala Town. Home matches against Denbigh and Mold Alex should result in easy victories for us. Holyhead - Llanidloes xG: 1.18 - 3.51; Shots: 10(2) - 18(6); Possession: 44% - 56% An unexpectedly easy win here. Of course the red card helped a lot, but even before that we had the upper hand and already got the lead as well. Again Chris Owen was our best player as he got an assist too besides his goal. I am a little bit annoyed at our second half, since we just stopped doing anything and even let them get a goal. Llanidloes - Mold Alex xG: 1.84 - 0.16; Shots: 13(5) - 2(0); Possession: 49% - 51% Another very easy win. This time an amazing defensive performance too. We got the lead through Sonny Lewis, who later assisted Matthew Dennis for the first of the latter's brace today just before halftime. We go top of the table with this one, as Bala Town have just lost to Gresford. We meet both of those teams in our next two games. Will be interesting to see if we can keep our run going. Gresford - Llanidloes xG: 2.05 - 2.50; Shots: 13(8) - 16(7); Possession: 42% - 58% No we can't... A very unnecessary loss here. We missed a penalty early on through Chris Owen, while they did not miss out on the same opportunity later in the first half. They doubled the lead with their second real chance, and even though I nicely curled shot by Ben Davies got us back in the game, we couldn't get the draw. We were the better team here and Gresford only managed to string some chances together at the end when we had most of our players forward. Disappointing to lose this one. Llanidloes - Bala Town xG: 1.53 - 3.14; Shots: 7(3) - 14(5); Possession: 44% - 56% This time it's the other way around! I don't know if I should be happy or sad to be honest, as we did have the lead until 15 minutes before the end. It was Louis Valere who prevented them from taking the lead early on, as he denied Bala Town's penalty in the 5th minute. After that it was a pretty even game up until the 70th minute, after which they suddenly got a flurry of chances to turn the game around. In the end we might have been a little bit lucky to get the draw, which came when we put together one last attack that ended with Matthew Dennis getting another brace. Llanidloes - Denbigh xG: 3.87 - 0.07; Shots: 21(8) - 3(0); Possession: 51% - 49% Pffft... It took a whole lot of doing, but we eventually got the win we very much deserved. We scored an early goal through Sonny Lewis, but that one got ruled out as a man had been offside in the build up. I can't say the ref was against us in this game though, as he gave Denbigh a red card and not long after that a penalty to us too. Chris Owen missed from the spot for the second time in a row, which meant we kept searching for an opening. Lots of chances went begging, and just when it looked like it wouldn't happen anymore Joel Hart played a perfect through ball to Stuart Wilkinson who calmly slotted home. Both Bala Town and Gresford lose points, which means we are back on top again! It is still very tight though, so we will have to keep winning to stay here.

July 2029 No real difficult matches yet. In the cup a team that has been in the bottom half of the Cymru South the last few seasons and will be in our division this time around. In the league we meet two relegation candidates. Blaenavon Blues - Llanidloes (League Cup) xG: 1.14 - 2.95; Shots: 12(4) - 22(12); Possession: 34% - 66% Well, that was a disaster. For only the second time we lose in the first round of the League Cup. The stats suggest we were the better team, but that was only after we were three goals down. A horror start for new goalkeeper Louis Valere, as he conceded the first three shots on target he faced at the club. They deserved to be up at the break, although the margin they got was a bit too much. We played a much better second half, were Stuart Wilkinson immediately got his first goal at the club after being brought on from the bench. We were unable to overcome the deficit though. Hay St. Marys - Llanidloes xG: 2.48 - 3.03; Shots: 9(4) - 20(9); Possession: 39% - 61% We start this league season in the same way we finished the last: a win away at Hay St. Marys. We were utterly dominant in this match but needed a lot of chances to get the lead here. Again Louis Varele is the talk of the game. He gifted our opponents the lead by dropping the ball, but redeemed himself in injury time by saving a penalty, only for having to concede one anyway two minutes later. Between those moments we had managed to turn the game around to get a deserved win. Chris Owen was the hero with two assists and a goal. Llanidloes - Buckley xG: 1.02 - 0.09; Shots: 14(4) - 2(1); Possession: 55% - 45% A very boring match but we get the job done. The clean sheet is nice, especially as it happened because our defence didn't give away any chances. Coming in for the suspended Ben Davies at right back, Livesey Barkhuizen became the unlikely matchwinner with the only goal.

Pre-season 29/30 Well, this has not been a lot of fun. Just after last season ended there were rumours of a potential takeover. This got serious pretty fast which meant we had a transfer embargo put in place. It has only been two weeks since the takeover didn't go through. Because of this a lot of players I was eyeing had already signed contracts at other clubs, while it also just put me in a hurry to get some good players in before the start of the season. The only good news is that I did manage to hold on to a few of the players that were asking for high wages, as some of them lowered their demands. The friendlies weren't great. We first beat a non-league side, before being outplayed by another. Against TNS we also got completely outplayed and were lucky to keep the margin to two. Finances Still about the same as in previous years. Not spending that transfer budget obviously, it will go to scouting instead. The Seamus Famer sale kept our loss last season to only €7k, but we are still slowly bleeding some money. Transfers As said before, not a lot of transfers done yet due to the transfer embargo we had. Let's go to the important players that left the club first: Ryan Forde: our first-choice in goal for the past 4 seasons. He was an important asset to the squad, but for the wage he wanted now I felt like I could get a better goalkeeper in. Riley Lonergan: a central midfielder who has been at the club for three seasons. In the first two he was an integral part of the squad and started in the majority of matches. Last season he mostly featured as a back-up and that would only become less had he stayed. Jack McCourt: he came in from Llandudno two years ago. A left winger whose attributes were nothing special, but who had put in consistently good performances before joining us. He never showed that for us though while earning the salary of a starter. Isaac Matthews: a product of our own academy. This striker burst on to the scene a few seasons back when he scored a hattrick in his first competitive match. He never really developed though and wasn't good enough anymore for the team. Only 4 players in so far: Louis Valere (see below) and Dylan Shanahan: I already got my goalkeepers sorted out with those two. Shanahan is a good back-up, while Valere looks like he could be a real game winner for us. I do hope he doesn't get called up to his national squad too much, as he has made his debut there already. Stuart Wilkinson: a TNS academy product who is a good back-up striker for us. He has some incredible finishing for this level. Will probably be mostly used from the bench, although I do think he will get his chances from the start as well. Kai Ludvigsen: a central defender who will be one of the players fighting for a starting XI spot. I am still looking for a defensive midfielder and a winger, as we lack quality in the first position, and depth in the second. Squad Two very good options in goal. With Louis Valere the club looks set in this position for the forseeable future. Again Ben Davies is our man on the right side of defence. On the left Danny Williams is still our best options, but I might look to get another player in for that position. David Roberts will be our most important defender once again, while next to him Daryl Williams and Kai Ludvigsen will battle for a spot. Even Livesey Barkhuizen might get in the mix there, while he also is a good back-up at right back. We could really do with another midfielder now I look at this. I did offer a contract to one player here, but he chose another club sadly. Joel Hart has been very good since coming to the club. Both Billy Osborn and Sonny Lewis agreed on a reasonable wage for their contracts which meant I could keep them here. I am quite happy with the offensive options we have. Matthew Dennis is our first choice striker, which means last season's top scorer Chris Owen will have to do with a place on the right wing. On the left Daniel Ola is still our starter. Season preview We are really being seen as one of the teams to battle for the title now. We have gotten lucky this season, as none of the relegated teams have been put into our league for the first time. Joel Hart is our only player in the league's best eleven. Board expectation Just like last season they want top four.

