From the Fringe- Holyhead Hotspur

[Faramir]

16.12.06

Holyhead Hotspur (1) North Ferriby (1) FA Trophy 1st Round

We face a replay after we didn't play well enough to see off North Ferriby at The New Oval. Paul Nicholls return from injury hit a snag when Steve Metcalf passed directly to Rod Wallace and he blasted a shot in off the right upright to gain the visitors the lead. We kept working and our efforts finally paid off when Rob Walker looped a pass in and Neil Teggart deflected it past Craig Farr for the equalizer. North Ferriby's Danny Vella earned MOM honours.

[Faramir]

20.12.06

North Ferriby (0) Holyhead Hotspur (1) FA Trophy 1st Round Replay

It was another close battle with North Ferriby, but we got the better of them. Lewis McGugan scored his 1st ever goal for us on a short cross from Neil Teggart at 41 minutes. When Brian Mulhulland was redcarded for pulling down Teggart at 61 minutes it left them a man short, but they still kept coming forward and it took a pair of late saves from Paul Nicholls to preserve the win. Rob Walker earned MOM honours.

[Faramir]

23.12.06

Aldershot (3) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

It was a case of too little, too late for our offense and too much Jarman for our defense as we fell to Aldershot 3-2. Aldershot built a 3-0 lead thanks to Millwall loanee Nathan Jarman, who torched our defense twice for a nice brace. Veteran forward Eugene Dadi also slipped in to score a goal as we trailed 3-0 with 10 minutes left in the match. I was proud that we kept fighting and Ben Woods drew a goal back as the match moved to injury time. We added another goal when Kyle Critchell pushed D'juvane Davidson in the area and Carl Murkin converted the penalty kick for his 5th goal of the season, but our wasted scoring chances earlier in the match haunted us as we fell short.

As we reach the mid-point of the season, we are currently in 18th place. We are four points ahead of 21st place Farnborough. I have seen signs of improving play and our -4 differential is an indicator that we can be better than we have so far.

[mark wilson27]

Another good cup win, keep it up mate.How you doing league wise

[Faramir]

mark- league wise, still only a bit above the relegation struggle...

***

26.12.06

Shrewsbury (0) Holyhead Hotspur (0)

I should feel satisfied with the draw, as they held control of the flow of play for much of the match. Despite that, it is hard not to be disappointed when we generated three golden chances to take the lead and our forwards failed to capitalize on them. Our backline play has been a lot steadier of late- now that I have settled on a backline of Stewart Morris- Michael Merrick- Jack Hobbs- Carl Murkin- and they were the main reason we were able to take a point away from the match. With Ben Woods out resting today and Neil Teggart and Danny Morgan also unavailable, we were left with our mish-mash of forwards who haven't shown any scoring ability this season. They demonstrated that again today as we sent Paul Jenkin, Nathan Geary and later James Pike in free and all failed to do much of anything- they just don't seem to have that scorer's touch. A point is better than nothing at Gay Meadow, so my complaining won't be strident, but we have to find a way to win these types of matches- the kind we won last season.

[Faramir]

30.12.06

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Dag & Red (1)

We are battling now. Still making plenty of mistakes, but at least we are working on making the next step in our play. We took the lead with a beautiful cross from D'juvane Davidson to Danny Morgan. Morgan fired a shot past Tony Roberts inside the far right post for the kind of goal I have been hoping to see from our club. Unfortunately, we gave it right back. Our backline got caught running around out of position again and that allowed Jamie Guy way too much space and he blasted a shot past Paul Nicholls to help himself earn MOM honours. They played better than us through many stretches of the match, but we managed to avoid falling behind with luck, a few good tackles and a couple timely saves from Nicholls as we held on to split the points. We are now in 19th place and only 2 points above 21st place Farnborough, so we need to start finding a way to win matches.

[Faramir]

1.1.07

The opening of the transfer window brings some much needed reinforcements, while also seeing some unhappy players leaving. Arriving here are 24 year old Irish rightwing Stephen O'Leary, who joins us from Luton for the cost of 1K. Also coming here is 20 year old rightback James Vaughan, who cost us 1K to purchase from Tranmere and will finally give us decent cover for Stewart Morris. We added 20 year old Welsh leftback/center defender Anthony Taylor for 1K from Cardiff. Our other addition is 21 year old forward Lewis Haldane, who cost us 2K to purchase from Bristol Rovers.

The other side of the equation saw Rob Walker moving to Airbus for 5K.

