#SparringForSuccess - a Leamington FC Story

[GabrielBCFC]

With a wafer thin squad and a modest budget, my aim as a rookie is to steer Leamington to a comfortable season of consolidation - alongside hopefully an FA Cup run to generate much-needed income.

Expectations are grounded, even if we had a broadly encouraging pre-season.

We drew 2-2 at Leiston as Jack Edwards was sent off just after HT, then thrashed Southam 4-0 with Callum Maycock bagging a brace including a belter from distance.

The unquestionable highlight was winning 3-0 against an Ebbsfleet side tipped for 9th in the National League South with 17 former EFL players – we limited them to just 1 shot, a hopeful sign that we can compete?

The Brakes outshot National League side Hartlepool 18-12 too but alas, they showed their individual quality in a 3-1 win.

In terms of transfers, the one area where there was no contractually agreed first teamer was right wing.

Kaiman Anderson had played well in pre-season but is technically listed as a fringe player so, with room in the budget for only one luxury signing, AMR was the area I choose.

I added Max Watters on loan from Doncaster, hoping he will give us a bit of star quality and, as an inside forward, confuse defences accustomed to facing orthodox wingers. He has a rare combination at this level of pace and flair - 18 on determination too! I'm excited to see what he can do.

With negligible room left in the budget, I signed two 17-year-old centre-backs – Harry England and Charlie Blanks – initially on non-contract deals, to offer alternative natural options to Jack Lane and James Mace.

I had been advised to go direct at this level previously but tend to find on FM20, that means relinquishing possession and inviting pressure, plus this squad does not have a classic target man to make it work, so I've gone with something a bit different…

Attached is my 4-3-3 setup that I intend to use at York City on day 1; although we shall have a low line of engagement and will look to transition quickly, the passing is short so our counter-attacks can be constructed with some accuracy.

York are likely to play a 3-4-1-2 and we are hoping that will leave a chasm between their defence and midfield which our quintet of midfielders and wide forwards can utilize for spells, to hold onto the ball in the opposing half.

We won't be freeing up Junior English and Stephan Morley in open play; rather, we will ask FBs to hold metaphorical hands with CBs to deny York's strikers 2-on-2 scenarios.

Edwards, although a box-to-box midfielder, has been handed a man marking job to limit Adriano Moke’s influence.

Ex-league clubs York and Chester are tipped to finish 1st and 2nd with far bigger budgets than us Brakes, so it'll be a baptism of fire.

With a more appealing run of three consecutive home fixtures to come in late August, we'd be content with 1 point from those two as a small step towards our ultimate target of 50 points.

Wish me luck!

 

[GabrielBCFC]

It's been a steady start for Leamington.

We have taken six points from seven games, leaving us 17th in the table at the end of August and thus far on track to avoid a relegation battle.

Jack Edwards has been terrific for me in midfield, offering impeccable work rate whilst providing a very useful reference point, which has at times paid dividends from set pieces.

York (A) - lost 1-0

One of the key things I learnt from that game was that setting up with a low line of engagement can be counter-productive, because you can end up inviting pressure - so I changed that quite early on.

Otherwise, I was pleased with aspects of the display; we competed well centrally and certainly had our moments.

Not setting up to close down their WBs ultimately counted against us for their winner - but managing 10 shots away to the side tipped to be champions is ok.

Chester (H) - drew 1-1

We could easily have beaten Chester.

We outshot them 12-5, had 8 shots on target to 4 and had two clear cut chances to none - again, this is against the side tipped to finish second.

The Seals got a scarcely deserved 2nd half lead through Anthony Dudley’s long ranger, which was very much out of the blue.

That goal made me question my thinking in having 3 central midfielders - Joe Clarke, Jack Edwards and Callum Maycock - rather than 2 CMs and 1 defensive midfielder, although our only player listed as being able to play DM is Harry England, who is only 17... we probably missed someone in that anchor man role closing down shots from range, which could be something to look at in future transfer windows.

Anyway, that slight glitch should not detract from an otherwise encouraging evening... because the substitutes worked.