Season review 28/29 This has been a pretty weird season. We had our annual form dip a lot earlier than in previous years, which meant we were already far behind Llandudno before the halfway point of the season even. After that though, we actually put together a very good season, managing a new record points total for us. Sadly Llandudno were just amazing this year, which means I will be here for at least one more season. We did have one thing that looked like it might save our season, but that thing, the Tier 2 League Cup, ended in dramatic fashion for us. Overal we did very well in the cups, as we got at least our previous best in all three of them. Competitions We started the season very well with 13 points from 5 games. This even meant we were top of the table twice for the first time under my reign. Things went downhill quickly though, as in the next 7 matches we only managed 1 win. Suddenly we were already 13 points behind the phenomenal league leaders, and a very anonymous season looked to be coming our way. We managed to turn things around though, as we went on an incredible 15 match unbeaten run, with only 3 draws in it as well. Our only problem was that Llandudno kept winning too, and when we eventually started coming a little bit closer to 7 points of the top, they beat us comprehensively for the second time in the season. In the last few games we got ourselves together to end up on 64 points, but to be honest we never really were in a title fight this season. It was mostly some very good luck in the draws that got us in a position to play for a spot in the quarter final this Welsh Cup campaign. We met non-league teams in the first three rounds, and kept our streak of not (yet) having been beaten by any of them. After that though, we were humiliated in our own backyard, as Haverfordwest put 5 past us in the first half. We had a very good run in the League Cup to get us to the quarter final for the second time. We beat two Cymru South sides away from home, before the third time proved too much of an ask. In between all that we had also knocked out Cymru Premier Llantwit Major in a penalty shootout. We were not at our best in the Briton Ferry game, and as they eventually became champions of their league, there is no real shame in having lost to them as well. We got the furthest we've ever been in the Tier 2 League Cup, though we were a tad lucky to not meet the best teams from our league. We did manage to get through the first 3 rounds relatively easily though. In the semi final we were the better team too, and looked set for my first final of the save. A 90th minute goal prevented that though, as we lost the following penalty shootout. Squad Ryan Forde was injured early in the season and took some time to get back in some good form. He was good for us though in the second half of the season, but I feel like he might not be here next season, as for his salary a better goalkeeper should be getable. Captain Ben Davies has already played 150+ matches for the club and was ever present at right back. On the other side of defence Danny Williams started almost every game. In central defence I got two new players in to accompany David Roberts. In the end however it is Livesey Barkhuizen who played there the most, although it could just as well have been Daryl Williams to make this team. Wayne Staines moved to defensive midfield for the most of this season, but his time at the club might be coming to an end, as his ability isn't that high in comparison with the rest of the squad. The same goes for Billy Osborn, who did well, but not as good as last season. He is still a good player to have for us, but earns too much to be honest. His replacement is already in the team too, as we got in Joel Hart in the winter transfer window. Sonny Lewis has been very good for us in midfield, getting into double figures in both goals and assists. Though we might not see him back next year either, as he is asking for a very high wage. On the wings Seamus Famer and Daniel Ola get in to the team. Ola was very good this year, while Famer was actually awful after we had loaned him back. Chris Owen was incredible this season, and even played a lot of games from the right wing too, as we had another very good striker in Matthew Dennis. Awards 3 hattricks, more than one goal a game and some assists too. Not bad for someone of who I didn't know if he would be a starter. Incredible season as Chris Owen becomes our first player to become top scorer and even breaks the all time league record of goals in a season. Winning everything he is. Got goal of the season as well. Is there a new 'Danger Duo' forming? Next Season Lots of money to spend, but again I won't come close to it, as financially I don't think it's justifiable. I am actually looking to get rid of some players on high wages too now, but of course I don't know what players will come in next season. As has been the case for the past few seasons now, I want to win a trophy next season. We have ended in 2nd with at least 60 points in the last three seasons, so if we can just make one more step the championship should be ours.