***

1.1.07

Grays (2) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

Same problems, different match. Our backline stunk again as they could easily have prevented both goals, but wandered away from who they should be marking while the ball was in our end of the pitch. We have worked on this over and over again- but it just isn't sinking in and we are leaving our keepers in positions where they have to come up with great saves- all the time. We managed to get a goal back to begin the second half when Craig Mitchell scored his 1st goal of the season, but we just weren't able to get that equalizer.

[Faramir]

5.1.07

We completed the sale of Danny Walsh to Mullingar Town for 18K today.

***

6.1.07

Airbus took two more of our unhappy players as they paid us 4K for Steve Metcalf and 12K for Karl Vernon.

***

10.1.07

Holyhead Hotspur (0) Hereford (1)

How low can you be? As a Manager- pretty low right now. We outplayed the 2nd place side in Conference National by a large margin, but we gave them the goal they needed to beat us when Carl Murkin sent a backpass by Paul Nicholls into our goal for an own-goal. At the other end, Andrea Guatelli was brilliant in stopping Lewis Haldane, who had a nice debut, and Neil Teggart on good scoring chances. Even when we do most everything right, the one mistake we are making is killing us. I am so frustrated at us not being able to make the good, solid play when we need to.

[Faramir]

12.1.07

We now have one of our key youngsters under long-term contract as just turned 17 year old forward Michael Holmes signed a new pact with us. Holmes is still injured and won't be ready for a couple weeks, but he is the fastest player on the club and will join the Senior side as soon as he is ready.

***

13.1.07

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Chesham (1) FA Trophy 2nd Round

We face another FA Trophy Replay after dominating Chesham, but having to fight back for a 1-1 draw at The New Oval. MOM Phil Eastwood flicked a header past Stuart Cain in the first half against the flow of play. Eastwood had of course been unmarked by our backline on the play. We kept working and hammering away and it finally paid off in the 86th minute when Jay Simpson slotted a pass that Paul Jenkin drilled past Zac Jones for his 1st goal of the season. We couldn't get another and will travel to them for the Replay.

[Faramir]

17.1.07

Chesham (3) Holyhead Hotspur (5) Extra-Time FA Trophy 2nd Round

It took a lot of extra effort as we squandered a 2 goal advantage in regular time, but we scored twice in the second half of Extra-time to defeat Chesham and move on to the 3rd Round in the FA Trophy. MOM Paul Jenkin was the hero for us today as he scored one goal in regular time and the match-winner in Extra-time off a good pass from Lewis Haldane. Also scoring in regular time was Nathan Geary and Carl Murkin converted a penalty kick. Murkin scored for both sides as his own-goal was a critical element to the home sides fightback. 16 year old forward Phil Eastwood has me wishing I could bring him to us- as he torched our backline for a brace and looks like a wonderful young forward.

[Faramir]

20.1.07

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Canvey Island (0)

It wasn't a pretty match and we had to survive a late penalty kick, but we managed to win a close 1-0 win over Canvey Island at The New Oval. The lone goal in the match came late in the second half. We had found ourselves stymied by the fine keeping of Richard McKinney in the first half. The second half had seen more of the same, but they were also showing more offense. The goal came on a long pass from James Vaughan. The pass sailed over John Kennedy and Lewis Haldane drilled a shot past McKinney for his 1st goal at Holyhead. We were trying to finish the match out when in the last seconds of second half injury time, Vaughan was called for a push on Jason Hallett in the area. Stuart Cain earned MOM honours with a diving save of the penalty to preserve our close win.

***

21.1.07

It cost us 24K, but we landed 20 year old leftback Michael Gillan from Slough. I have hopes that he will really become a solid player and my scouts were very high on him. The fans at Slough were a bit upset over his sale, as he was one of their favorites.

[Faramir]

23.1.07

Rushden (3) Holyhead Hotspur (3)

We had top placed Rushden where we wanted them- but another backline error led to the late equalizer and spoiled what would have been a grand win as we wound up in a 3-3 draw. We fell quickly behind in the match as Steve Fletcher drilled a 25 yard free kick past Stuart Cain. We fought back to even as Steve Hurst, one of our promising 17 year olds, had a terrific debut and took a pass from Aaron Nowacki before driving the equalizer past Martyn Margarson. Fletcher again shook free of our ineffectual marking to give them the lead in the opening moments of the second half on his 100th League goal. We answered after Graham Allen pulled down Hurst in the area and Carl Murkin converted the penalty kick. We took the lead when a Margarson error allowed Neil Teggart to score, but a terrible misplay of the ball by Stewart Morris allowed them to equalize. By rights they should have won this match, but in between his misplaying the goals, Stuart Cain gave a very good display. Fletcher earned MOM honours.