I switched from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 as striker Joe Parker made a difference... him and partner Kyle McFarlane had more freedom to roam into the channels and the latter's movement created space for another sub, Kaiman Anderson, to hit a sublime left-footed leveller - which was particularly surprising as he's predominantly right-footed.

It was an important goal which allowed us to meet our initial target of one point from two tough opening games.

Gateshead (A) - lost 2-1

The first 20 minutes at Gateshead were excellent.

Composed midfielder Callum Gittings, who I'd brought into the side after a positive substitute appearance in midweek, scored a lovely early volley.

Watters skewed a tight-angled one-on-one chance just wide of the far post and Edwards hit the bar with a header, so we could conceivably have been three up!

Heed Army heeded the warning signs though and they came back into it, while we shot ourselves in the foot through individual errors.

Edwards shoved Dom Tear for their penalty, from which Ruairi Keating levelled just before the break.

After the interval, Stephan Morley and Jack Lane missed chances to head a corner clear and Jake Cooper nodded home, but still we pushed and had our chances.

McFarlane had a back-post equalizer disallowed and Edwards forced Bradley James into a very good stop at his far post, so we could very easily have won this match on the basis of how we started it and finished it.

If we can fine-tune small details and put a 90-minute performance together, we're not a million miles off a top half side.

Altrincham (A) - lost 2-0

In our worst display to date, this was a disappointing backward step after a couple of decent displays.

Although Altrincham only got ahead on 81 minutes, I always felt like we were massively riding our luck and had needed last ditch defending to keep them out up to that point.

We really struggled to handle right winger Craig Mahon and left-back Sean Graham, for whom I’d considered a loan move from Blackpool in the summer.

Alty look good for a top seven finish though, so we won't be dwelling on this one too much.

Kettering (H) - won 4-1

Wow!

This was a hugely satisfying afternoon - a first win of the season and in emphatic style.

I made three key changes to get this result:

1) change the mentality from 'balanced' to 'positive'

2) change the passing from 'standard' to 'short'

3) bring Max Watters in for Kainan Anderson.

The latter is very much a classic right winger whereas Watters, left-footed, will drift into pockets a bit more and I felt we'd have some joy in those areas between the lines - the fact Kettering play a 4-4-2 suggested there would be opportunities to create central overloads.

Although we were punished on the break early on through a lapse from Stephan Morley, we had played so well in that opening period that I had a lot of confidence that the chances and goals would come - and that, they did.

McFarlane, Edwards, Maycock and Storer all got in on the act in a really fluent performance in which 10 of our starting 11 rated at least 7/10 - a sign of what we can do when playing to our very, very best.

Blyth Spartans (H) - drew 1-1

Although I didn’t want to disrupt the synergy of what had worked superbly against Kettering, Blyth play 4-1-2-3 and I didn’t know if we’d be able to create those same central overloads against a team that has a DM.

I therefore moved Anderson back in for Watters to try to exploit some extra space and give their left-back, Callum Preston, a tough time.

It didn't quite work as hoped.

Winger Adam Wrightson caused us all sorts of problems down their right; he set up veteran Robbie Dale’s first half opener.

We only managed the one shot on target – luckily Joe Parker bailed us out from the bench, not for the first time this season.

In many ways, this was a missed opportunity to build on the momentum of that glorious display against Kettering - especially in another home game against a Blyth side likely to struggle.

The performance was hugely anti-climactic from that perspective.

On the other hand, we've found ourselves on the wrong side of fine margins in several other games, so I suppose I don't mind us having an off day and still being able to put a point in our bucket.

Telford (H) - drew 1-1

It's rather odd that we could muster just one shot on target against lowly Blyth, yet managed eight against a Telford United side flying high.

Ok, the Bucks threatened from set pieces but we could have won this one, with 16 shots to 15 - we looked dangerous on the counter-attack.

Switching from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 (with advanced wide men) when behind has now twice clawed us a point from a losing positions and that is testament to the regular impact of Joe Parker, who I'll probably hand a start to at Farsley Celtic next time out.

It was Edwards who headed home our leveller, though, from Morley’s free-kick - JE is 15 on heading so I'd recommend anyone who manages the breaks to devise a set piece tactic that will maximize his aerial ability.

Summary

We have a tough September in store with four of the embryonic top 10 to play.

