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Post by coffers on Nov 7, 2006 15:04:47 GMT
Oh aye, I was in league mode, stupidly thinking two went up automatically.
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Post by Moo on Nov 7, 2006 15:07:16 GMT
Stop taunting up, Coffers.
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Post by Boony on Nov 8, 2006 10:04:02 GMT
May 2008
Conference North Promotion Playoffs. Gateshead v Nuneaton. How exciting! The first leg was in Nuneaton, and the home team looked the stronger of the two from the start. They had most of the highlighted attacking play in the first part of the game, and it was no surprise when they opened the scoring. We came into the game more, seeking an away goal, but I didn't want to push too much as we really didn't want to concede another. The first leg came to a close, 1-0 to Nuneaton, and still much to play for.
The second leg was lit up by a superb 30 yard strike from Matt Somner, as we levelled the tie and took the lead on the night. Before half an hour was up, though, Nuneaton made things an awful lot harder for us when they scored an all-important away-goal from a corner. Damn. We needed two goals from that point onwards, and we pushed and pushed, throwing everything forward in an all-or-nothing attempt to score a goal. Nothing was happening, though, and the minuted ebbed by until finally the whistle blew on the game, and our season.
Southport beat Workington 6-2 on aggregate, and went on to beat Nuneaton 1-0 in the final.
***
The second year of my career was blatantly more successful than my first. Having had an awful time with Bedford Town, taking them down in a relegation battle that hardly deserved the name, things definitely took a turn for the better up in the North East. The talent available was slightly better, for one, and my grip on tactics and motivation was always improving. To get to the playoffs in our first season was, I thought, quite an achievement, and although I was sad that we didn't get a chance to play in the final, I thought it capped off a fine performance throughout the year.
I think now is the time for a quick squad rundown.
Starting at the back, as is customary around these parts, there was only one man between the sticks for us all season. Jason White (57 games, 0 goals, 0 assists, 1 MotM, 6.93 average rating) had a good year, and was an important part of the joint-second best defence in the league. His backup, Barry Tierney (0 games), didn't even sit on the bench with our philosophy of benching five outfielders in every game.
At rightback, we had a mixture of Peter Cavanagh (33(5)-1-3-3-6.76) and Rob Clare (55-0-5-0-7.07). Cavanagh had started the season, and looked pretty decent with a couple of MotM performances coming his way, but he fell away during the winter slump, making some awful errors to aid the opposition's goal tally. In the end he was dropped and Rob clare was moved over from central defence.
Leftback was more settled, with Shaun Gray (54-1-1-2-7.15) playing very solidly throughout. His backup was Martin Giles (4(1)-0-0-0-6.60), who never really had the chance to show if he could outplay Gray.
Three guys did the job in shifts at centreback. The season started with Joe Dolan (44(1)-1-1-0-7.02) and Rob Clare partnering, and Stuart Wall (36(2)-1-1-3-6.87) backing up, but Wall moved into the starting XI once Cavanagh had been dropped from rightback and Clare moved over.
I think having a settled defence really helped our season, as you can tell from the Goals Against column. Having some flexibility in there was useful, too, for when we needed to chase a game, leftback Gray was pulled off and rightback Clare just moved into the middle, a position he was more than comfortable in. One of the reasons for such a settled defence, though, was a real lack of backup. 37 year old Simon Browne (0 games) was untouched, and that was it for our defenders. I think we'll need to get a couple more players in over the summer.
Central midfield caused a few headaches over the season, with players continually popping in and out of form. We switched from a flat 2 to a triangular 3 midway through the season, and this seemed to help as the anchorman allowed the other two to go and play a bit more. Personnel wise, Andy Proctor (49-7-5-5-7.22) was probably our most consistent performer, and this showed as he played 15 more games than any other man in the engine room of the team. His trademark throughout was the long shot from 25-35 yards out, and he finished the season joint-fourth in the team's scoring lists. Our real rock in the middle was my only signing of the season, Matt Somner (31(1)-6-4-1-7.13), who looked very comfortable either in the flat two, or playing anchorman in the triangular three. He is, however, our only defensive midfielder, and we'll need to get some cover over the summer. Brian Dutton (34(2)-2-1-0-7.06) was the holding man before Somner arrived, and played well in partnership with Proctor, but was muscled out of the team later on after his injury let Don Hutchison (28(22)-6-7-5-6.96) in. The Hutch showed some great form in the tail-end of the season, finally playing like we knew he always could. I think a settled place in the team helped, as earlier on I was unsure whether to use him in the hole (my first preference), up front or in midfield. He unequivocally showed me that he preferred to play in the middle, I reckon. He provided some important goals, often direct from freekicks. Old timer Charlie Balfe (0(2)-0-0-0-6.50) hardly got a look-in.