March 2029 A busy month this. That Llandudno game can be very important. The gap is 7 points now, so if we win we 'only' need to close a 4 point gap on them in the other 5 league games we've got left this season. Could unexpectedly make for a real title race this season. For the rest the cup semi final would be great to win too, as that is our best chance of a trophy right now. Llanidloes - Buckley xG: 2.42 - 1.17; Shots: 15(8) - 7(4); Possession: 64% - 36% Two deadly offences make for a sensational match! We were by far the better team in the first half, but it was Buckley who scored the first 2 goals, both times after a ball over the top. We then came in with an incredible turnaround kickstarted by a Matthew Dennis brace. It got us 4 goals in 16 minutes and meant we actually went into the break with a comfortable lead. It got a little bit tight when they got one back again, but we held our nerves well in the end. A first goal of the season for Seamus Famer capped of this game. I was very happy to get him back on loan after selling him last summer, as he is one of our best players on paper. He has been awful for us this season however, and has been demoted to the bench. Next up is Llandudno. They were the last team to beat us in the league back in September. A win here and things suddenly get very interesting towards the end of the season. Llandudno - Llanidloes xG: 3.54 - 1.09; Shots: 19(9) - 9(4); Possession: 48% - 52% They beat us 3-0 again. We just got outplayed in this game and never had a real spell of dominance. The big blow came when they doubled their lead just before the break. After that the task had become to big for us and my faith was sealed. I will be at Llanidloes for another season. The Tier 2 League Cup is now our only chance left to get a trophy from this season. We play Porthmadog on neutral ground, in a 15,000 seater for some reason. I guess not even 2% of the stands will be filled. I am going to start that game in a 4-4-2 formation, and maybe I should have done that this game too, as it has shown to give us more stability at the back against good opponents. Llanidloes - Porthmadog (Tier 2 League Cup) xG: 1.55 - 0.73; Shots: 19(8) - 11(3); Possession: 56% - 44% We are left in disbelief. So close, yet so far. In our minds we were already in the final, but one last chance from a corner got them level with us again. After a nervy first half an hour from both teams, we took control and got some chances before halftime. We went on like that in the second half and took a deserved lead after Matthew Dennis had found Daniel Ola at the edge of the box and the latter had curled it past the keeper. We were solid in defence all game as the 4-4-2 seemed to be working well. They got one last chance though with a corner very late in the game. Third year in a row we go out on penalties in this competition. I really, really hate this cup. Llanidloes - Ruthin xG: 4.51 - 0.93; Shots: 21(11) - 5(3); Possession: 56% - 44% I am happy we aren't playing for the title anymore because this game would have pissed me off otherwise. We were amazing and utterly dominant, could've been 10-0 up in the 80th minute. Instead we were only up by two, and their only shots in the second half both go in. Chris Owen got his season league tally up to 29 with his brace today. In the second half he did however miss a penalty that could've gotten him his 4th hattrick this season. He might live to regret this, as with 30 goals he would have set a new all-time league record. Still 3 more games for him to get that one goal now. Guilsfield - Llanidloes xG: 0.54 - 1.59; Shots: 8(4) - 13(8); Possession: 47% - 53% Another very good game. Guilsfield are in 4th so no easy opponent by any means, but we managed to keep them at bay the whole game, as they couldn't create any real chances. We played the 4-4-2 again and just like in the cup game it gave us the defensive stability we needed. Matthew Dennis scored his 20th goal of the season in all competitions from a beautiful free kick to put us in front. A 7th season as I have set myself the challenge to win the league here before I move on. Llanidloes - Holyhead xG: 2.69 - 0.79; Shots: 17(9) - 5(1); Possession: 60% - 40% Another complete performance and Chris Owen grabs his 30th goal to get the illustrous all-time goal scoring record of the league! Almost a perfect game except for the fact that we conceded the first goal. Midfielder Joel Hart has hit the ground running at the club and got already his 5th assist in 10 games for us today. We only have one game in April so I will put that in this update aswell since we aren't playing for anything anymore. Hay St. Marys - Llanidloes xG: 1.57 - 4.10; Shots: 11(6) - 28(12); Possession: 37% - 63% And we finish the season with one more great game. We were awful in the first 30 minutes but took control after and never looked back. Daniel Ola the man of the match as he created loads of chances. Llandudno stopped doing anything after they clinched the title, otherwise they would have ended with an insane points total. Biggest shock in the league is Flint Town going down. They played in the Cymru Premier only 3 seasons ago. We scored the most goals in the league, which is a first under my reign. It was however our defence that let us down, mostly early on in the season. We conceded 14 goals more than in our last two seasons. In the end, we do get another record points total under my reign. In the last four seasons our respective points totals have been 60, 54, 62, and 64. It was in that second season that the league winners only had 59 points... Records We better our own record again... This is quite special. Even more so when you keep in mind he also played a fair few games as a right winger.

February 2029 February is an easier month on paper. Carmarthen Town are in the relegation spots, while Mumbles are also in the bottom half of the table. Conwy are having a good season but we should still be able to beat them too. Carmarthen Town - Llanidloes xG: 0.82 - 3.01; Shots: 8(4) - 17(7); Possession: 51% - 49% We better our record league win again! I don't know if we were just amazing, or if they were just that bad here. A great result either way though. Best performers were attackers Matthew Dennis, who got his first hattrick at the club, and Chris Owen with 4 goal contributions. Both got a 10 match rating. Llanidloes - Mumbles xG: 0.72 - 1.61; Shots: 7(3) - 12(6); Possession: 55% - 45% We are lucky to get a point here. Just couldn't get anything going in attack, with tactic switches not working either. We tried to go for the win at the end but this only resulted in chances for them. Only good thing about this performance was winter signing in midfield Joel Hart getting his first goal for the club, after he already got two assists last game. Conwy - Llanidloes xG: 1.30 - 1.47; Shots: 11(2) - 7(3); Possession: 51% - 49% It wasn't easy but we got the job done here. A swift counter attack got us the lead early on, after which Ryan Forde made two very good saves to keep that score. We then decided the match in the short period we had a man more on the field, as Ben Davies scored an incredible backheel volley. Well, well, well. Llandudno have started slipping up all of a sudden. They didn't win a single game this month, and instead lost as many points as in the 21 games before. Is there a chance? Awards Full podium! The most we've ever had! Mostly because of that 6-0 win.

January 2029 Not an easy month by any means. Porthmadog are in 5th place and in very good form as of late. Also, we've never liked meeting them. Bala Town are 5 points above us in the table in 2nd place, while Gresford away is the game we should be winnning. Porthmadog - Llanidloes xG: 2.18 - 0.78; Shots: 19(8) - 7(4); Possession: 38% - 62% Very lucky in this one. We were second best for most of the game and got nowhere near their goal in the second half. To be fair to us, they didn't create a lot of big chances either. They did however miss a golden opportunity when Ryan Forde saved a penalty in the 83rd minute. Gresford - Llanidloes xG: 2.97 - 2.05; Shots: 20(6) - 12(4); Possession: 45% - 55% A criminal win! We had absolutely no right of winning this game whatsoever. In the last three games we have had incrediblel luck with our results, so I have to keep that in mind when I want to start complaining again. They should have been up by at least two at the break, after having been all over us in the first half. Somehow the score was equal though, as Matthew Dennis equalised shortly after they finally did get the deserved lead. Like we've been doing regularly in recent times, we switched to a 4-4-2 again at halftime, which helped us get some more control. That worked again, although I wouldn't say we had the upper hand in the second half. Llanidloes - Bala Town xG: 2.45 - 1.58; Shots: 18(7) - 11(4); Possession: 42% - 58% Great game! I decided to go with the 4-4-2 from the start for this match as Bala Town are a very good team. This turned out to be a great choice, as we kept them very quiet except for the penalty. It was our right back Ben Davies who gave us the lead early with a well placed shot. We couldn't keep that first lead, but were dominant in the second half. Best moment of the match was Daniel Ola coming back from injury and giving an assist on a Chris Owen goal only 3 minutes on the pitch. We move up to 2nd with that last win. No reason to look up anymore as Llandudno are way too good for the rest of the league this season. Awards He took some time to get going at the club, but Matthew Dennis has been very good for us this season.

