Author: Stefano Perin

On September 26th we host Lincoln fifth in the standings. Not an easy match, but after two wins in three games it would be important to line up two straight wins. The match remains in balance, but at ’72 we go under and we are not able to equalize. Ormondroyd as attacking midfilder is too far from the goal. Mainwaring plays a good half an hour without producing much. We are playing every three days and therefore on the following Saturday we go to play at York. It ends in a goleada, all the attackers score, Harsley even signs twice and Preece is MoM. Mainwaring also scores his first goal as senior player. We are now back to 13th position.
The following game on the group of the Windscreen Shield trophy takes place on the following Wednesday and we play against Preston, a second division’s team. Due the lower importance of the tournament compared to the championship, I make some changes: I place Hope in place of Wilcox and Mainwaring from the beginning to team up with Harsley. We dominate the match and above all Mainwaring scored both the goals in the final 2-0. A star is born? The next match is on Mansfield. After the break, I put Ormondroyd back in the middle of the attack with Harsley and I keep Walker in midfield opting for a classic 4-4-2. After 2 minutes, Ormondroyd was injured and it was therefore up to Mainwaring to take his place. We win 2-1 with Mainwaring’s decisive goal, the MoM, however, is Colgan. Third victory in a row between all the competitions above all 5 victories in the last 7 matches and tenth position in the standings close to the playoffs area. Does the turning point has finally come?

Theoretically the calendar is good: we have 4 home games in a row and with we could really put in a good pace and stay in a good ranking position. The first is against the penultimate Rotherham and therefore designated victim. We go under almost immediately, Harsley equalized in the 70th minute but 5 minutes later Walker committed the most classic of own goals and instead of three easy points we ended up with nothing at all: 1-2. Three days later, it was Brighton current at the seventh place. Game of great balance like the one with Rotherham and also here we go below, we come back with Ormondroyd but it is not enough and we suffer a 2-1 defeat in the final. The third match is against Shrewsbury sixth in the standings. It ends up 1-1 with the opposing goalkeeper taking 9 as rating! On the positive side, Mainwaring still hits the goal. The latest in the home game series is against Swansea above us by a couple of points in the standings. It is almost the same as in the other matches: it ends 0-1 after having also some good opportunities, probably 1-1 would have been a fairer result but their goalkeeper Jones is MoM. So after one point in four games we find ourselves back in 13th place in the standings. Shit!!!

Fully aware of the bad situation in a bit ‘all roles but in particular the defense I concentrate in the search for a valid defender and a goalkeeper. Unfortunately there is no much money and I need to do some saving. From the free market I can take (naturally with 0 money) an lateral defensor Nathan Blamey that I hope can give an improvement to a role where I often had to play Hope (a central defender) for Neil’s poor performance and injury problems.

A week later it’s time for the goalkeeper, the worst part of the whole defense. Last year I tried all the roster’s goalkeepers in a all the possible ways, and then ended the season with two young goalkeepers on loan. So, given the financial constraints I can only buy from Chelsea who was probability the 4th goalkeeper for them: Nick Colgan. £59K is still a important effort for the club’s bad finances, but a change is also needed in that role. Signed a crazy contract (until 2006 !!!) we can face the last days before the start of the season. For the moment, although I have 7 players who are about to expire at the end of the next season, I am not proceeding yet with any extension. There are no untouchables, the refoundation keep going. Stamp contract is expired: the player has never convinced, but for the moment I decide to keep him in the team. I must also look for an attacker, possibly a good and cheap one.

The first game of the season is away against Cambridge United, Preece has been suspended for 4 matches from last season and therefore I have to put Housham on the pitch one of those who needs the contract renewal at the end of the season. We lose quite deservedly. The best one is Harsley who thus marks the first goal of the season while we start the season with a red card, for Housham … It doesn’t seem much changed since last year. And about the newcomers? Colgan is not in game, with a form that is certainly not the best having he played an official match only since 1992. Blamey’s performance is quite good. Not even the time to recover from the first defeat of the year that Glanfor Park has to dress up for the first leg of the League cup. Facing a great audience (9036 attendace) we lose quite clearly: at 24′ we are already 3 goals under. Ormondroyd scores the goal of the flag. Colgan takes 3 goals on his first game. Housham also failed the second chance…
Fortunately the second league game is at home against Torquay and it’s time to make some points. The game is played in a practically empty stadium (880 attendance). I keep using the classic 4-4-2, Evans is back on goal. On the right defence, I put Hope in the absence of alternatives, seeing McAuley still injured. After 8 minutes, however, Hope must leave the pitch and Akhmedov replace it. It’s a fairly balanced game: Harsley and D’Auria take us on 2-0 but 83′ Watson shortens. But we close it 2-1 and Wilcox is the best on the pitch.

Walker was suspended for a game: I have to review the set-up. Before the closure of the market window I managed to sign for a player with the contract near expiration: Roger Preece. He seems to have good skills and could be a good midfielder for the diamond schema.