Way back at the start of the season, I thought we were lacking decent talent out wide. Robert Eagle (30(3)-3-4-4-7.06) could play on the left, but I didn't think we had enough on the right, so we began with a narrow, wingerless formation. Injuries persuaded me to try out some width, and up stepped Francis Quarm (33(12)-8-12-2-6.87) who gave us so much more than his average rating and attributes suggested. A great set-piece taker, he leads our assits list for the season. The star of the show, though, was the young and pacy Daryl Taylor (37(2)-7-9-6-7.31) who took advantage of Eagle's many injuries in fine style to become our first choice winger, who could play on either side despite only really having a right foot. The link-up play between our wingers was what surprised me most, with many long cross-field balls from one wing finding the other winger in plenty of space, often ending up in a goal. Backup on the wing was in the form of a couple of old lads, Mark Robinson (6(13)-2-3-0-6.79) and Kevin Davies (0(9)-0-0-0-6.33).
Finally, we come to the strikers. We started off the season with two up front, Louis Briscoe (50(6)-24-9-1-7.13) and Luke Moore (37(14)-12-10-0-6.90) forming a decent partnership. The formation change in February, though, dictated that we would only be using one of these, and it was Briscoe who got the nod in the main. He was comfortably our top scorer for the season, although Moore popped up with the odd vital goal. They showed their old understanding when we pushed on with two up top chasing games later in the season. Backup came in the form of Matt Glass (4(4)-2-3-0-6.75), Tony Nicholson (1(2)-0-0-0-6.00) and Jamie Harwood (2(8)-0-0-0-6.20). What we really lacked, throughout the season, was some speed from a striker - we found it hard to stretch defences and attack on the break. We'll be looking for some more pace in the off-season, but this might be difficult.
Overall, not a bad squad, with some obvious holes that we'll try and plug during the summer. More defenders, a backup DMC, and hopefully some pace up front. I'm hoping a 37 year old Hutchison will be able to last another season, as well...
--edited for missing out bold tags around Simon Browne's name...
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Post by Moo on Nov 8, 2006 10:24:20 GMT
Unfortunate to come up against a decent Nuneaton side who just had that bit more experience maybe.
Your rundown shows you know what the weaknesses are in your squad though, so that can only be a good thing. Hunting out players to fill those holes though is the difficult part. I think what I did in the off season was probably incorrect. I wanted to get people in as soon as possible so I could have a settled squad, but I think I maybe should have been more patient and then tried to get the right man, rather than someone who will do. Hopefully you'll get the personnel you want though.
KUTGW! :thumb:
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Post by coffers on Nov 8, 2006 12:16:10 GMT
That was a very good season even if you did fall at the penultimate hurdle. A little judicial close season buy's could see an nice improvement next year.
I too usually take Moo's approach and grab at players who will do, but that way I always end up with a load of players who end up not pplaying regularly. I really need to get my attitude to recruitment sorted and only recruit players who will improve the squad, rather than just filling out strength in depth positions and upsetting those players that can't get regular games that they were promised at the time of signing.