December 2028 Lots of home games this time around. First we will play Haverfordwest for a place in the quarter final of the Welsh Cup. After that all teams we meet are currently in the bottom half of the table, although Flint Town and Aberystwyth are clearly underperforming according to previous seasons and expectations. Llanidloes - Haverfordwest (Welsh Cup) xG: 1.64 - 1.94; Shots: 17(10) - 14(7); Possession: 58% - 42% Conceding just before halftime is never a great moment. That gets worse when you concede 4 around that time. Our highest ever attendance with 484, and we get humiliated being 5 goals behind at the break. 4 of their goals came from defensive mistakes as well, with especially David Roberts having a horrible match. With some luck it could've been 0-0 at the break, as their xG was (only) 1.3 at that point. Because of that I do think I need to get in a new goalkeeper as soon as possible too, as this is not the first time our opponent overperforms their xG. Even worse, in the league we have conceded 50% more goals than we should have according to the stats. Llanidloes - Hay St. Marys xG: 3.05 - 1.09; Shots: 17(9) - 9(6); Possession: 62% - 38% We can do it too! Our biggest ever win in the league. Our results have really been all over the place this season, with big scores both for and against us. Today we were 4-0 up in the first half to give us a very easy game. Flint Town - Llanidloes xG: 0.88 - 1.60; Shots: 9(2) - 10(3); Possession: 55% - 45% Another win and a first league clean sheet since August! We had a pretty difficult time in the first half, which led me to change from our 4-2-3-1 to a 4-4-2, to counter Flint Town's defensive system with 5 at the back. This worked out well as we got our goals and were very solid at the back in that second half. Left back Danny Williams was the MOTM with a goal and an assist. He has got 10 goal contributions across all competitions now. Llanidloes - Prestatyn Town xG: 2.17 - 0.00; Shots: 17(6) - 0(0); Possession: 61% - 39% Same result! A perfect defensive performance is something that really pleases me. In the first half we had some trouble creating chances ourselves too, but Chris Owen won us a penalty which he scored himself for the first half of his brace. He has scored in 6 league games in a row now. There must have been an update that causes this, because we rarely had injuries occuring in earlier seasons. Luckily Jack McCourt is almost back from his injury. Llanidloes - Aberystwyth Town xG: 2.65 - 1.66; Shots: 9(5) - 16(6); Possession: 61% - 39% Someone needs to remind me of this match the next time I start complaining about always being on the unlucky side. We were completely outplayed in the first half, having the penalty as our only chance, while Ryan Forde made some great saves to keep them to one goal. In the second half we switched to a 4-4-2 again, which helped us get some grip on their attackers. Yet another penalty helped us in the lead and then it was two swift counter attacks that got us a very flattering score. What an achievement by Chris Owen again. Third hattrick of the season. Became our first player to score 4 goals in a league game, with only Daniel Ola having done it in a cup before. Also, he is 9 goals clear on the league's topscorers list with 23 goals from 18 matches. We have actually been doing very well recently and are on a 6 game winning streak in the league. Despite that, we didn't come any closer to Llandudno this month, as they won all their games too. A championship does look like an impossible mission now to be honest. Awards A goal difference of 14-2 this month was not enough to win this. You just can't look past this guy. An in-form goalkeeper is what we lacked earlier in this season!

November 2028 Another 2 awaydays in the cups as well as one in the league. In the Tier 2 Cup we have a chance to get to the semi final. Winning that one could save our season a little bit if we don't manage to win the league (which looks almost certain now). The only problem is that every time I have gotten optimistic about this cup we have been knocked out immediately. Risca - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup) xG: 0.28 - 5.66; Shots: 8(2) - 30(15); Possession: 45% - 55% It took us a whole lot of chances to get that second goal, but we are through to the next round. Again we can't keep a clean sheet though. I am on the hunt for a new goalkeeper. We have been drawn at home against Cymru Premier side Haverfordwest in the fourth round. We met them in cups twice before and actually went through both times. The injuries keep on coming. This time it's our back-up left back. Holyhead - Llanidloes xG: 0.47 - 2.05; Shots: 8(2) - 14(5); Possession: 44% - 56% What a story! He came on in the 90th minute for an injured Sonny Lewis in midfield, touched the ball exactly once in that time, but did get us the winner with the last kick of the game. Amazing to see from 17 year old youth product George Jenkins-Evans. The other story of the day was Chris Owen equaling the record of league goals in a season by a Llanidloes player under my reign as he got his 15th to give us the lead. We're not even halfway through the season. In the end, we could have made things a lot easier for ourselves had we just finished our chances better or kept a clean sheet for once. We play Aberystwyth Town in the Tier 2 League Cup in 14 days. They have been struggling in the league this year and are only in 12th place right now. I have been disappointed often in this competition though, so wouldn't be surprised by another letdown. Aberystwyth Town - Llanidloes (Tier 2 League Cup) xG: 1.53 - 2.66; Shots: 10(4) - 19(9); Possession: 51% - 49% A third late win of the month takes us to the semi final! We weren't great in defence once again, but we did manage to outscore our opponent. For the first time we get this far in the Tier 2 Cup. We were lucky to be in the lead at halftime, as Aberystwyth had been the better team up until then. Some changed after their 2-2 got us in control though, and it was substitutie Matthew Dennis who got us over the line with a goal to give us the lead and an assist to decide the game not long after. He may have been the matchwinner, but the MOTM award went to left back Danny Williams. That man was everywhere today and got 2 assists together with a goal. In the semi final, which is naturally also the last regional round, we will meet Porthmadog. Could've been a lot worse looking at the table as they are in 6th place. They are however the team that I think I have the lowest winning percentage against. Anyways, that match will only take place in March, so no need to think about it too much for now. In the past 2 months (only 3 games) Llandudno have lost some points, which means the gap is back to the 10 points it was before our encounter with them.