Wilcox is back from the injury but the condition is too low 75% so I keep the same schema of the previous match. The opponent is the first in the standings, really challenging … After 20 minutes we are under two goals and we struggle to get out of our half of the pitch. At 22′ Davison does a handball in the area, the referee commits a penalty kick and sent out him. D’Auria however shoots badly and has it parried. Bad … After a few minutes we also take the third goal and in the second half Roberts is sent out leaving us in 10 and without goalkeeper … 1-6 a real disaster … The next game we play against Barnet, I promote Hope and in attack I keep Forrester and Harsley in front of. The first half flows with several chances for Barnet which never hits the door. In the second half I move the center of gravity a little forward opting for a classic 4-4-2. The game changes, we are handling the game and at 55′ Harsley scores for us. From then on, we have numerous opportunities but we never manage to double. At 70′ I try to give Akhmedov a chance by putting him in O’Shea’s place on the left … It doesn’t shine much. As the game ended at 90′ Forrester makes 2-0. The diamond pattern against this opponent did not work that much, the 4-4-2 much better.

The next game we receive the Hull third in the standings, Roberts is suspended and I put Evans back on the field after months. Wilcox is recovered and consequently I put him back in the center of defense to team up with Sertoni. I leave Ormondroyd on the bench again for the third time in a row. Its shape is not that great. Like all the games played with the top teams of recent times it is another bad defeat: we lose 3-0 playing most of the game in 10 beacuse of Neil being sent off. Hope as a lateral defender plays a fair match. To be taken into consideration for the future.

From here to the end of the season we lose badly all the matches with stronger teams, like Exter 0-5 and Chester 1-6 (at home). To be noted only the 8-1 final on the pitch of Scarborough already widely demoted. We end the league at the 15th position with 59 points and the second worst defense fo the whole league, a sign that it is clearly the one we must work on, 17 points far from the playoff area.

We return to play at home and the next match is with Rochdale which is 50 points, only one point above us, the playoff area is still 8 points away but with 10 games and 30 points available everything is possible. Unfortunately Wilcox got injured in mid-week and therefore a place as a central defensive opens … Akhmedov or Hope? Go for the Armenian.

At 7′ we are already under Roberts is not perfect on the occasion. The ball possession is mainly of the opponents and the attackers are not in the game (vote 4 and 5) so I try to skip the midfield choosing long ball passes. I take the free kick to D’Auria and try to move it to Harsley. At 37′ it is Harsley who blows the ball to Farrell and score but for the referee the attacker has made an irregularity and cancels. At 42′ the Rochedale scores again but also this time the referee cancels for offside. The first relevant action starts from D’Auria feet but Ormondroyd kicks weakly. The first half ends. I move to use the direct passages to see if we can get closer to the door.

At 55′ Rochdale hides in 5-3-2 moving to the counterattack. I have to dare more, I move Walker forward in the middle of the field and I move slightly forward the wings. At 68′ Rochdale score the second goal. Ok, at this point I play all the cards I have: I take out Walker and I put in Forrester and I play with a very offensive 4-3-1-2. At 74′ we shorten the distances, just with Forrester: let’s try! Nothing happens anymore! It ends 1-2, deserved defeat. The feeling is that the Rochedale is stronger and we end up at 11 points from playoffs area … Game Over …

The management did not like it. The next game is againt the third in the standings. Prohibitive? At 38% possession I try with the long ball. At the 25′ we go below after a short rejection by Roberts. At the 27′ Walker is sent off for a foul as the last man and practically our game it’s over and thus the ambitions to access the playoffs. It ends 5-0.

After get back the leadership of Scunthorpe, I’m preparing for the second away match against Doncaster and based on the motto “winning team does not change” (not sure if it works in english) I keep the same starting eleven. The first half flows away with a couple of good chances but the problem is that we never hit the goal. In the half hour, Harsley wake up first scoring after a goalkeeper’s short rebound and then with a personal action a minute after having almost doubled. The Doncaster changes both external midfielders but the music does not change and at the end of time Ormondroyd takes advantage of a defender mistake and doubles. The Doncaster, however, immediately reopens the game at the start of the second half. The match still seems to be in control and Harsley has a couple of important conclusions. At 79 ‘Robinson saves on Pemberton and is miraculous at 85’ on a head from a corner kick.

We finally achieved the 3 points but the MVP is the goalkeeper Robinson. D’Auria also did well (vote 8) positioned behind the forwards. Unfortunately we are still 8 points far in the ranking from Colchester 7th which is last team in the PlayOff zone. The next match is against Swansea 19th with 9 points from us.

Since we have won two games, I look at the roster a bit and decide to try some alternatives: the left defender that I have O’Shea is on loan and Akhmedov an Armenian bought in January to do the central with no luck could be a good alternative. Unfortunately however in training McAurey got injuried and therefore I prefer not to change too much. I keep O’Shea to the left and I put Neal to the right where he had done well before the injury at the beginning of the season.

The game starts well: at 12 ‘Harsley assisted by D’Auria brings us ahead. It’s a really foulness game, at 28 ‘Swansea claims a penalty but the referee didn’t give it. In the second half, practically nothing happens until 60’ when there are a couple of occasions on each side. Corner kicks never lead to anything: I take them away from D’Auria I try to get them to Sertoni first and then Neal but nothing changes, always poor results. At 71 ‘Sertoni do an handball in the box and this time it drives a penalty a yellow card and above all the drawn. I should try to change something, but honestly I don’t have many options. I then take out Ormondroyd and put Forrester and O’Shea in charge of the corner kicks. At 89 ‘the turning point, O’Shea play a strange corner kick on which Staton does an own goal the winning goal.