I’d be content if we’re in the same position by the end of the month, but we’ve been in every game this season and if we can start to get closer to our Kettering levels on a more consistent basis, as well as sharpen up on certain details at both ends, then perhaps we can start to climb the table.

We're already seven points off the Play-Off places and I'm not quite sure we've got enough in the tank to get there this year, especially considering the lack of depth, but equally I'm confident we can put some distance between ourselves in the bottom two and reach the 50 mark nice and early.

#SparringForSuccess

 

[GabrielBCFC]

It has not been a bad September for the Brakes.

We took five points from five games – a minor improvement on six from seven the previous month – and each of our games have provided unique challenges.

Farsley Celtic (A) – drew 1-1

A pleasing night’s work in West Yorkshire.

Farsley are one point off the top seven, so to effectively triple their shot and shot on target count is fantastic.

I felt like this was one of our better performances from a tactical perspective.

I wanted to try to re-create the blueprint that allowed us to beat Kettering 4-1, but also make sure we nullified Farsley’s wing-backs – Jordan Richards and Will Hayhurst.

For that reason, I put mentality on positive, passing to short and had a high line of engagement, but got Watters and Anderson to man mark Hayhurst and Richards, so that we were defensively secure.

I didn’t want English and Morley closing down the wing-backs, because I feared that would lead to two-on-two scenarios; their midfield three struggled to find space against our trio as well, so we nullified them superbly in open play.

The one concern would be that we’ve looked a little bit vulnerable defending set pieces in the last few games, pretty much since Chester.

Great to see Callum Maycock rate 7.3 though and score our opener… he’s having a strong campaign so far.

Gloucester City (H) – won 2-1

Although Gloucester were 7th pre-match, I felt optimistic about this one: partly because of the performance at Farsley on Tuesday and partly because I feel I’ve nailed down a strong tactic for home games against 4-4-2 outfits.

We got off to a flyer with Storer scoring a header from Morley’s corner and then Clarke picked out a lovely ball in behind for McFarlane, who produced a cool finish.

I stuck with a positive mentality right up until the finale and while that did give Gloucester chances to counter-attack against us, as they did for Gerry McDonagh’s goal, the stats show that we had the upper hand in general play.

We’re now five games unbeaten, four points above the drop zone and 1/5th of the way to the 50 point mark. Ticking along nicely.

Guiseley (A) – drew 2-2

Mixed emotions.

On the one hand, disappointed to concede an equalizer in the fourth minute of added time, especially having held a two-goal lead going into the final quarter of the game.

On the other hand, I would have snapped your hand off for a point after Jack Storer was sent off in the seventh minute for a two-footed lunge.
We did incredibly well to keep playing our short passing game with 10 men for the rest of that first half and build up a two goal lead through set pieces.

Naturally, the second half was always going to be a "backs to the wall" affair and while it’s a shame we couldn’t quite hold out for all three points, the draw still means we are now six games unbeaten.

Kidderminster (H) – lost 3-2

“We either win or we learn. Today we learnt.” – Ralph Hasselhuttl, speaking after his first game in charge of Southampton.

One of my aims as Brakes boss is to ensure that any time the team loses, I learn a lesson that will help my management of future games.

In this case, there were two:

• Instruct technically limited full-backs to play more direct passes.

Junior English’s performances had come in for question, so I handed a rare start to 18-year-old Shay Nicholson, who has some good physical attributes but is very raw in possession.

He tried a risky pass to centre-back James Mace, but that was intercepted by Kidderminster forward Harry Cardwell and Austin Samuels nipped in ruthlessly to slot home.

• Assign centre-backs man marking jobs.

Although we led until the 77th minute, I always felt we looked vulnerable from crosses and so it proved with Cardwell’s two goals.

It could be that instructing the team collectively to man mark Cardwell and Samuels, but not assigning specific markers, led to ambiguity that the opposing strikers profited from at key moments.

It was disappointing to lose the game late on, having twice taken the lead, but we scored another two goals from set pieces and, especially in the first half, didn’t look out of place against a side that subsequently went top of the league.