October 2028 Again we start the month with 3 cup games, again they are all away, again we can't complain about the teams we've been drawn against. As for the league, wins are required to have anything to play for in the rest of the season. New Inn - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup) xG: 0.10 - 3.14; Shots: 4(1) - 32(14); Possession: 35% - 65% Poor New Inn. We had some irritations to get rid off and did just that in this match. It resulted in a huge score, which is our biggest win since my appointment. Chris Owen was the pick of the bunch with a 10 rating, while Wayne Staines scored only his 3rd ever goal for the club in 156 appearances. We keep having some incredible luck in the draws as we get one of the few remaining non-league sides in the third round. Hmm... He opened his account for the season today with a beautiful solo, but will miss out on a big part of the year now. We have been having a lot more injuries than in previous seasons. Prestatyn Town (Tier 2 League Cup) xG: 1.04 - 1.77; Shots: 10(2) - 15(7); Possession: 53% - 47% Great result! Our attack has not been the problem at all this season. They might be the best we've had. The problem lies in our defence, and it is striking that we can't even keep the clean sheet in a game like this where we've been all over the opposition. Ben Davies was back from injury at right back and immediately took home the MOTM award. The best goal was scored by Matthew Dennis through a beautiful free kick. In a few days time we meet Briton Ferry in the quarter finals of the league cup. They are leading the Cymru South and have been in some very good form lately. Briton Ferry - Llanidloes (League Cup) xG: 1.71 - 1.71; Shots: 17(5) - 10(6); Possession: 47% - 53% We fail to make the semi final. It was an even game but we end up on the wrong side of things as has happened so often this season. We were very dangerous in this match. For 3 minutes at least. We got a penalty in the 1st minute, but Billy Osborn's attempt was saved. Then from the following corner a header was kept out of their goal by another miraculous save. The next corner did end up in the net, but was apparently handballed. To make matters worse they then took the lead through an own goal. We got the equaliser quickly, but they did the job after the break. The same story we have seen all season. Our goalkeepers are unable to even save a Word document. This time their goalkeeper showed what a difference the man between the poles can make, as he became man of the match. It only gets worse, although he isn't out for long luckily. Ruthin - Llanidloes xG: 2.20 - 2.36; Shots: 12(7) - 12(4); Possession: 42% - 58% Fair result. Sean Lynch was our standout performer from attacking midfield, creating lots of chances and getting an assist. Llanidloes - Guilsfield xG: 2.57 - 1.05; Shots: 14(7) - 8(4); Possession: 53% - 47% Finally a league win again! Against one of the best teams in the league too. It didn't happen by keeping them from scoring, but luckily our attack was amazing once more. Matthew Dennis is becoming the next sensational signing after Chris Owen. He took some time to get going but has bagged 8 goals in all competitions now already. The latter had another good match with a goal and an assist. He is the league's top scorer with 14 goals in 13 matches. Still in 5th. We're only 13 games in but already close to the 27 goals we conceded in both previous seasons. Awards No team won both their games this month surprisingly. Two dangerous attackers to have.

September 2028 Big month with all the cup games. We play away in every cup, but I can't really complain as we have had some relatively good draws. Carmarthen are a lower table team in our division who we have just beaten 4-0 last month. Brickfield are a non-league side and in the League Cup we battle for a place in the quarter final with a mid table Cymru South side. In the league we need to become a little bit more consistent. We should win the first two games before we take on the current league leaders Llandudno at home. Carmarthen Town - Llanidloes (Tier 2 League Cup) xG: 0.94 - 1.60; Shots: 10(3) - 16(5); Possession: 56% - 44% Phew. The win didn't come easily this time around, but we do get through in the end. With our attackers unable to make the difference today, we needed our midfield to step up, and that's exactly what happened. Both Sonny Lewis and Billy Osborn chipped in with a goal and an assist. We only scored the 2-1 after we had went for a more attacking tactic to avoid a penalty shootout. Prestatyn Town is who we will meet in the second round, which is a good draw. Brickfield - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup) xG: 1.23 - 1.93; Shots: 11(3) - 9(4); Possession: 41% - 59% We scrape past. I thought a second string team would be able to do the job here but was proved to be very wrong. Brickfield were the better team for most of the game, and we were lucky to get the lead courtesy new strike Matthew Dennis' first goal at the club. When they then got the equaliser they deserved I was finally convinced to make some changes. It was only then that we started creating chances, while Jerry Fawcus also missed a penalty in the 82nd minute. We have another lucky draw as we will play a non-league team again in the second round. We will be without our first back-up on midfield for a while too as a result of this match. Port Talbot Town - Llanidloes (League Cup) xG: 1.10 - 3.03; Shots: 10(4) - 17(11); Possession: 47% - 53% On to the quarter finals we go! Second time we get this far. A very interesting scoreline as we score 6 in a competitive fixture for the first time under my reign. It doesn't tell the whole story of the game though, as we had a pretty difficult time out there before we took the lead in the second half. We were incredible from the corners today, with a grand total of 4 ending in the back of the net, albeit only one directly. The most notable one was the 3-2, when we took the corner short and the following cross was headed on the bar by Daryl Williams. The ball bounced straight up however, and when it came down Daniel Ola was the most alert to get his the second goal of his hattrick today. After that moment we quickly built up the lead too, which meant Port Talbot had no chance of coming back anymore. Only 3 Cymru Premier sides are left in the competition and we don't meet one of them! We go away to another Cymru South team in Briton Ferry, which is an even matchup. Llanidloes - Conwy xG: 0.85 - 1.14; Shots: 9(4) - 9(4); Possession: 49% - 51% This is very concerning. We have been conceding way too much this season and that streak continues today. We aren't even giving away that many chances, but our opponents are just scoring like maniacs. Conwy had 4 shots in the first half and scored three. Ryan Forde has been back from injury for a few games now but hasn't been able to make a difference either. I honestly don't understand it, as our defence has only become better in quality and we are playing the same tactic as last year. I hope this is just a phase, but it does need to stop very soon, as we're already 8 points behind Llandudno who are destroying everyone in their path at the moment. We will miss him. He is our captain and one of our most important players in the field too. Buckley - Llanidloes xG: 1.77 - 2.39; Shots: 7(4) - 18(8); Possession: 53% - 47% We're awful... Again conceding way too easily. Matthew Dennis came on at halftime and completely turned the game around, only for us to give it all away again. They even got a golden opportunity to win it too, but missed a penalty in the 84th minute. We have the 'big' match against Llandudno up next and it is already a must-win. We are 10 points behind them after only 10 games. I feel that if we lose, our league season is over. Llanidloes - Llandudno xG: 1.15 - 1.80; Shots: 10(3) - 9(6); Possession: 59% - 41% This is going to be a long season We've been terrible, Llandudno have been phenomenal. They are not the ones we should have our focus on anymore. Could a 19 game winning streak save us?

