AFC Telford: September 2010

Hello again my friends and welcome to the next installment of my story with AFC Telford.

When I last posted we’d just finished the month of August and had gained a respectable 7 points out of 7 games. It seemed to be the same story as last season with our away form letting us down a lot. Hopefully the 6 games in September will see us improve.

We were to kick off September with a difficult away trip to Dagenham and Redbridge, still without any points away from home, I wanted the lads to go out there, fight for every ball and win the game to give us what would be a vital 3 points.

Finally an away victory, granted we won via a penalty kick but we deserved to win the game anyway. It was a very solid display everywhere on the field and we dominated long periods of the game. We weren’t able to score in open play but a poor challenge on Craig King in the rea gave Rhys McCabe a chance to score his first goal for us, and he did! I was very happy for the 18 year old as his recent performances were deserving of a goal.

The next game was an evening kick off against an average Tamworth side. This was maybe our first chance at gaining back-to-back victories and I was willing the lads on before the game to boost the confidence.

And we were so close! a last minute goal saved a point for the oppositon much to my dissapointment. In retrospect it was great that the lads managed to hold on a man down after Gavin Cowan mowed down their player stupidly and got himself sent off. We opened the game strongly with a couple of chances before Craig king was once again tackled from behind to give Rhys McCabe the chance to convert 2 penalties in 2 games and once again he finished cooly. We were on top of the game going into half time and I was happy with all the players performances. The second half started exactly the opposite to the first half, with Tamworth pressing more than and us and there persistence lured Gavin into that poor challenge. Still they were unable to capitalise on their advantage, and we started to get back into the game a bit more. I thought the game was won but a freak header somehow passed through Robert Ambursics arms and gave them a point to travel home with.

The next game was against title contenders Crawley who were sitting near the top of the table, to make it worse we were away home. I wasnt expecting a win but maybe we could battle for a draw.

Despite the eventual scoreline, I was actually very happy with the performance and we probably deserved more from the game. In the end it came down to the fact that their strikers were sharper than ours. Despite the equal shot count, i noticed that our shots on target were 1/6 of shots taken, it’s obvious the strikers arent really in form. We gained a consolation from the game however with loanee Craig Kings 3rd goal of the season, a real beauty from 20 yards out.

Another 3 points could easily  be in our grasp as we face Wimbledon at home. A win would meen a pretty strong month overall for us and I expect the guys to do everything they can to win.

Get in! The guys are starting to gel a bit more now and are starting pick up points in games which we could of lost. The defence performed brilliantly to hold onto that lead for almost 70 minutes! Wimbledon started the game brightly with an early goal, which wasn’t in my game plan, however the team didnt looked phased and just 10 minutes later an easy finish by Moses-Garvey gave us an equaliser. confidence soared after that and in the 21st minute, new player Danillo Rinaldi finished from the edge of the 18-yard box to give us the lead. After half-time Wimbledon played a bit more attacking and probably could of had a goal if not for the 2 centre backs Carl Martin and Ryan Austin who had a brilliant game!

The next game was against mid-table team Barrow at home again. There was a big chance of some points here so I changed the tactic to something more attacking and told the lads that i expect a performance!

Well we just scraped a draw, Barrow played much differently than anticipated and dominated the game for long periods, especially in the middle of the park. The first half was pretty boring until a rash challenge by Daryl Westlake in the box gave them a golden opportunity to take the lead, but Robert Ambrusics managed to guess the right way and tip the penalty over his bar to keep the scores level. After half-time it was swinging more in Barrows favour with a couple of freekicks going wide, and them hitting the post and finally John Walker after his penalty miss took advantage and gave them the lead. With less than 20 minutes to be played i told the team to pump balls into the box which ultimately payed off as in the 93rd minute Moses-Garvey scored once again to save a point.

To finish the month we had to travel to a strong and experienced Accrington Stanley side who’d been performing consistently well this season. I’d be happy if we just keep the score low and not let them net too many.

I wasn’t too unhappy with the result as I thought the guys played well, it was just they had the ability to finish there chances. The scoreline would of been fairer at 2-0, but a dodgy penalty decision made the game look one-sided when it really wasnt. Oh well.

We had the chance to redeem ourselves however with an away game against strugglers Eastbourne. I expected a victroy as we had a better squad and were in better form despite the fact we were away.

A good way to fininsh a month with a good result and a good performance to go with it. Rhys McCabe scored his 3rd of the season with a cool finish in the 18th minute and we continued to dominate the game until the final whistle. What the defence had to do they did with little fuss.

We finished the month with 11 points out of 6 games, which is better than last month so things are starting to improve. We managed to get our first away win aswell which im glad about. So altogether a mixed month. Heres the league standings at the moment:-

As you can see were in a secure mid-table spot and arent threatend with relegation as of yet, in fact were only 7 points off play-off places, i’m very happy with the position of the team at the moment and maybe we can improve on it next month.

The player of this month is going to go to Robert Ambrusics for the amount of saves hes pulled off and 2 clean sheets, which isnt easy in this kind of division.

Thanks for reading everyone please stay tuned for the next post.