KUTGW! :thumb:
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Post by Sonic on Nov 9, 2006 0:10:02 GMT
That was such an anti-climax. Still, that was a good season 800; good work. It seems your starting to get your head around what works(all out attack and everyone behind the ball) tactic wise which can only be good for next season. It seems your words at the break had a big impact a couple of times really turning games around. That was a good squad run down too, and it seems that you've got a grasp of the positions you need to be promoted. I'd say at times you struggled for goals in the season though the last part seemed to not show this. The Hutch really made a difference at the end of the season and it seems that you kept him fresh by not playing him at the start :thumb: I'd also suggest starting to look around for someone who's slightly more sprightly than the youthful Hutch too, someone possibly in their early 30's? A quick forward is always a good thing, but what about a donkey one too? I've been meaning to say this, but there is a stat that lets you see who was responsible for every goal that was conceded. If you want to see who the game thinks this is, have a look through your teams/players stats. It'll be interesting to see who the AI deems your leakiest player KUTGW :thumb:
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Post by Boony on Nov 9, 2006 9:41:44 GMT
Cheers for those kind words, Sonic. I knew about the "mistakes" stats, but to be honest I haven't really checked them out as they're just a couple of clicks too far away. I agree, that I'm getting much more tuned in, tactics wise, and yeah, we need someone to replace the Hutch soon, before his legs start turning to stone.
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Post by Boony on Nov 9, 2006 9:42:32 GMT
Summer 2008There's not much to report from the summer activities, or lack thereof. Players were predictably hard to find, with my scout only finding a handful of available players at the right price (practically nothing) for me to choose from. I did manage to fill most of the holes in the squad, though, with the following joining the club: Gavin Donoghue, D RC, £1k from Sunderland - looks like a decent rightback who gives us options along the backline. Possibly straight into the first team. Daniel McPherson, AM C, free from Whitby - looks like one for the youth team right now. Chris Shanks, D C, on loan from Newcastle - was foisted upon us rather than us asking for the youngster. He's not that great, to be honest, and might not make it into the first team. James Earl, AM RLC, free - those of you with good memories might remember me chasing this fella earlier last year (see December 2007), well he left Carlisle and I was on the metaphorical phone immediately. A versatile winger, and set piece specialist. Alan Navarro, DM, free - Navarro was offered to me for free at the end of the season, but he wanted over £600 a week, so I politely declined. A few weeks later, he's out of contract and signs for £120 a week. Bargain! A decent defensive midfielder, provides much needed cover in this position. Lee Blackburn, MC, free from Thurrock - a decent set of attributes for a midfielder - we probably didn't need another one, but this guy looks at least on a par with Proctor and Dutton, and so gives us more depth. Emmanuel Panther, DM, free - another central midfielder! This guy looks the business, though, and immediately jumps above Navarro in the depth chart. So not bad, really - 7 transfers in, 5 of whom add real competitive depth to the first team. There was, of course, the usual host of friendlies: Bristol Rovers: 0-3 Sunderland: 2-2 Reading Reserves: 2-1 Cheltenham: 1-1 Newcastle: 0-0 The gate receipts for the Sunderland and Newcastle games were fantastic, both games filling out our 11k capacity international athletics stadium. In the build up to the Newcastle game, I heard some nice words from their manager: I returned the compliment, naturally. The friendly results were actually quite a surprise - I hadn't set out my stall to win any of them. The players had been told to relax and treat them as practice, I pulled players off to rest them and give others a chance on the pitch, I paid no attention to tactics, and we managed to hold two of the biggest North East teams to draws. I'm happy with that. Overall, I think it's been a reasonable pre-season - we filled gaps and added depth, without adding any totally major talent to the team, we had a decent run of friendly results, and we got loads of money in from hosting are larger neighbours in a couple of games. Job done!
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Post by coffers on Nov 9, 2006 9:56:46 GMT
Somr interesting buys there Boo and useful friendly workouts. Watch that fella Jol though, he's obviously buttering you up for something. KUTGW! :thumb:
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Post by Moo on Nov 9, 2006 10:03:49 GMT
IRL, Shanks isn't a bad defender and should do well in the Conference, but if you don't like the look of him, fair enough. He's not costing you anything though, so he'll be fne for back up.
And I agree with Coffers, beware of the nice Dutchman. :checkit:
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Post by Boony on Nov 9, 2006 10:22:17 GMT
Shanks looks ok, I guess, for a youngster, but he doesn't have the defensive stats we require. He's not bad physically or mentally, it's just the tackling, marking and positioning which let him down, in my eyes. Also, we're looking quite rich at the DC spots right now, and don't need to take that punt on the youngster. Now, I would post August's update, but I forgot to upload the league table at home this morning, so maybe later...