[Faramir]

27.1.07

Cambridge (2) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

How many times the same refrain has cost us matches this season- woeful backline play and terrible decision making. Early in the first half we left Paul Atkins unmarked and of course he made us pay by slamming a shot past Stuart Cain. We were a bit fortunate to only give up that one goal, because they had several quality chances. In the opening moments of the second half, Michael Tuohy made a horrible decision to pass it way back into our end. Of course his playing the pass meant that Atkins and Dion Dublin were onside, so Dublin slotted it across to Atkins with no defender back within 5 yards and he put the shot away past Cain. We got a goal back when Andy McGregor drilled a shot past Barry Roche on a nicely laid off pass from Danny Morgan, but we never could get the equalizer. After the loss we are now 22nd in Conference National and 2 points away from getting out of the relegation zone. With the last third of the season upon us, it is time for us to start playing better.

[Faramir]

28.1.07

Robert Clarke's time has come. The 17 year old signed a new contract with us and I turned down large bids from Manchester City, Fulham and Nottingham Forest to keep him. He becomes our number 1 keeper at this point.

Our young forward, Steve Hurst's strike mate, Michael Holmes is almost recovered from injury and will see some playing time soon.

***

28.1.07

As the transfer deadline approaches, one left and one arrived for us. Leaving is Keiran Lee, who was sold to Barnet for 4K. Lee has talent, but his lack of pace left him ineffective in our style of play and we have a boatload of wingers on the club- so selling him made sense. Arriving at a cost of 22K is rightback Tyrone Mears from Preston. Preston paid Manchester City 250K for him only a year ago, so I think he is a bargain- though I did have to grant him a 475K min fee release clause.

***

29.1.07

The offers keep pouring in for Robert Clarke. Middlesbrough and Ipswich were the latest two to bid, but Clarke isn't going anywhere.

[Faramir]

31.1.07

Halifax (1) Holyhead Hotspur (0)

Our play improved- a lot, but we couldn't find a way to score on Gavin Ward and were again left on the short end of a close match. Matt Doughty got the only goal of the match midway through the first half when he slipped away unmarked at the far post and put away his shot. Robert Clarke was solid enough in his debut, but Steve Hurst was our really exciting player. Hurst was close to scoring at least 4 times and looks like our most dynamic player at present.

[Faramir]

3.2.07

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Morecambe (2) FA Trophy 3rd Round

Michael Merrick's poor tackling doomed us as Rob Elvins ghosted past phantom tackles from Merrick twice and scored both goals in the visitors win over us at The New Oval. Our goal came early in the second half when James Pike fired a blast past Scott Davies as he returned from injury. Elvins second goal came shortly after Pike's and I was very disappointed in the lack of heart shown by several players. For certain there are changes to be made whether we stay up- or go down.

[mark wilson27]

Its beginning to look dire, fingers crossed it gets better

[Faramir]

Thanks mark It has been a struggle this season...

***

7.2.07

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Altrincham (0)

A win! No thanks to the Referee, as we received 5 yellow cards in the first half, including two to Dean Furman with him sent off at 36 minutes with the match still scoreless. I gambled playing three midfielders and keeping Steve Hurst and Michael Holmes up front and the Hurst made the gamble pay off when Christopher Gilligan slipped him a pass and he danced past two attempted tackles before driving a shot past Stuart Tomlinson. Hurst deservedly earned MOM honours with that goal and his overall play up front. With the lead in the second half, we reverted to a 441 approach and leaned on Robert Clarke to try and earn the win. Clarke came up with the big save we needed as he stopped Andy Hylton in close with the match on the line late in the second half. Clarke earned his 1st clean sheet and we had a much needed win.

[suppitty]

Congrats on finally winning. I just caught up with this sotry recently, and you've inspired me to start a new career in the depths of English football.

[Plumble]

Nice win

KUTGW

[Faramir]

suppity- I tend to *live* in the depths of English Football (weird for a Yank, no doubt...)

