The Story of Ernie 'Little Ern' Allan

[FM_TNSSO]

October 2017

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October 2017


Saturday 7th​ October 2017
Meridian VP (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick (Ball 69), Tatham, Carruthers, Baffour, Davis, Allen, Logan, Guppy, Troke (Watson 69)

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We made harder work of this game than we needed to. After creating 3 times as many chances as them and being 2 goals up twice in the game, the scoreline was a lot closer in the end than it should have been. I will need to work on keeping the lads concentration levels up when we are 2 goals in front. Ben Watson got 20 minutes at the end of the game as he returns from injury.



Stephen Hatch approached me after the Meridian game, to talk about his lack of first team football. I told him that I wouldn’t be able to give him first team football whilst we were winning games as I didn’t want to upset the cohesion of the team. He wasn’t having any of it and decided to throw his dummy out of the pram, so that left me with only one thing to do. Hatch is outta here!

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Saturday 14th​ October 2017
Forest Hill (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick (Ball 83), Tatham, Carruthers (Jibodu 83), Baffour, Davis, Allen, Logan, Guppy (Guppy 59), Troke

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We really struggled to break them down in the first half and although we’d had the lion’s share of possession and chances we went into the break 1-0 down. But everything clicked for us in the second half and we soon forged ahead on the scoreboard. Ben Watson made a real impact from the bench, coming on to score 2 goals.



That win against Forest Hill made it five on the bounce in the league. We’re flying!

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Saturday 21st​ October 2017
Lydd (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham (Ball 61), Carruthers, Baffour, Davis, Allen, Reid, Guppy, Troke (Watson 61)

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Lydd came into this game bottom of the table with only 1 win to their name, but they gave us a much tougher game than I anticipated. I debated starting Ben Watson for this one after the impact he had in the previous game, but I couldn’t warrant dropping Lewis Troke after how brilliant he has been since the start of the season. Troke struggled a little in this one though, snatching at his chances and Watson entered the frame on 61 minutes. Although he didn’t get on the scoresheet himself, he did grab the assist for Guppy’s second goal which wrapped up the win for us late on.



Martin Reid made his professional debut for us in the game against Lydd. He’s only 16 years old and the left winger gave a good account of himself as he scored a match rating of 6.90.

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Laurence Ball will miss up to 3 weeks of action with a pulled abdominal muscle, suffered in a weights session in training.

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Sunday 29th​ October 2017
Erith & Belvedere (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Baffour, Davis, Guppy, Reid (Logan 63), Watson, Troke (Palmer 63)

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What a boring game of football this was. With both sides playing a pretty cautious 4-4-2 formation, the teams seemed to cancel one another out. The game looked destined to fizzle out into a 0-0 draw until the 73rd​ minute when they caught us on the break and some poor defending allowed them clean through to score a winner. This was the worst we have played this season.



Three wins this month saw us go top of the league for the first time this season and we've already started to open a little gap at the top despite the loss to Erith at the end of the month.

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Player of the Month: Sam Baffour

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Looking ahead to next month, we have four league games only, so it's not too gruelling a schedule. Our toughest fixture is likely to be the game against 3rd placed Stansfeld Oxford & Bermondsey Club.

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[coolmcool]

If i could offer some advice it would be as follows, the story is very good so far, well written and easy enough to read, you have already read other peoples stories commented and liked which i think is key this site personally i feel is very much a give and take sort of thing, stick with the save some people might not look at the story until you have several pages to read in one go, i have had with my Truro save 30 odd likes from the same person some times as they read all of my thread in one go and finally i also feel as if Fm Base is not so busy on the weekends compared to the weekdays and you are only a couple of days into posting. KIU

 

[FM_TNSSO]

If i could offer some advice it would be as follows, the story is very good so far, well written and easy enough to read, you have already read other peoples stories commented and liked which i think is key this site personally i feel is very much a give and take sort of thing, stick with the save some people might not look at the story until you have several pages to read in one go, i have had with my Truro save 30 odd likes from the same person some times as they read all of my thread in one go and finally i also feel as if Fm Base is not so busy on the weekends compared to the weekdays and you are only a couple of days into posting. KIU

Thank you for your advice. It is much appreciated!! And thanks for the feedback too. To be honest, I can see why most people do the 'monthly update' as its much easier to manage and less time consuming than what I was doing before

 

[FM_TNSSO]

November 2017

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November 2017

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Saturday 4th​ November 2017
Southern Counties East League Division One: Holmesdale (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers (Jibodu 61), Baffour, Davis, Allen, Logan, Guppy (Watson 61), Troke

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Effectively this was a home game for both sides as we ground shared Oakley Road with Holmesdale. We didn’t do enough to deserve to win this game, but we definitely didn’t deserve to lose either, so it ranks a bit that we did! The sides were very evenly matched and a draw would have been a fair result. We very nearly clinched that draw when Lewis Troke struck home in the 90th​ minute only for the goal to be ruled out for a foul (which I never saw).