Redditch United (H) – won 3-0

One of the board’s key objectives for the season was to reach the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round, so it was great to beat Redditch, from the division below, so comfortably.

We were peppering them throughout the first half and continuing to threaten from set pieces, so I was never really concerned, even though it took us until the 40th minute to break the deadlock through a fine strike from Joe Clarke, who had an excellent game.

I put Harry England in for Jack Lane and the youngster continues to take his chances, I’m getting increasingly tempted to give him a chance in league games – there’s not a great deal between them attribute wise.

Jack Storer had a great game as well and it’s a shame he’s suspended for three matches in the league, because I feel we need his athleticism and frame as an out-ball from deep – Kaiman Anderson doesn’t quite offer the same physicality when he plays as an inverted winger.

Kings Lynn (A) – lost 3-1

For the first time this season, we were completely outplayed.

We’ve shown that we can thrive significantly against 4-4-2 outfits, but Kings Lynn’s diamond system really threw us a curveball.

Our back-four can deal with two orthodox strikers on their own, but when you put a skilled attacking midfielder behind them like Chris Henderson, it has thrown us off-kilter.

We haven’t yet played with DMs due to youngster England being the only natural option in the squad and maybe that limits us when negating AMs.

The other problem is that, as per my post-Kiddy notes, I assigned centre-backs Mace and Lane specific man marking duties but that meant they both got dragged out of position at will; Adam Marriott and Dayle Southwell pulled us apart left, right and centre.

Regarding the type of marking system in place, perhaps I need to consider the nature of the threat of the opposition.

For example, perhaps man-for-man marking might have worked better against a crossing side like Kidderminster, then maybe a more flexible form of man marking might have fared better against a more fluid, narrow outfit like Kings Lynn.

Ian Culverhouse’s troops play with a diamond system which I tried to exploit by starting a classic winger on the right, so I handed Connor Taylor his first start of the season (with Anderson filling in for the suspended Storer on the left), but that backfired – I may have been better off starting Watters.

We only started playing when we were three behind, when I adopted a more adventurous mentality – I’m wondering about starting ‘positive’ from now on for every game, even away to a top side.

Summary

Four of our games have come against top seven opposition – the other one, at Guiseley, we played 83 minutes with 10 men.

On paper, we’re only three points above the drop zone, but I feel our performances have deserved a little bit more than what we’ve got.

Out of the 12, we’ve had seven performances that I’d say I’m happy with, three that were at least competitive and two no-shows at Altrincham and Kings Lynn.

Up next in the league, we have two more top seven opponents – surprise packages Hereford and Curzon Ashton – but on the plus side, both play 4-4-2 and I feel we know how to play against that formation.

Those games sandwich an FA Cup Second Qualifying Round trip to Enfield; a good run in that competition would certainly help us in January, when we will be looking to bring in one or two loanees who could really lift the squad.

 

[Crayth]

Well done mate, will follow from now on dude! Good luck, are you from the Midlands? A Blues supporter? ??

LOL, only joking mate. Keep it up mate! Perhaps try and make the text slightly difficult as its slightly hard to follow at first glance but other than that, good job mate

 

[GabrielBCFC]

Well done mate, will follow from now on dude! Good luck, are you from the Midlands? A Blues supporter? ??

LOL, only joking mate. Keep it up mate! Perhaps try and make the text slightly difficult as its slightly hard to follow at first glance but other than that, good job mate

Yeah I'm a Bluenose, Crayth! Good to have you on board despite your unfortunate allegiances

Appreciate the support.

 

[GabrielBCFC]

Oh. My. God.

Leamington are into the Play-Off places for the first time this season!

Delighted to get 5 consecutive league victories this month, which put us more than halfway towards our initial aim of 50 points.

An amazing month.

Hereford (A) – won 2-0

There was probably more pressure on a trip to second-placed opposition than there should have been, due to back-to-back defeats.

I didn’t feel that going ‘Balanced’ in previous tough away games had quite had the effect I desired, so I went with a similar approach to the one that had been working for me at home – positive, high line of engagement – and it did the trick.

I was pleased with how we stroked the ball around at Edgar Street – some lovely passing moves – and having Callum Gittings as a deep-lying playmaker seemed to help our distribution from deep as we had an initial reference point to get moves going, which was especially important with Jack Storer suspended.