Plumble- Thanks, it was one of those wins you sigh with relief when it is over

***

10.2.07

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Alfreton (2)

I still can't believe we allowed them to come back and earn a draw. I thought this one was our match from early on- after Ryan Clarke was redcarded in the 4th minute for a professional foul on Michael Holmes. Anthony Taylor scored his 1st goal for us a minute after the redcard when he deflected a corner from Lloyd McGowan past Greg Smith. We went ahead 2-0 late in the first half Steve Hurst scored after taking a fine pass from Michael Gillan. Things went sour in the second half after Michael Terrell- brought on for a tiring McGowan- went down with an injury. Carl Murkin tried to fill in, but suddenly they were able to get pressure on us. Jonathan Stevenson scored when he slipped the marking of Jack Hobbs and deflected a cross from MOM Matt Fisher past Robert Clarke. It still looked like our match when we were stunned by a fluke goal from Kevin McGarrigle in second half injury time. This was a terrible match to waste getting a win in- since they are struggling in the relegation muddle with us.

[Faramir]

17.2.07

Farnborough (0) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

A huge win for us as Farnborough was the club directly below us in the table. The only goal of the match was Ben Woods' sublime 40 yard strike from the right sideline after he saw Martyn Margetson out of position. Woods was sent off with his 2nd yellow card midway through the second half, which ruined what should have been MOM honours. Instead they went to teammate Tyrone Mears as our backline did well in supporting an excellent clean sheet effort from Robert Clarke. The win left me satisfied that all the mind game discussion in the press with Farnborough Manager Frank Gray had helped fire my side up a little bit.

[Faramir]

24.2.07

Burton (0) Holyhead Hotspur (3)

It was the Michael Holmes show as he earned MOM honours by scoring a hat-trick to lead us to an important win over Burton at Pirelli Stadium. This was the kind of match I was hoping to see more of this season, but I am glad at least they are starting to arrive now. Michael Gillan made another pinpoint pass and that allowed Holmes to score his 1st ever goal for the Senior side midway through the first half. Just before halftime Tyrone Mears made a pretty long breakout pass and Holmes and Aaron Nowacki played a neat 1-2 that Holmes finished off past Matthew Ramsay. With Burton trying desperately to get back in the match, it was Holmes again with the clincher as he drilled a shot past Ramsay after fooling him badly on the dribble. Robert Clarke earned the clean sheet in the win.

[Faramir]

3.3.07

Holyhead Hotspur (0) Accrington (1)

We battled hard against 3rd place Accrington, but one play decided the match and we weren't the ones who took advantage of it. We played a fine first half with plenty of pressure. Our finishing was lacking today and we wasted several superb chances with missed passes and shots off the outside of the goal. The lone goal of the match came when Ian Craney headed down for Philip Marsh and he blasted the shot past Robert Clarke for his 10th goal of the season. We failed to mount a good rally after that point.

[Faramir]

10.3.07

Tamworth (1) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

The score should have been even more in our favor, but I will certainly be happy with the win on the books as we beat Tamworth at The Lamb Ground. Neil Teggart earned MOM honours, as well he should, for scoring both of our goals- which included the match winner in the second half. We were off on a flyer when Michael Holmes sent a pass up the middle that Teggart ran down and then fired past Robin Hallam. We allowed the equalizer when both Jack Hobbs and Adrian Bristow missed tackles and Kyle McCoy finished well past Robert Clarke late in the first half. With Tamworth reduced to 10 men, due to Steven Pickering's 2nd yellow card, we were having trouble getting the kind of chances that we had created in the first half. Teggart made the point moot when he sent an immediate 35 yard chip over Hallam when he stepped in front of a backpass by Carl Sheard. That was enough for the win as Clarke made two timely saves late in the second half. The win moves us up to 17th place - 8 points above the relegation contingent.

[Faramir]

17.3.07

Gravesend (1) Holyhead Hotspur (0)

Our lack of finishing was what did us in today as we lost another close match. Michael Holmes had at least five excellent chances, but Aaron Kerr came up with a trio of big stops and Holmes missed the net with his other shots. They had only a bare few chances, but Ben Surey made one of them pay off with a well placed shot from 25 yards that just beat a diving Robert Clarke. I was pleased with our overall effort and how hard we had worked, but it was just another close loss in the books for us at the final whistle. Lloyd McGowan earned MOM honours for his efforts in the midfield.

[Faramir]

24.3.07

In a nice accomplishment, Our Under-18 side won the Group 9 Under-18 Championship. They clinched the top spot with four matches remaining.