Chris Carruthers picked up an injury in the Holmesdale game and will be out for over a month!

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Saturday 11th​ November 2017
Southern Counties East League Division One: K Sports (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Ball, Tatham, Jibodu, Baffour, Davis, Allen, Logan, Guppy, Watson (Troke 55)

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K Sports were set up very defensively for this one, with a deep defensive line and the DM in place as extra protection too. And we were struggling to find a way through to numerous bodies. However, we had a lucky break on 57 minutes, when they scored the most bizarre of own goals. Wade Knowles passed the ball back toward his keeper who completely missed the ball and it trickled into the bottom corner of the net. That meant that they had to come onto us a bit more, which opened up gaps for us to exploit, and 10 minutes later we were 2-0 up! However, that two goal cushion complacency kicked in again and we allowed them back into the game as again we seemed to completely step off the gas! We then ramped up the pressure again, and spurned a couple of late chances to win the game. Feels like we definitely threw away a couple of points here!



Neil Smith was sacked by Bromley, the club where I learned my trade at as a player. I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d get the chance to manage them one day.

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Saturday 18th​ November 2017
Southern Counties East League Division One: Stansfeld Oxford & Bermondsey Club (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Reading, Ball, Hustwick, Tatham (Willis 71), Jibodu, Baffour, Davis, Allen, Logan (Reid 71), Guppy, Troke

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We were the much stronger side throughout this entire game as we created more than 20 chances to their handful. The tight scoreline didn’t really reflect the true nature of the game, although we were hanging on for dear life at the end as they threw men forward in search of the equalizer that thankfully never came!



I handed a debut to 20 year old keeper Tyler Reading in the Stansfeld game. Peter Trego hadn’t been playing at his best for the last few games, so I decided to give the youngster a chance. He gave a decent account of himself with a 6.80 rating.

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Saturday 25th​ November 2017
Southern Counties East League Division One: Punjab United (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Reading, Ball, Hustwick, Tatham, Jibodu, Baffour, Davis, Allen, Logan, Guppy, Troke

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On paper, this should have been a walk in the park for us. Punjab United were struggling down in the bottom 3 and had won only 2 games so far this season. Not only that, but they had already conceded 28 goals in 12 games as well! However, the reality was that this was a really tough game for us….whether they had an exceptional day, or we had an off day, I’m not sure. But it actually took us until the 89th​ minute to get our heads in front and nick the win.



We confirmed the signing of Brandon Joseph-Buadi just after the Punjab United game. Baffour has been brilliant down the right wing so far this season, but I was concerned we had no cover for him if I wanted to give him a rest or he picked up an injury. Joseph-Buadi is a good option in this position with good pace/acceleration and he is also an accomplished crosser of the ball.

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We remain top of the league, level now on points with Bridon Ropes. Down at the bottom, Lydd are really struggling to keep up with anyone else.

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Player of the Month: Sam Baffour

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Looking ahead to December, we don't have a ridiculous busy schedule over the Xmas period. Instead, we just play one game a week every Saturday. We'll have a top of the table clash against Bridon Ropes midway through the month, just after we take on 3rd placed Sutton Athletic.

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[FM_TNSSO]

December 2017

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December 2017

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Saturday 2nd​ December 2017
Southern Counties East League Division One: Fisher (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Reading, Ball, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Baffour (Joseph-Buadi 69), Davis (Mills 90), Allen, Logan, Guppy, Troke (Watson 69)

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Twice these stubborn bastards fought back to level it up. And even when we were 4-2 up, they still didn’t know they were beat! I will give it to Fisher, they have more spirit than most sides we’ve played so far this season and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re up there and challenging during the 2nd​ half of the season. Lewis Troke and Fraser Logan bagged themselves a couple of goals each.



Brandon Joseph-Buadi came off the bench in the game against Fisher to make his debut. He played down the right wing and grabbed himself two assists. Well done son!