Joe Clarke scored a belter from distance and from McFarlane’s penalty onwards, I always felt we were in control – we limited Hereford to two shots on target all game.

Enfield (A) – 2-2

This was so frustrating.

We could easily have been four up at half-time in this FA Cup Third Qualifying Round clash.

Enfield didn’t even manage a single shot at goal before the break – Joe Parker saw a one-on-one saved at 2-0.

The second half was perhaps more even but, up until Jay Dundas got one back, I didn’t feel worried.

Perhaps that was the problem.

I’ve seen so many managers try to manage a lead by shutting up shop and putting a defensive player on for a forward with negative results, that my approach was to stick with the initial strategy that was leading to us creating so many chances.

I maintained the high line and they hit us with two counter-attacks.

The lesson here must be to sometimes manage a lead by switching from high line of engagement and defensive line to something a little bit deeper to deny space in behind.

Enfield really didn’t offer anything else all game so while I had no concerns about us winning the replay the following Wednesday, it was frustrating to have to play an extra game with a competitive squad unnecessarily.

Enfield (H) – won 3-0

Kaiman Anderson was the key here.

Enfield switched from the 3-5-2 they deployed in the first game to 4-2-2-2, which left their wide areas very exposed.

I brought Anderson in for Watters and instructed the team to use the right flank as the main route of attack and he really did the business for me, setting up Kyle McFadzean for the opener with an cross and tapping home the second from Jack Storer’s effort.

Storer had a terrific game on the left and it’s great to have him back from suspension in the league, as his physical qualities help us establish territory in the opposing half and get our midfielders on the ball in the right areas.

Curzon Ashton (H) – won 2-1

I wasn’t quite sure how our avoidable midweek re-match would affect our preparation for this one, especially against a Curzon Ashton side who had had a clear week and are among the early season surprise packages.

My inhibitions though were assuaged when we built up a two-goal first half lead, by showcasing our set piece threat.

Storer, who I always instruct to ‘attack ball from the edge of the box’, scored a header from Stephan Morley’s free-kick, before defender Jack Lane nipped in to score from Junior English’s long throw – English is much-maligned this year but he had one of his best games to date.

I benched key centre-back James Mace due to the congested fixture schedule and we arguably missed his influence on one moment, when defending a cross from their left, where Harry England struggled to impose his aerial prowess and thus allowed Darren Brannigan to score.

Then again, we restricted Curzon to just the six shots all game and we managed to make the second half suitably uneventful, so the collective defensive effort was pleasing.

Alfreton (H) – won 3-2

I’d hoped to keep Morley fresh for the Chelmsford FA Cup game, so I put him on the bench for this one, but that decision back-fired.

Left-back is the main area where we would really struggle to successfully rotate and while Morley is not without his faults, his free-kicks are a huge asset to us and our alternative option simply does not match his level.

Then again, there were other reasons why we found ourselves two down…

• McFarlane and Storer both hit the woodwork with the game goalless
• We didn’t show David Lynch onto his right foot, as he’s exclusively left-footed and it showed for the opener
• We didn’t have a man marking Ryan Qualter, who is their chief aerial specialist with 14 on jumping – Shane Killock profited from his knock-down following Lynch’s free-kick

Within two minutes of Morley coming on, though, he delivered a free-kick that Gittings headed home, before Storer’s well-timed run allowed him to power home Shay Nicholson’s right-wing cross.

With two minutes of normal time to play, Storer again evaded his marker from Gittings’ corner and tapped home simply to give us back-to-back wins.

We need to nail down those defensive glitches that saw us fall two behind – get that right and we could be onto something.

Chelmsford (H) – lost 3-0

This was incredibly disappointing.

£18.75K would have been the prize money for reaching the FA Cup 1st Round, which would equate to the combined year-long wages on a player on £360 per week – our current highest earner is on £350 per week, so this was a missed opportunity to put some more money in the coffers.

It could have been a different story had Jack Edwards’ long ranger been an inch further in from the left-hand post, but our near-post marking from the corner Chris Whelpdale headed in was poor and English was out of position for Hall’s low strike that put Chelmsford two up.