***

24.3.07

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Morecambe (1)

It is pretty difficult to score an own-goal in the opening moments of the match and still come back and be named MOM- but Martin Hall accomplished that today. Martin was getting his first start in center defense and his awkward header attempt sailed past Robert Clarke to give them the lead at 4 minutes. That was all the offense they had today as Hall keyed a quick and determined backline effort that really took away the potent Rob Elvins. We equalized when Danny Morgan found Michael Holmes with space and he put away a shot past Ryan Robinson midway through the first half. We pounded away at them in the second half, but Holmes missed a couple of good chances wide and Robinson came up with a great save on James Pike late in the half to allow the 4th place side to split the points with us.

[Faramir]

31.3.07

Holyhead Hotspur (2) York (0)

It took a long match of determined effort, but finally all our hard work bore fruit as we scored twice later in the second half to defeat York 2-0. Up until the point we scored, the script was all too familiar. The chances had been there, but 'Wily' Willy Gueret had made key saves on both Neil Teggart and Michael Holmes and we were again appearing very frustrated. The boys kept working and it finally paid off when Teggart deflected a short cross from Christopher Gilligan past Gueret. We had to make a couple saving tackles before Holmes put the match out of reach. James Vaughan sent a long header forward and Holmes ran it down and past a defender before slamming a shot past Gueret for his 5th goal of the season. Holmes earned MOM honours and Robert Clarke was pleased to finally put up another clean sheet. With 5 matches remaining we are currently in 17th place- 9 points ahead of 21st place Burton.

[pnalyd7]

How has Holyhead Hotspur from the Cymru Alliance, league below the Welsh Premier League, manage to find themselves in the English pyramid league structure ? Its like Stenhousemuir in Scotland joining the Conference North in England, there would be so much red tape. I live 20 miles from Holyhead, anyway keep up the interesting story.

[Faramir]

*chuckle* Well pnalyd7- no red tape at all, just a simple edit I understand it would not happen in real life, but I picked a club that had nothing to start with (well after editing) and whose name I thought was catchy Mostly just a lark, no reality involved- just the challenge of starting at the bottom with nothing.

***

7.4.07

Stevenage (3) Holyhead Hotspur (0)

We were beaten on three headers for a scoreline that didn't reflect a match that was much closer than this. Martin Hall was beaten in the air twice- once in the 2nd minute by Jon Nurse as the home side got off to a flying start- and the other late in the match as Martin Wells deflected a long cross past Robert Clarke. Wells also had another goal as he slipped in to snap a header past Clarke on a cross from the corner. The result was deserved as our shooting was abysmal and we wasted many good chances earlier in the match to get on the scoreboard.

[Faramir]

9.4.07

Holyhead Hotspur (3) Woking (1)

A few good finishes finally gave us another win as we defeated Woking 3-1 at The New Oval. Ben Woods proved he still has the free kick magic by drilling a 25 yard blast past Clint Davies early in the first half to give us the lead. Woking pegged us back immediately as Martin Hall moved to challenge and nobody covered up for him, which allowed Alexis Nicholas an easy chance to equalize past Stuart Cain. The second half saw plenty of up and down the pitch action as each club tried to stake their claim to a win. Superb vision by Michael Holmes allowed him to slip a pass in for Andy McGregor. Andy blasted his shot inside the far left post and we finally regained the lead. Danny Morgan missed heading a nice cross with an open goal, but made good on his second chance when he knocked home the rebound after Davies parried a shot from Holmes later in the sequence. The best news is that our win means we will avoid relegation this season. We are 17th place with a 10 point margin on 21st place Burton with only three matches remaining. It has been a struggle this season and that is a big relief to me at this juncture.

[suppitty]

How many are you getting through the gates at this point?

[Faramir]

suppity- Usually around 900 or so, sometimes less...

***

14.4.07

Scarborough (4) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

I had hoped that we could make a good showing in our last road match of the season. Instead we experienced the same problems with our backline that have plagued us all season. We fell behind in the first half when a bad bounce let the ball roll into the middle and Matty Robson was first to it as he put away the shot past Robert Clarke. Dean Furman compounded our problems with a terrible backpass that went to Michael Husbands. Husbands took it around Clarke to score from 30 yards as we trailed 2-0. We got a goal back before halftime when Martin Hall scored his 1st goal for us as he lurked unmarked on the far side of a corner kick. That goal gave us hope, but we fell behind by 2 goals again when Jack Hobbs was called for pushing in the area and Kevin Nicholson converted the penalty kick. We fought back again when Michael Holmes slipped a pass into unmarked Andy McGregor and he easily slipped a shot inside the right post. They finally clinched the match when Michael Coulson overpowered James Vaughan and slashed a shot past Clarke to make the final margin 4-2.