August 2028 Not an easy month by any means. The first 4 matches are all against opponents that are often on the higher end of the table. The last two matches should definitely be won though. If we can continue the way we started our season then it's gonna be a lot of fun. Aberystwyth Town - Llanidloes xG: 1.25 - 1.50; Shots: 12(5) - 8(6); Possession: 35% - 65% What. A. Match. Incredible really. Two hattricks and an injury time winner by a debutant. Football doesn't get any better than this. This man Chris Owen has really hit the ground running at Llanidloes. 5 goals and 2 assists in his first 4 matches. When he completed his hattrick with a header from a corner today we looked set for a third 3-1 win in a row. However, just mere minutes later when looking at the scoreboard, it showed a draw again. It was a rollercoaster of emotions all game long, and to top it all of, Sean Lynch pulled of an amazing volley from a corner headed away to give us the win. 9 league wins in a row now. It is a historic win too, as it brings us to the top of the table for the first time since I took over 5 years ago! Llanidloes - Porthmadog xG: 1.12 - 0.84; Shots: 14(4) - 6(1); Possession: 60% - 40% A boring draw gives us our first point loss of the season. A fair result, as neither team did enough to win this one. They got the biggest chance of the first half which was saved by MOTM Gareth Hampson, we got the best in the second half, when Daniel Ola dribbled around the keeper but hit the post from a tight angle. Llanidloes - Gresford xG: 2.17 - 1.01; Shots: 15(8) - 10(3); Possession: 60% - 40% Defying expectations is Chris Owen. Unbelievable stuff. Might be the most deadly striker we've had here. I honestly got him in mostly as a back up, but 8 goals in his first 5 league games tell quite a different story. As a comparison, the most league goals any player has gotten for us with me in charge was Jack Orbell with 15 back in the 24/25 season. Owen's excellence has had the consequence that Daniel Ola has moved to the left wing position. He is not doing too shabby either there though, and got assists on the first two goals today. For the rest it was great to see defensive midfielder Jonathan Fraser get his first goal for the club, in what was ultimately a very flattering result. A little bit of rest now with the lack of a midweek game. After that we travel to Bala Town for a very tough away game. Bala Town - Llanidloes xG: 1.53 - 0.96; Shots: 15(4) - 10(2); Possession: 64% - 36% Ouch.... This time we are the ones getting a lesson in effectivity. We immediately give the goal difference we got from last game back in what equals my biggest defeat at the club. They got gifted there first two goals by two Livesey Barkhuizen mistakes, and we couldn't come back from that. It's also the third season in a row that we get dealt our first loss of the league in the sixth game. Some more bad news. He has already had an awful start to the season on the field, this doesn't make it better. Llanidloes - Carmarthen Town xG: 3.16 - 0.18; Shots: 22(11) - 1(0); Possession: 49% - 51% Another 4-0! We bounce back perfectly, with our best game of the season so far. We left them absolutely nothing to work with whatsoever. We got off to a perfect start when Daniel Ola finished of a solo by hitting the top corner. He became MOTM as he got an assist late in the game, which was the 4th time he served Chris Owen. The latter scored his 10th goal of the season already, with his first of the day being an absolute banger from 25 meters out. Mumbles - Llanidloes xG: 1.61 - 3.14; Shots: 8(4) - 19(10); Possession: 39% - 61% We outplayed them from start to finish, so it's disappointing we couldn't get the win here. I am happy with our ability to react so fast though, making two goals against us undone very quickly. In the end it was our finishing that let us down in this match. Jack McCourt was not to be blamed, as he was great today creating lots of chances. We have had a good start and played some tough opponents already. The only thing I'm disappointed about is the amount of goals we've conceded. Llandudno have been in very good touch early on after they came straight back down from the Cymru Premier. You can't really get around someone that scores two hattricks in a month can you? Transfers Two more attackers have come to the club to complete the squad: Sean Lynch: a very creative player who is versatile too. He does lack in some areas though, mostly a back-up Matthew Dennis: pretty excited about this guy. He has quite a few appearances the English Football League, and can play in any position in attack, with striker being his best. He is in his prime too.

July 2028 As always we start our season in the League Cup. In Cwmbran Celtic we meet a time that has played mid table in the Cymru South in previous seasons. After that we get the chance to bring our opening day streak up to 4 wins as we travel to Prestatyn Town who have only just been promoted back up. After that we host Flint Town in a fixture where we can make a statement early on in the season. Cwmbran Celtic - Llanidloes (League Cup) xG: 0.38 - 1.76; Shots: 8(2) - 16(6); Possession: 42% - 58% For the fifth time in six years we manage to get through the first round of the League Cup. A promising performance all in all, as we never really gave them a chance. We got in front when left back Danny Williams put it on a plate for Sonny Lewis, who I think will be one of our most important players this season. What was also good to see is 16 year old goalkeeper Gareth Hampson getting a clean sheet on his debut. The second round takes place at the end of this month and we will host Cymru Premier side Llantwit Major in it. Prestatyn Town - Llanidloes xG: 1.38 - 3.04; Shots: 4(3) - 19(9); Possession: 55% - 45% We took some time to get going in this match, but in the end we were much better. Some great debuts too, which is always good to see. In the first half an hour we couldn't muster anything, and the only shot came from Prestatyn, which was a big chance saved by Gareth Hampson. After that we found our way though, with especially striker Chris Owen having a great debut with two goals. The first of those was assisted by fellow debutant Jonathan Fraser from defensive midfield. Llanidloes - Flint Town xG: 1.51 - 0.56; Shots: 10(3) - 7(3); Possession: 54% - 46% Oh yes, that is a great result! Daniel Ola is so good for us, got the assist on the first goal too. The perfect start as Ola even performed when put on the left wing. We even scored a 3rd in the 14th minute, but that one was disallowed due to it being narrowly offside. We coasted towards victory after that, only unable to keep the clean sheet as legs started to get tired with it being a midweek game. Transfer alert Some very big news here. Seamus Famer has been sold to Haverfordwest. €17.5k plus his €7k salary means we immediately cancel out the loss that was made over last season. It may not seem like much, but it actually is for us. I was already devastated about losing him, but then Haverfordwest came in with the offer to loan him back to us this season! The ideal outcome for the club in the end, as he was never staying longer than that anyway. We can enjoy his dribbles for one more year. Llanidloes - Llantwit Major (League Cup) xG: 2.37 - 2.00; Shots: 15(5) - 12(7); Possession: 61% - 39% Oh wow! I did not expect this at all actually. We fielded a very rotated side and I was mostly scared of a thumping after that early goal to be honest. There where two players that really shined for us today. First there was midfielder George Jenkins-Evans from our academy. He did not only score the 1-1, but also gave the assist on the 3-2. The MOTM Chris Owen does not appear on the scoresheet, but gave assists on our two equalisers. Them scoring after we thought we had won it with a late goal was a hard one to take, but we kept composed during the penalty shootout to get us through. Awards Another one. Great start to his season! Goal and assist for Billy Osborn too in those first two league games.