Anthony Church’s looping header gave the visitors a third and I went all-out attack from then on, but to no avail – the Clarets ended up doubling our stats for shots and shots on target.

I wouldn’t be overly nervous about facing a team that’s seventh in the National League North – we’ve taken 10 points from six games against top seven opposition domestically – so why were we outclassed by Chelmsford?

I don’t know… but I do know that we need to tighten up at set pieces.

Brackley (H) – won 5-0

I would suggest 5-0 flattered us a little bit.

Brackley had the better of large portions of the first half.

A bit like namesake Peter in his prime early years, Ndlovu was causing problems for our defence with his mobility and, because neither Mace nor Lane could match his pace, we decided to instruct the team collectively to close him down, rather than mark him man-for-man and risk getting dragged apart (as was the case at Kings Lynn).

Brackley have James Armson, who showed some nice touches as well and Carl Baker, who is a fantastic terrific technician who has won promotions in the EFL, let alone National League North.

In the first hour, the difference between us and them was simply a sublime individual performance from Kyle McFarlane, who bagged himself a well deserved hat-trick, taking his tally into double figures in the process.

McFarlane was full of running and he allowed us to attack individualistically, even when the football wasn’t quite flowing as ideally hoped.

At 3-0, we managed to take the game away from Brackley as Lane and Maycock gave the scoreline a lopsided look.

Just as I wasn’t getting too despondent when we were producing competitive displays and not quite getting the results we deserved, it’s important not to get too carried away by the fact we scored five here.

Spennymoor Town (A) - won 3-0

Another fantastic result on paper, although this too comes with the caveat that Spennymoor kicked off with 6 of their players on 70-79% condition, which was a massive advantage for us.

We couldn't quite break through in the first half but the switch from 4-3-3 to 4-2-4 did the trick, with Joe Parker making an impact from the bench.

We took the game away from Spennymoor with Edwards scoring a looping header from the edge of the box, Storer tucking home after we stole the ball in the opposing half and Mace scoring a back-post header from another Morley delivery.

Looking ahead

We've got a tough trip to Darlington coming up next month, but then more favourable home games against Boston United and Bradford Park Avenue, who are cut adrift at the bottom.

We'll also open our account at the FA Trophy.

This has definitely been my best month yet in charge and while the immediate aim is still to get to 50 points as soon as possible, I'm excited to see what the future holds.

 

[BCAFC86]

Climbing the table! Any chance of a promotion push?

 

[GabrielBCFC]

Climbing the table! Any chance of a promotion push?

I don't think you'll be disappointed!

 

[GabrielBCFC]

This season just keeps getting better and better.

LeamingtonFC are now up to 4th!

The lads continue to massively outperform expectation with Jack Storer and Kyle McFarlane in unstoppable form while veteran Callum Gittings has been pulling the strings in midfield.

Darlington (A) – drew 0-0

Will take a point.

We’ve gone to (the phoenix of) an ex-league club and restricted them to long-distance efforts, although Jake Weaver made a couple of good saves.

Not quite as sharp on set pieces as we normally are but a third consecutive clean sheet in the league is a fantastic achievement, considering we hadn’t recorded one before then.

Harry England’s performances at the back means we can drop James Mace or Jack Lane out of the XI and not noticeably suffer, which is an encouraging sign.

Boston (H) – won 3-0

Best display of the season.

Given that we scored after three minutes through Max Watters, who I was delighted to see bag his first of the season, it is really impressive that we continued to pepper them right to the end and muster 28 shots, 14 on target.

In many ways, this performance would have been far more befitting of a 5-0 scoreline than the Brackley game mentioned in the previous post.

McFarlane continued his outstanding form and he could have had a hat-trick with the two other one-on-one chances that the opposing goalkeeper saved; Edwards also had a header clear off the line before Kainan Anderson fired home from close-range at the back-post, following a surprisingly accurate cross from defender Jack Lane.

I was delighted to exert so much control in this one.

Farsley Celtic (A) – won 2-1

Glad to get the win that sees us into the FA Trophy 1st Round, meaning we have matched the board’s target for this competition and earned the club an extra £5K.