***

21.4.07

Holyhead Hotspur (3) Southport (0)

It was another dazzling display from Michael Holmes as he scored a brace in leading us to a solid win. We had stretches where we played great and then others we didn't work hard enough. Holmes also set up James Pike to score late in the second half. Our defense and backline was steady, but not flashy today as they quickly passed it off when they got it.

[Faramir]

28.4.07

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Aldershot (0)

We closed out our season in fine fashion as we defeated favored Aldershot 2-0 at The New Oval. Andy McGregor was the architect of the first goal as he made a good move with the ball to seperate from his defender and then he slotted a pass that Michael Holmes put away for us. As the first half stretched into injury time a pretty cross from Ben Woods was just right for Holmes to deflect past Michael Poke for a brace and a 2-0 lead. Holmes came very close to making his effort a hatrick, but saw Poke save one and he missed just wide two other times as he put the Aldershot backline to the sword. Holyhead's Jack Hobbs earned MOM honours in the match. The win allowed us to overtake Tamworth on goal differential and finish 16th in Conference National.

[Faramir]

30.4.07

As it was laid out by the Board- we didn't receive any prize money for our finish. I am going over our depth charts, but it is clear that there will be a bunch of players on the transfer list soon.

***

9.5.07

"It was a good run Mark, you went to the final day of the season before the Hull Reserves beat you out by a point for the Group 3 title," offered Heartwood.

"I dearly wanted to win that title- it was such a close race with Hull all season. Two very good sides," answered Bradshaw."

***

18.5.07

We added three new signings from those released by the EPL clubs. Joining us will be 17 year old forward Jason Morley from Sheffield Wednesday, 18 year old forward Shaun Cummings from Chelsea and 18 year old center midfielder Liam Bridcutt also from Chelsea.

I have had to field and turn down a bunch of offers on both Michael Holmes and Robert Clarke.

[mark wilson27]

good couple of results, keep them coming. Never thought it would be this hard, just put Matlock in the Conference North

[Faramir]

mark- Holyhead was tough, but playing Harrow Hill again in FM2007 is much harder- the most difficult challenge I have seen since I began playing way back with CM2.

***

20.6.07

The first piece of news to come back was that Jack Hobbs was the Fans Player of the Year. This was no surprise given that Jack had earned a starting spot on the Conference National Select Team.

We received 150K in TV money for the year, but some of that went out the window as the renovations to our training facility brought things up to average (from very poor last season). The Board offered me a variety of wage/transfer fund combinations and I settled on 675K in transfer funds and a weekly wage amount of 11.5K (we are currently at 7600/week). The Board only expects us to stay up and will be pleased if we can survive another year up here.

On the player news, there hasn't been much of late. We did sign Daniel Hayes to a new contract and he will feature at forward with Michael Holmes as our starting pair. I will also be trying to sign some youngsters to develop.

[Faramir]

1.7.07

The opening of the transfer window meant several players leaving. Michael Payne went to Weymouth on free transfer, Stephen O'Leary was sold to Colchester for 20K with clauses, D'juvane Davidson left for Mullingar Town for 10K, Paul Nicholls was sold to Farnborough for 2K and Mark Studley was released when his contract expired.

Joining us on a 3K purchase was 22 year old rightwinger David Poole from Yeovil. Of the promising youngsters we were able to sign, the biggest catch might be 16 year old leftwing David Fleming. Fleming selected our offer over those from Aston Villa, Middlesbrough and Manchester City. Other very promising youngsters are 16 year old center midfielder Stephen Morgan, 15 year old center midfielder Paul Morris and 16 year old forward Michael Bradshaw.

***

14.7.07

On the eve of our first friendly- hosting Brighton- we signed 19 year old leftwinger Sean Evans. Evans was released by Manchester United and I was suprised that he selected our offer over several he had from larger clubs.

[Faramir]

22.7.07

As we make our way through the friendlies, I know our players are a bit disappointed, but I am not overly concerned that we have yet to win. We played Brighton and Huddersfield close before losing and battled Charlton Reserves to a scoreless draw. We also completed the sale of Karl Wills to Farnborough on free transfer. I wonder how Paul Nicholls feels about also having signed on with Farnborough now.

***

30.7.07

Another free transfer signing of note for us as 20 year old Irish center defender Sean Kelly chose our offer over several other clubs and immediately adds depth to our center defense.