Pre-season 28/29 Quite a lot has happened here, and not only thing I'm happy about. First of all, I had a difficult start to the transfer window as the players that would be direct reinforcements for us often don't want to come to the club, or want too much wage. Eventually I got going by again signing young players with the hopes that they can emerge this season. The biggest news on the transfer front this year has been on the way out though, with at least one very important player not being with us this season, and most likely another one soon to follow. The biggest problem on the transfer front is getting in good midfielders and attackers. Defenders have been easier to get in my time here, and they often require less wage as well. I feel like I have already been busy with transfers, but there could still be some more to come than I will show in this post. Again just the 3 friendlies, but results have been very good. We drew TNS only after they scored an injury time penalty, and the draw there wasn't fully undeserved either. Then a match against a non-league opponent which could have ended in a much bigger score, before we only lost by one goal to a League Two team. Quite promising actually. Finances Nothing special here. Currently spending a little bit more than at the start of last season, but that could still fluctuate to either side. For the second season in a row we lose about €20k. This has unsurprisingly come since we have had an increase in the wage budget. Transfers Transfers out first. Two very notable ones are already showing. Not many more important ones have happened yet, but maybe one to come. Malachi Ogunleye: was marked as our best player last season. Although he never performed as well as his attributes suggested he could, he will be missed dearly. Last summer offers came in from Cymru Premier teams and from that moment onwards he didn't want to renew his contract. He moves a league up, and has gotten the promise that he will be an important player at his new club directly. Seamus Famer: still at the club, but probably not for long. He was amazing for us in the past season as a right winger and developed very well too. Cymru Premier sides came in with bids for him and this time with actual money. He wanted to go, I promised I would let him for €20k, and to my surprise Haverfordwest have actually bid that now. Craig Edwards: served us well at center back over the past three seasons, but with some new players coming in there he wasn't really needed anymore. Linden Bridge-Wilkinson: was our reserve goalkeeper from the own academy. Sadly he never developed and has already been surpassed by a younger goalkeeper now. Kristian Pierce: the fan favourite was 34 years old and has retired. He is now a coach at the club. Amirul Abd Razak: a back-up midfielder who I felt wouldn't feature much this season. Transfers in: Sonny Lewis: this midfielder came in on a free at the end of last season and immediately got a spot in the first XI. He performed well with 4 goals and 2 assists in only 4 matches. Richard Sanderson (see below) and Lee Hamilton: back-ups for both the left back and center back position. Hamilton comes from our senior affiliates TNS, while Sanderson is actually a full international! Daryl Williams (see below) and Jerry Fawcus: two good young center backs who will be competing for a spot in the starting XI with each other and maybe Livesey Barkhuizen too. Jonathan Fraser: a player who will probably get enough playing time as a defensive midfielder. I quite like the looks of him, though his physicals are lacking. Chris Owen: I needed a back-up for both the right wing and striker position, and he can do both. Now however, with Seamus Famer close to leaving the club, he might need to play more than expected. He is not a bad player, but I don't expect him to develop a lot due to his personality I am still looking for some reinforcements in midfield and attack, but will only go for players I think will make a real difference now. Squad I have been looking for a better goalkeeper, but am yet to find one. The biggest problem now is that Ryan Forde got injured during a friendly and will miss the first two months of the season. We have a lot of depth at the back for this season, which is quite nice. Ben Davies will still be our starting right back, while Danny Williams performed well enough last season to get the nod again at the left. David Roberts is of course our leader at the back and will be starting most games, while there is some healthy competition for the spot next to him. Jonathan Fraser will be used mostly in midfield, which is also where I've been trying Wayne Staines out lately. Billy Osborn earns a lot, but he showed to be worth it last season, being our best player on the field. Next to him in central midfield Sonny Lewis showed that he is a real reinforcement in his first few games. There are some players fighting for the defensive midfield spot including the two named under the defenders. The positions I'm still looking for transfers the most. Especially with Seamus Famer probably leaving the club now. I'm fairly happy with our strikers actually. Especially if Daniel Ola can keep scoring like he did last season. Season preview Same position as last year. I'm mostly hoping that we will make the step up now with some players being at the club longer. Board expectation I like to see the board have some ambition, so don't mind this at all. First time they expect anything in any cup too.

Yeah, I need to win this league for the challenge anyways, so might as well do it now. I don't really mind staying here either for now, as I do feel like I have managed to build something at the club, so would be nice to leave them with a promotion.

Season review 27/28 A good season all in all, but disappointment prevails as we fall just short of the title. We did manage to take the title challenge to the end, which is something we couldn't do before, and therefore something we can be proud of. The fact that the xG table does have us in first place makes things even more bitter. Our defensive performance was great like last season, conceding just 27 goals again. In attack we did much better than in previous years. We scored a grand total of 64 goals, which is 10 more than our previous best. In the cups we did well too, though there were no special cup runs. In all of them we progressed through the first two rounds, and twice we fell short on penalties to crash out. Competitions Like we seem to be able to do every season, we got of to a good start. This time around though, we managed to keep it going longer than we have done before. At the halfway point of the season, at the end of November, we were in 3rd place. We did have a big points total of 32 already then, only losing one game up until that point. It was in the winter months from December to February that we lost the plot a little though. 9 games with 3 wins, draws and losses each, saw us fall to 5th in the table. We then won an all important game against Airbus UK Broughton in the race for the title, which preluded an end of season winning streak of 6 games. It was just short of what was needed in the end sadly, meaning we will be in this league for another season. Opponents of increasing quality here. First an easy win to a non-league side, after which we just about got the better of Cymru South side Cwmbran Celtic. We put up a very good fight against the Cymru Premier side too, but gave away a late penalty which prevented the match from going to a penalty shootout. A convincing win to start of our season in the League Cup, before we managed to shock Haverfordwest just two weeks later. Sadly we couldn't get into the quarter finals, as we went out on penalties after an even game against one of the best Cymru South sides. Llanelli Town actually surprised and went all the way to the final in the end. For only the second time in 5 seasons we progressed past the first round in this cup. It didn't come easy though, as we had an early red card and needed penalties to win. That was also the way we went out eventually, before which we had easily dispatched Hay St. Marys in which was the biggest win of our season. Squad Ryan Forde: In his three seasons here he has gotten an increasing number of clean sheets. 9, 10 and 12 respectively. He got his highest average rating this year too, but for some reason I feel like he wasn't as good as before. I might be looking for a better goalkeeper next summer. Ben Davies: has been an important part of the team for three seasons now. His constant development has also ensured he will be a good player for the club next season too. This was the first year he mostly played at right back and he did very well there. David Roberts: last season he didn't fully satisfy me, but he did this year. Not only did he lead our defence like I asked of him, he also got some vital goals including a hattrick. Livesey Barkhuizen: could just as well have been Craig Edwards here, as they battled for this spot all season. Both did well, but not great. Danny Williams: was brought in as a back-up left back, but the lack of another transfer meant he played a lot of games in the starting XI. His performances positively surprised me, although I am disappointed by his lack of development. Malachi Ogunleye: according to the season preview screen one of the best players in the league. He has some insane mental attributes for our level too, but never really excelled. He is leaving us on a free in the summer sadly, which is still a big blow for the club. Billy Osborn: was actually one of the best players in the league. First season he fully played in his preferred deep lying playmaker role and he filled it in so well. 15 goal contributions from midfield is not something that is achieved that easily. Riley Lonergan: another solid season from him. The last few games he was moved to the bench though, as new signing Sonny Lewis is significantly better than him. Seamus Famer: I tipped him to have his breakthrough season here after coming into the starting XI towards the end of last season. And he definitely lived up to expectations. First mostly with assists, but in the second half of the season he also started scoring regularly. Still only 19 years old and developing very well. Jack McCourt: no special player looking at his attributes, but he did have some very good seasons at Llandudno before this. Mostly brought him in on stats and he didn't have an easy first half of the season, with two red cards too. He did get better towards the end, though I might be looking for a replacement in the summer. Daniel Ola: biggest surprise of the season for me. Last year I mostly had him as a back-up winger, but we found out he is way better as a striker this year. Archie Hatcher wasn't living up to expectations and I gave Ola the chance in a cup game. He scored 4 and the rest is history. Awards Second time winning this, although I would have preferred the title of course. A team dominated by players of Airbus UK. Very deserved for our two present players to be here though. I personally feel like Seamus Famer should have gotten in too on the right wing. He was the league's fifth best player by average rating and had 18 league goal contributions. Next season No big changes in the budgets and I expect the board to want a top half finish again. Scrap that, they now say they want a top four finish. Love the ambition to be honest. As for myself, last year I said I wanted a league title. We just fell short, but the goal stays the same for next year. Progress