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Saturday 9th​ December 2017
Southern Counties East League Division One: Sutton Athletic (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Ball, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Baffour (Joseph-Buadi 65), Davis, Allen (Mills 65), Logan, Guppy, Troke (Watson 26)

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Sutton were sitting inside the top 5 and doing well, so this was going to be a tough away day for us. However, we came flying out of the traps and found ourselves 2-0 up inside the opening 20 minutes. Sutton were stunned and spent the remainder of the first half desperately trying to get themselves back in the game. Their efforts were not in vein as they got a goal back in the 40th​ minute with a nice effort from striker Callum Glover. The second half was tight, with both sides creating a couple of good chances each, but it was us that added another goal in the through 75th​ minute throughBen Watson. New man Joseph-Buadi coming off the bench again to get another assist!



Lewis Troke picked up an injury during the Sutton game that will see him out until the start of 2018. Let’s hope Ben Watson can step back into the starting lineup and score some goals over the next few games.

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One of the biggest drawbacks of managing down at such a low level is that your players can be offered contracts by other clubs at any given moment. A few of mine have recently been approached and I was worried I might be about to lose a couple of my best players. However, I did get some good news as Ben Watson has rejected a number of clubs in favour of staying with us! Oh I do like a bit of loyalty!

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Saturday 16th​ December 2017
Southern Counties East League Division One: Bridon Ropes (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Ball (Willis 72), Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Baffour, Davis, Allen, Logan (Reid 59), Guppy, Watson (Palmer 59)

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When I looked at this game at the end of last month, it was a top of the table clash and we were level points with Bridon. However, since then, they have dropped 6 points below us after a poor start to December and this was looking a little easier all of a sudden. As the stats suggest, we were on top for large periods and had a number of good chances, but Ben Watson has had a bit of a mare here to be fair and missed a couple of sitters. It eventually took for Staforde Palmer to come off the bench and grab us a goal to put us in front. But just when it looked like we were going to take all 3 points, a lapse in concentration at the back allowed them in behind to get a last minute equalizer. A disappointing draw in a game we should have won.



I applied to the board to fund a coaching badge for me. At present I have no badges or qualifications to my name at all. The board agreed to fund my National C License based on the fact that we are having a wonderful season (their words) and I’ll start my study straight away.

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Saturday 23rd​ December 2017
Southern Counties East League Division One: Lewisham (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Ball, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Baffour (Joseph-Buadi 79), Davis (Mills 45), Allen, Logan, Guppy, Watson (Palmer 64)

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Ben Watson really isn’t stepping up to the plate in the absence of top scorer, Lewis Troke. We had 19 shots on goal in this game and only managed 1 goal from the penalty spot. Watson again had to be subbed off after a terrible performance and a number of missed chances. Lewisham took one of their 2 chances to score an equalizer and we had to settle for a poor draw!



I was linked with the vacant Sevenoaks Town job. For now I remain loyal to the man that gave my shot….Elmstead chairman Liam Archer.

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As we look around the leagues in England at Christmas, we can see that Manchester United and Chelsea are pulling away at the top of the Prem. Hull look favourites to be playing Premiership football next season as they lead the Championship by 6 points. League One and League Two look a **** of a lot tighter with all of the top 10 looking quite closely grouped in both leagues. Kettering have the biggest lead of any team at the top (9 points) in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division.

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Charlie Allen follows the lead of Ben Watson and refutes all clubs that came in and offered him a contract elsewhere, opting to stay with The *****. Good lad!

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Laurence Ball has picked up an injury in training that will see him out for up to 6 weeks! We’ll miss him as he’s been almost ever present in the starting 11 this season.

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Saturday 30th​ December 2017
Southern Counties East League Division One: SC Thamesmead (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Baffour, Davis, Allen, Logan (Reid 67), Guppy, Palmer (Troke 67)

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We dominated from start to finish and deserved the win. Nice to finish 2017 with a victory.



Sam Baffour picked up a foot injury in the game against Thamesmead which will keep him out of the first couple of games in the new year.

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We’ve only gone and signed an England international. Yea he might only have 1 cap and he might now be 40 years of age, but Lee Hendrie is a very welcome addition to my squad. He probably won’t play much, but the experience he offers to this team will hopefully be invaluable. He might even encourage a few more fans down to watch us play.

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We finish 2017 at the top of the league and a good 6 points clear too! However, I'm under no illusions that with a couple of bad results we could have a good 5 or 6 teams on our heels.

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Player of the Month: Charlie Allen

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January offers up only 3 games after a couple of weeks off. The lads can have a well deserved beer on New Years with plenty of time to recover.

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[Hampus Silverholt]

Thank you for your advice. It is much appreciated!! And thanks for the feedback too. To be honest, I can see why most people do the 'monthly update' as its much easier to manage and less time consuming than what I was doing before

You should do the other updates if you enjoy making the newspaper/website articles as well as monthly updates. There's obviously no blueprint on how to write a story I think you've just got to make sure it's easy to follow but the main thing is that you enjoy the save - then it's easier to write about!