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Post by Boony on Nov 9, 2006 10:27:23 GMT
August 2008A good preseason is only really a good preseason if it preceeds a good first month in the league. The first game of a season is always exciting, and we were given an immediate chance to see how good we were this campaign with a home fixture against Barrow, a team relegated from the Conference National last year. We'd had some injury problems in preseason, and it was a slightly strange looking Gateshead team that took the field that day: You'll notice we have Lee Blackburn in the lineup, in place of Proctor who played in that position last year. This is due to Proctor's red card in one of the friendlies, the muppet. Also, Panther (great name) gets a chance to start immediately in the midfield holding role, allowing Matt Somner to drop back into defence to cover an injury to Wall. Donoghue starts at right back, allowing Clare to move inside, while Dolan isn't considered good enough for the first team at the moment. The one thing I don't like about this lineup, is the shirt numbering. I haven't quite worked out how to fix that, so I'll leave it for now. I really like the idea of playing Somner in the back line, as I know he's someone who can play the ball, but he's also 6 foot tall and is a very good defender. Hopefully Panther can make the DMC spot his own, allowing me to continue with this experiment. Anyway, the game kicks off, and we open the scoring with last season's leading scorer, Briscoe, latching onto a pass from Gray, rounding the keeper, and knocking it in the net to take us one up after 30 minutes. Halftime come and goes, and in the 47th minute Barrow draw level after a mixup between White and Panther lets them in. James Earl comes onto the pitch, and makes a fine impression as his 82nd minute cross finds a Barrow defender who decides to whack it into his own goal. I'd dearly love to hold on for the win, but it's not to be as Barrow equalise for the second time with 2 minutes to go - a freekick finds their forward on his own and he can't fail to score, despite it being his first goal for 10 hours of football! The game ends 2-2, and I think we've given a good account of ourselves. We sign another player, Barry Palmer, a leftback who will provide cover but slot into the youth team, who don't have a leftback right now. The next game is at Lancaster, a side promoted last season. They have the early pressure, but we score in the 30th through Louis Brisc... oh, no! Offside. The Hutch makes up, though, banging in a freekick on 37 to take the lead into halftime. What happens next is every so slightly bizarre, as Lancaster proceed to get three men sent off in 5 minutes just after halftime. One for a kick, one for a headbutt, and one for a push. We run rings around them after that, unsurprisingly, with a fine move involving Hutch, Eagle and Briscoe ends in the latter making it 2-0. I notice that Lancaster are playing a conservative 4-2-1, and so switch things to an offensive 2-1-2-3-2 to push for more goals, and a bigger goal difference. We have about a million chances, but the only goal in the rest of the game is a headed corner in the 83rd minute, for Lancaster. We pull back, and hold on to the 2-1 lead. Next up is third placed Workington, a playoff team last year. We dominate the game, but their keeper is having a blinder, and I don't think we'll ever score. Finally, in the 92st minute, Briscoe harries their keeper into missing a long ball, and slots the ball in. Get in! The buildup to our fourth game, away at Blyth, is tasty. Their manager says we need to win this to have a chance of going up, I tell him we have every intention of winning, then he says they'll go all out for the win. In the end, neither manager wins as Briscoe's first half goal is cancelled out by a Blyth equaliser in the 90th minute, from a poor pass by Clare. Bugger! Eagle was sent off in the 22nd minute for two yellow cards, and will miss the next game. More bad news is that the other winger, Taylor, is injured and may well be out for two months. Bugger! So it's Quarm and Earl who start on the wings in the 5th game, home against Moor Green. Quarm crosses for Briscoe to score his 5th of the season, while Earl swings in a corner onto Somner's head for the two goal advantage as early as the 13th minute. We're all over this lot, and run out deserving 2-0 winners. 2nd place Scarborough is our next away trip, and it starts badly as a poor pass from Briscoe lets in their right winger who opens the scoring. Our leading scorer makes amends, though, turning creator with a cracking pass for Quarm to find the net. Suspicions of offside, apparently, but the goal looked fine to me. The 80th minute sees us take the lead, with left winger Earl passing to Briscoe to score his 6th, and seal the three points. The final game of the month is against top club Hinckley, at home. The first half is uneventful, and the second half nearly so. Surprise surprise, it's Briscoe who picks up a long pass from Gray (hang on, how did this month start?) to open the scoring, and we hold on to the slim one-goal advantage for the remaining 37 minutes. League Record: P7 W5 D2 L0 F11 A5 Pts 17
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Post by coffers on Nov 9, 2006 10:32:06 GMT
That's a fine looking Update Boo, but are you sure you lost two, shouldn't that have been Drawn 2 in the stats line at the bottom? KUTGW!