I've made myself the promise to stay at Llanidloes until we win the league. I do really hope it will be next season though, because I also want to start moving on now. And of course for the challenge it's not great to have not won any of the 49 trophies after 5 seasons. Great to hear you like my style!

Title Decider We have arrived to the most important day of the save so far. A chance to win my first trophy. It will not be easy though, and I need luck to go my way. Looking back though, it is already an achievement that we have got to this last matchday with a chance at the title. This is what I said after our loss against Aberystwyth Town in matchday 24. I had lost hope. We had a good season, but all came crashing down during the winter, like we have experienced before. A series of 8 matches with only 2 wins (and 3 draws). After that last match, the gap to the top of the league had increased to 8 points, which seemed an impossible amount to overcome in 6 games. We played the league leaders Airbus UK next though, and beat them. We went on a winning streak and won our next 4 matches too, which brings us to today. One time before were we involved in the league decision on the last day. It was in my second season, when we were in 9th place and had nothing left to play for. 3 teams were fighting for the title back then and our opponents Holywell were in pole position. This is how that went: Quite a dramatic finish it was. One thing is certain though, we won't be missing out on goal difference, as ours is far superior to Airbus UK. The bad news is that this is the only thing to give us hope as well, because Airbus UK have 3 more points. Llanidloes - Hay St. Marys (Matchday 30) We meet Hay St. Marys at home. We played them twice earlier this season, both away. The first time we met them was in the Tier 2 League Cup, when we completely outplayed them and got our biggest win of the season, 5-1. The second time was only a month later, but went very differently. We gave away two leads in a match that ended in a 2-2 draw. Hay St. Marys is safe from relegation after a win last match, so they have nothing to play for anymore. We need a win today. It's Ruthin again! They helped us out with a draw against Aberystwyth Town last match, and will need to do one better for us by winning this one. They are semi-officialy safe from relegation, as they are 3 points ahead with a much better goal difference. Just the one change in our starting line-up, with Danny Williams coming in for Wayne Staines. Hay St. Marys however have taken their best 3 players out of the squad altogether, and I fear Ruthin might have done the same. Kick-off 04:34 - We have the ball in midfield and after some build up get it to Seamus Famer on the right wing. He plays it to Billy Osborn, who immediately gives it back with a through ball into the box. Famer shoots and it seemed as if the goalkeeper should save it, he got his hands to it, but deflects it into his own goal! We have the perfect start again! 05:30 - A highlight directly from kick-off. We win the ball quickly and then move up the pitch. Sonny Lewis has a go from distance but it goes over the bar. 08:39 - We have the ball at left back and swiftly move up the field. Billy Osborn dribbles into the box and shoots right at the keeper. Another shaky moment from the latter as he can't hold on to the ball, but this time it goes out for a corner. Sonny Lewis is over the corner and puts an outswinger to the middle of the box, there all of a sudden left back Danny Williams rises up higher than anyone else end heads it into the top right corner! Once again we're 2-0 up within 10 minutes. Goal alert - Bad news from Broughton, where Airbus UK have taken the lead against Ruthin. Goal alert - More bad news... A 2-0 lead for the league leaders. All seems to have been for nothing now. Goal alert - On the verge of halftime another notification comes in. Ruthin have gotten a goal! Is there any hope? Halftime - We have done what is needed of us so far. Two early goals got us in the drivers seat and we have restricted Hay St. Marys to 0 shots. Now we just need to stay in front and hope for a miracle. Goal alert - It's not happening. A quick goal after the break and we need Ruthin to score 3 again. 53:21 - We have the ball on the right wing and have some pressure on our opposition with two near chances. The ball is hoofed away, but we get it back immediately. Eventually the ball falls to Malachi Ogunleye, who dribbles into the box towards the goalline. He passes it back to the penalty spot where Billy Osborn is ready to shoot it in. He does exactly that to give us a 3 goal lead. Goal alert - Done and dusted. 60:49 - Just after we've made some subs we get a corner, which is taken by Seamus Famer. He finds the head of Livesey Barkhuizen, who comes in with a good header but hits the post. Goal alert - They are rubbing salt into our wounds now. Goal alert - Something done back. Goal alert - A miracle in the making? 90:40 - The life has been sucked out of our game with the title dreams gone now. One last attack with Kristian Pierce in the team, but he shoots it over. Full time - For the second season in a row we end the year with a big winning streak, this time of 6 matches. It started just one game too late sadly, as we miss out on the title by three points. Billy Osborn the man of the match today with a goal and an assist. Nice to end the season with a clean sheet too. It ends here. We improve our record point total from 2 seasons ago, while also ending up the closest to the title we've been. Best defence in the league for the second year in a row too. Our mid-season slump cost us dearly, as it went on for one match too many. Painful. Even more so as we were also the previous holders of this unwanted record.