Well done to Storer for bagging a second half brace – he takes some stopping at the moment.

Bradford Park Avenue (H) – won 2-1

I was actually a little disappointed with the performance in this one.

BPA are cut adrift at the bottom of the table and winless all season, so I had hoped to produce a dominant display.

Instead, we were evenly matched in terms of shots and shots on target; in fairness to them, they had their chances through Hurst and Knight on the counter-attack and perhaps I set our team up to be too cavalier at certain points, especially when attacking set pieces and throw-ins.

Definitely lessons to learn from this one but glad that some clinical finishing from Kyle McFarlane means the narrative is not an off-day for the Brakes, but rather a victory that takes us up to 4th in the table!

Summary

Very proud to be up to 4th, but not getting too carried away just yet... we're looking to get to 50 points as soon as possible and then re-assess targets from there.

Over Christmas, it's York, Chester, Gateshead... the same three we started against and produced competitive performances, without getting the results.

I'd be optimistic that these games transpire differently now we have more confidence in the final third.

Up the Brakes!

#SparringForSuccess

 

[GabrielBCFC]

May be safe to stop worrying about relegation now...

Leamington are now up to 2nd in the National League North!

It’s been a busy December with six games in three weeks but the fringe players have really stepped up and Joe Parker’s run of form certainly loosens the load on Kyle McFarlane.

Southport (A) – won 1-0

Our unbeaten run is extended to nine games thanks to Jack Edwards’ close-range finish from Morley’s free-kick.

We weren’t necessarily at our fluent best, but I felt we looked resolute in our defending and probably shaded the midfield area and if we can’t get one area of our game to perfect, then it’s important to be strong in the other two areas and that was the case here.

I was particularly struck by a coming of age performance from youngster Shay Nicholson, who used his pace well against his opposing winger, Bauress, showed shrewd tactical discipline and cleared one effort off the line in the first half.

Hemel Hemstead (H) drew 2-2 and (A) lost 2-0

Those FA Trophy 1st Round games showed that while we can rotate individual positions without suffering, wholesale changes significantly weaken us.

I feel left-back Tom James and right winger Connor Taylor are players that I would like to allow leave the club when their contracts expire.

Great to see Joe Parker get a brace though, after going 17 appearances without a goal.

York (H) - won 2-1

Hands up… I forgot to change my goalkeeper after the FA Trophy game!

I had to sub poor Ben Newey off in the first half after he was beaten at his near-post by York midfielder Paddy McLaughlin; I didn't instruct our players to close him down. Oops.

After that though, we showed our superiority against an underachieving side who are currently managerless - McFarlane did the business for me again in scoring the equalizer, before Edwards' headed winner.

Chester (A) won 3-2

We fell two down after half an hour - a touch naïve on my part, perhaps, having just two men back from our corner, which was why Ceesay could score for them.

We looked in real trouble when McFarlane went off early in the second half injured and I had to use winger Kaiman Anderson as an auxiliary striker, but he adjusted admirably and scored a cute finish from Mace’s opportunistic ball.

From there, we bagged an eight-minute treble salvo: Parker's pen and a Mace header from Gittings' corner allowed us to turn the game on it’s head.

In doing so, we showed incredible belief that showed how far we've come, because it's the sort of comeback I couldn't imagine us making in the first two months of the season.

Gateshead (H) - won 2-0

For this league game, we had six regulars all out of the starting XI due to fixture congestion and freshness of legs was key to victory over the Heed Army.

Equally, we benefited from a fine individual display from Anderson, who scored the opener with a low drive and won the penalty that Parker converted.

We're so lucky to have a squad player like Anderson, who probably wouldn't make our first XI with everyone fit, fresh and in-form, but he is a great player to be able to bring into the XI due to his adaptability; he's best as an orthodox right winger, but here he showed he can perform as an inverted left winger and of course in the previous game he deputized up top - flexibility is so crucial to us with such a small squad.

Harry England and Kieran Dunbar took their opportunities too.

Summary

The great thing at the moment is that we just need another five points to realize our pre-season target of 50. Tick those off and we can enjoy the rest of the season, whatever happens on our journey.

Up the Brakes!

#SparringForSuccess