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Post by Moo on Nov 9, 2006 10:33:48 GMT
Excellent update, Boony, can't fault any of that really.
KUTGW! :thumb:
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Post by Boony on Nov 9, 2006 10:35:26 GMT
Aye, well spotted Coffers - fixed. I can't post a table yet, but we're top of the league by two points, having beaten three teams who were in the top three before we beat them. I've got to be happy about that. I need to build up a lead so the winter wobbles don't hurt too much...
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Post by coffers on Nov 9, 2006 10:51:56 GMT
The tactics are much the same as my line up except my MC's have arrows to the edge of teh pitch, but you will have seen that in my Fjolnir thread.
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Post by Boony on Nov 9, 2006 10:59:10 GMT
Aye - I'm not so keen on that, I like the midfield to be solid in the centre. The wingers do enough tracking back in this scheme anyway, from what I've seen on the pitch.
I came unstuck once last night, when Eagle was sent off - I'd never thought about how to deal with just 9 outfielders on the pitch. To start with, I just left it as it was, with just one winger. Then I pulled it back to a 4-4-1 sacrificing the DMC for some cover out wide. Thinking about it, though, I reckon I should have gone 4-1-3-1 with a narrow 3 in central midfield. One of them pushing up, maybe - a job for The Hutch, no doubt.
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Post by Boony on Nov 9, 2006 17:54:03 GMT
The all important league table at the end of August 2008.
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Post by coffers on Nov 9, 2006 18:15:43 GMT
I'd have gone for the 4-1-3-1 or at a push 4-0-2-2-1 with long balls if desperate to get goals, but that would have been risky,
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Post by Sonic on Nov 10, 2006 4:21:19 GMT
Very tasty month there, and good work on the losses column This looks a promising season, what with the added depth you've got this time round. :thumb:
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Post by Boony on Nov 10, 2006 9:57:32 GMT
September 2008We carried on our good form in September, playing four league games and keeping our unbeaten record. Histon away, we won 2-1 on the back of two James Earl freekicks. Histon pulled one back, heading in yet another freekick, but we held on in quite a tense finish. Leigh at home, we drew 0-0. We pushed and pushed, but Leigh seemed content with the draw and wouldn't open the game up at all. Another draw followed at Gainsborough - 0-0 at half time induced a riot-act reading in the dressing room, and Briscsoe popped up 90 seconds into the second half to put us into the lead. We're looking good, until a poor pass from subsitute Moore lets them in for an equaliser. Eagle missed a fine chance in the dying minutes, and it's 1-1 at the final whistle. The month's league form ended with a tough 1-0 win against newly-promoted Burscough at home. A cross from rightback Donoghue finds Briscoe's head, and we manage to hold on for the rest of the game. We seem to be playing well, and the defence is holding tight, but we're not doing enough to close games off. Each game is a tense nailbiter at the finish, and the odd leaked goal is costing us points. Bad news from the last game, is that leftback Shaun Gray is out for 1-2 months, so Giles will get a chance to stake a claim in the team for the first time. Also, keeper White has stubbed his finger, and will be out for the next game. This means Tierney will make his debut in goal in our first cup game of the season. We travel to Frinckley in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round, and we're anticipating a walkover. It takes, however, until the 72nd minute for Briscoe to open the scoring. He adds a second in the 84th minute, and Hutchison rounds things off with a direct freekick with a minute to go. 3-0 is always a satisfying result. The end of the month rolls by, and it's time to check the finances. We're doing quite well here - attendances are up from last year's average of 333 to 983 at the moment - that's a 295% increase. Wages are £3.8k a week, £700 under the budget, so overall we're making money. A good cup run would be nice, though - I'm hoping to get enough cash to improve some of our facilities for next season. There's about £180k in the bank, but I'm not sure how much we need to make these improvements. League record: P4 W2 D2 L0 F4 A2 Pts 8
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Post by coffers on Nov 10, 2006 10:15:17 GMT
That's a nice table, unbeaten so far, but the games are too tight for my liking. KUTGW! :thumb:
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Post by Moo on Nov 10, 2006 10:15:51 GMT
Nice update, Boo. It's a very pretty table. :thumb:
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Post by Boony on Nov 10, 2006 10:17:13 GMT
Aye, tell me about it. The games are very tight, we just don't seem to be able to break away. Or even to bust on.