***

6.8.07

Conference National Odds by Totalbet.com

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

Halifax 6-4

Morecambe 7-4

Accrington 7-4

Cambridge 7-4

Scarborough 3-1

Chester 3-1

Holyhead Hotspur 40-1

</pre>

[Faramir]

10.8.07

Starting lineup for hosting Scarborough to begin the 2007-8 campaign

GK- Robert Clarke

DR- Tyrone Mears (hasn't played in friendlies due to injury)

DL- Michael Gillan

DC- Jack Hobbs

DC- Martin Hall (Darren Barnes will take over here with Hall moving to leftback- as soon as I complete contract negotiations with him- he just turned 17 and I turned down all manner of offers from EPL clubs on Barnes all summer long)

MR- David Poole

ML- Christopher Gilligan

MC- Andy McGregor

MC- Lloyd McGowan

SC- Daniel Hayes (my wunderkid ready to make his debut- paired with his strike partner from last season)

SC- Michael Holmes

Sub- Ben Woods

Sub- Steve Hurst

Sub- Michael Tuohy

Sub- Stuart Cain

Sub- Andrew Broadbent

[Faramir]

11.8.07

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Scarborough (0)

It was all I could have asked for in a first match as we beat Scarborough 2-0 at The New Oval. Daniel Hayes had a terrific debut, earning MOM honours and scoring the match winning goal. We played solid defense throughout the match and really moved the ball as well as I hoped. The first half wasn't a thing of beauty for us, but we went to the dressing room scoreless. The chances had been there, but Matthew Gregg had been very solid in goal for them and had stopped Hayes twice and Michael Holmes once on excellent efforts. We managed to maintain our pressure in the second half and Holmes broke away down the right. Holmes stopped and wheeled before crossing for Hayes and Hayes made a diving header to deflect the ball past Gregg at 67 minutes. We brought on the subs to keep things fresh and played more conservatively with the lead. The goal that put the match out of reach for us came when Christopher Gilligan sent a sharp cross into the middle and Ben woods deflected it past Gregg at 82 minutes. Robert Clarke made a few solid saves to earn his clean sheet.

[Faramir]

14.8.07

Holyhead Hotspur (2) Forest Green (2)

We turned what appeared to be solid win into a draw in a matter of minutes in the second half as our backline reverted to their wasteful ways. We earned a 2-0 first half lead thanks to a nice goal from Steven Hurst on a cross from Sean Evans and Adam Nowacki's slightly deflected 25 yard blast that eluded keeper Andrew McNeil. We came close to adding to that lead early in the second half, but McNeil made two big saves on Ben Woods, who had entered at the opening of the second half for the slightly injured Hurst. Our backline handed the match back to Forest Green when James Vaughan got caught wandering well up the pitch and that wound up with Christian Sylvester deflecting a cross from Eddie Anaclet past Robert Clarke. Less than five minutes later a terrible clearing attempt by Michael Gillan went right to Sylvester and he blasted another shot past Clarke for his brace. It was a brutal disappointment to draw a match we looked in control of.

[Faramir]

18.8.07

Morecambe (1) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

It was a toss-up who should be MOM from our team- but Daniel Hayes won the coin flip. Myself, I would have picked Robert Clarke- who had an absolutely brilliant match for us, one of the best I have seen from any keeper. Our forward tandem of Hayes and Michael Holmes gave the Morecambe backline fits in the first half. Hayes was the architect of our first goal. After keeper Scott Davies had stopped Hayes twice on excellent chances, it was a nice skip pass to Michael Holmes that allowed Holmes to drive a half-volley past Davies that gained us the lead. We handed them the equalizer immediately as Sean Kelly had an awful debut and was called for an uneeded penalty on Leroy Williams. Brian Smikle calmly converted the penalty kick past Clarke to make it 1-1. Martin Hall's well placed through ball sent Hayes away cleanly and this time he didn't miss as he put away his shot past Davies to give us a 2-1 halftime lead. Morecambe came out much more aggressive in the second half and in one sequence Clarke came up with three dazzling saves in a row as our backline struggled to clear the ball. We managed to sort ourselves out and came close to clinching the match, but Davies came up with another difficult save on Holmes to keep things close until the final whistle.

***

18.8.07

Adding to our good road win over Morecambe, more good news came when Darren Barnes finally inked a new contract with us. Now I can bring him into the regular lineup and move Martin Hall to his more natural position of leftback.

[Faramir]

25.8.07

Canvey Island (0) Holyhead Hotspur (1)

Darren Barnes may not have received MOM honours (they went to Canvey defender Robbie Threlfall), but he was instrumental in our winning a match on the road as he had a fine debut. Barnes sure tackling blunted several early attempts while we sputtered in the first half. We managed a couple good chances, but found keeper Richard McKinney playing very well. Late in the first half Barnes threaded a through ball between four Canvey players and picked out Daniel Hayes bursting free. Hayes made no mistakes in driving his shot past McKinney to give us the lead going to the dressing room. We played better in the second half, but McKinney would not yield another goal and kept his side in the match. Robert Clarke earned the clean sheet with some well timed rushing out and snaring off of crosses.

[Faramir]

27.8.07

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Tamworth (0)

We weren't particularly sharp in our match hosting struggling Tamworth, but we were just good enough to gain a 1-0 win at The New Oval. We were a bit off on our passing as we were bringing Neil Taggert back from injury and also featuring several players' first appearances of the season. The lone goal came from MOM Taggert as he banged home a rebound after Robin Hallam parried away Shaun Cummings inital shot. We eventually backed off on our pressure as our backline began to wander too far forward and we dodged a couple bad sequences with timely tackles from the backline. Stuart Cain put up the clean sheet for the match in his 1st appearance of the season.

[mark wilson27]

very good start to season Faramir

[Faramir]

Thanks mark- better than I expected (after last season)

***

31.8.07

Our only transfer deadline addition was 21 year old forward Chris O'Grady. O'Grady cost only a pittance- 4K- from Leicester. O'Grady should earn a slot in our forward rotation and has some skills (notably in the air) that the rest of our forwards are lacking. I am still committed to Daniel Hayes and Michael Holmes as our top forward tandem though.

We also managed several sales. James Pike went to S****horpe for 30K. Jamie Ougham is off to Peterborough for 12K. Stewart Morris is moving to Stafford for 22K and Lewis McGugan will head to Cefn Druids for 1K as we try to clear out some of the players with no future here.

***

1.9.07

I was pleased to see Daniel Hayes selected as Conference National Player of the Month. Daniel is off to a fine start and should keep developing into a key player for us. The surprise was to find out I had been named Manager of the Month. I never expected to see Raven Treader on any kind of plaque, so it was certainly an honour that I will treasure.

[Faramir]

1.9.07

Stafford (1) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

It was the Michael Holmes show today as he sparked us to a superb fightback victory. After a less than stellar first half by both sides, we allowed them to score much too easily in the opening moments of the second half. Tyrone Mears made an ill advised pass across the pitch and Elliott Frost scooted in to pick it up and split the defense before beating Robert Clarke cleanly with a shot to the low right corner. We fought back when Daniel Hayes slid a pass across the goalmouth and Holmes snapped his shot inside the left post. Holmes then came through in the clutch as he took a pass from Jason Morley, on for tiring Hayes, and drove past Martin Reilly before smashing a shot past Matthew Ghent for the late match winner and MOM honours.

[Faramir]

4.9.07

Holyhead Hotspur (1) Chester (1)

It was a match that we could have won, but I am happy we at least were able to fight back to earn a 1-1 draw. They got off to a flying start when Sean Evans inexplicably stood by and failed to challenge Craig Dove while he blasted a 25 yard shot past Robert Clarke. We managed to equalize midway through the first half when Michael Terrell laid the ball off and Neil Teggart rifled a 20 yard shot past Lee Robinson. We had the better of play from there on, but failed to capitalize on our possession advantage- mostly by not being able to get our shots away before the stern tackling of their backline ruined the chance.

[Faramir]

8.9.07

Aldershot (2) Holyhead Hotspur (2)

I was proud of how we battled in the match as we fought back from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw at Recreation Ground. That said, I was disappointed because our backline virtually handed them both their goals in the first place. Martin Hall had a rocky match and he and Jack Hobbs contributed to us being behind twice. Hall's backpass was too strong for Hobbs and then Hobbs dallied on the ball before Phil Younghusband took it away and blasted it past Robert Clarke. We equalized when Lloyd McGowan found Michael Holmes with space and Holmes moved in and drilled a shot past Michael Poke. They took the lead again in the second half when Neil Wood easily slipped past Hobbs and scored over a diving Clarke. Once more we fought back and MOM Christopher Gilligan slotted a pass that allowed Daniel Hayes to snap a shot inside the near, right post. We came close to taking the three points, but Ben Woods missed a sitter and Holmes was just over the net on a blast from the edge of the area.