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Post by Boony on Nov 10, 2006 10:17:59 GMT
October 2008Before we start with October's update, I think it's about time we did a player spotlight. Louis Briscoe has been playing amazingly well this season, banging in 11 goals in 12 games so far, and I thought it was about time to give him some praise. I told him I was delighted with his form so far this season, and he seemed pretty happy with the news, agreeing that he was on top of his game right now. I checked out his attributes for the first time in a while, to see how he was getting on, and I had a very pleasant surprise: For a 20 year old in the Conference North, that's not half bad at all. Decent stats in all the right places - finishing, composure, off the ball, jumping, pace, strength, heading, dribbling, balance, teamwork, workrate, determination, first touch, technique, stamina. An archetypal striker, and one with very good stats for this level. The longer we hold onto him, the better. He's improved an awful lot since I took over 14 months ago, those attributes were nothing like at that level back then. His performances include, as I said, 11 goals in 12 games, along with four assists, three MotM awards, and an average rating of 7.50 per game. Anyway, back to the football. Cup season is upon us, as the league season slows down a little. We make good progress in both during October. Hyde came to town in the leauge, and we sent them packing with a 7th minute goal from, you guessed it, Louis Briscoe (goalkick to The Hutch, knocked it down to the main man, nuff said). We hang on to the lead without looking totally convincing, but it's another three points in the bag. The FA Cup third qualifying round swings by, as Workington host the mighty Gateshead. It's 0-0 at half time, and I tell the lads I'm disappointed - high standards this year, but morale is so high it's ok at the moment. 70 seconds into the second half, Briscoe robs the last man, runs 20 yards with the ball, and knocks it past the keeper for the game's only goal. If this lad gets injured, I'm in big trouble. Altrincham come to Gateshead, and join the growing number of teams who let Briscoe score the first goal against them, this time from a Blackburn interception and simple pass to our marksman. Quarm kickstarts the second half with a penalty on 47, but an Earl own goal in the 81st makes things interesting - Altrincham come on strong, but we hang on, just about, to the 2-1 win. Bad news - Quarm is out for 2-3 months, but Taylor has just come back to full fitness, so it's like for like in the physio's room. Donoghue, our starting rightback this season, is our for a month, and the AI is trying to nobble me with injuries. The good thing about this season, though, is that we have decent backup in most positions... Clare moves to rightback, and Shanks gets a go in the middle. Oops, not in this game, as he's ineligible for the FA Cup. Crawley are hosted at the International Stadium, and are dispatched 2-0. Briscoe scores the first, following up from Panther hitting the post. Then Briscoe is fouled in the box - Dutton steps up... and hits the post! Briscoe gets a knock, so on comes Moore. Blackburn passes to Earl, and it's in. 2-0 in the 70th, and we hold on once again. The final game of the month is away at Marine. It takes us to the 68th minute before Briscoe gets his trademark first goal of the game. This time, though, the opposition don't give up, and equalised on 82. We hunt for the winner, but it's just not there. League record: P3 W2 D1 L0 F4 A2 Pts 7
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