Also I had no clue Lee Hendrie was even in FM. His attributes aren't even that bad... until you look at his physicals!

 

[Matt G]

So far so good - what level are Sevenoaks at?

 

[FM_TNSSO]

You should do the other updates if you enjoy making the newspaper/website articles as well as monthly updates. There's obviously no blueprint on how to write a story I think you've just got to make sure it's easy to follow but the main thing is that you enjoy the save - then it's easier to write about!

Also I had no clue Lee Hendrie was even in FM. His attributes aren't even that bad... until you look at his physicals!

Yea his physical stats are ****** awful. I think if I started him and tried to get him through a full 90 minutes, he might collapse and get injured for the whole season! So I think maybe 10 minutes here and there is more likely! But his experience could be massive and I'm paying him a measly £25 a game! And he gets a whole £2 as an unused sub lol!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

So far so good - what level are Sevenoaks at?

They are in the Southern English Counties East League. Basically, the league we would get promoted to if we won our division. They are sitting mid table 10th after 20 games.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

January 2018

January 2018

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Saturday 13th​ January 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Gravesham (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Joseph-Buadi, Davis (Hendrie 76), Allen, Logan, Guppy, Troke (Palmer 69)

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I felt confident going into this one – Lewis Troke was back in the starting lineup, Joseph-Buadi was making his first start for the club and I had Lee Hendrie on the bench. It was Anthony Guppy that stole the show early on as he got us off to a flyer with an assist and then a goal as we raced to 2-0 in front. Logan added a 3rd​ mid way through the 2nd​ half and with us looking comfortable, I couldn’t help myself from introducing Lee Hendrie for the final 15 minutes of the game. He didn’t do a lot, but to be fair I think he was knackered from running onto the pitch.



Debut: As mentioned above, Lee Hendrie was handed his first run out for the club.

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I bolstered the strike force with a new signing in 22 year old Kelvin Osei-Addo. My scout had recommended him to me and when I saw he offered a stat of 14 for finishing I just had to snap him up! He’s got a bit of pace about him too and I’m hoping he’ll get loads of opportunities to run onto through balls and slot home a few goals for us in the second half of the campaign.

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Centre back Aaron Tatham is the latest player to reject the advances of other clubs in favour of staying here! It seems I have a pretty loyal bunch on my hands.

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Sunday 21st​ January 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Phoenix Sports Reserves (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Joseph-Buadi (Baffour 78), Davis, Allen, Logan, Guppy, Troke (Osei-Addo 78)

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After going down early on, we came back at them in incredible fashion and were soon 4-1 in front and there were only 31 minutes on the clock!! From that moment, Phoenix were actually the much better side but unfortunately for them the damage was already done and the deficit was too much to make up! They managed to get one goal back but that was it.



Kelvin Osei-Addo was given his debut against Phoenix Sports, coming on for the final 15 minutes of the match. It was just a runout to gain some match sharpness.

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The win against Phoenix Sports also made it 10 games unbeaten in the league. We’ve got to be considered genuine title contenders by now I reckon?

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Saturday 27th​ January 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Kent Football United (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Joseph-Buadi, Davis, Allen, Logan, Guppy, Troke (Osei-Addo 54)

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A really poor first half performance meant the lads got the hairdryer treatment at half time for the first time in a long time. It had the desired effect as the boys came out and played a **** of a lot better in the 2nd​ half and forged ahead to get the win. Osei-Addo picked up his first goal for the club as well.



Our success so far this season is not going unnoticed as I’m linked with two more jobs at the end of the month. Northwood, currently 11th​ in the Evo-Stik Southern League Division One East, and Mildenhall, currently 23rd​ in the Bostik Football League Division One North. I distance myself from both roles, which is sure to get me some more brownie points at Elmstead.

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We’re now a good 8 points clear at the top of the league and with a game in hand too. At the bottom, Lydd and Crockenhill are falling away from the rest.

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Player of the Month: Brandon Joseph-Buadi

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What a signing this lad has been! Brandon Joseph-Buadi has played 6 games (only 3 starts) and already got a goal and 6 assists to his name!

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February serves up four league games and on paper it should be an easy month. Three of our matches will be against teams currently in the bottom 4.

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[FM_TNSSO]

February 2018

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It turns out that not all of my players are loyal. Centre back Laurence Ball has accepted an offer from Ilkeston Town and left the club immediately. Ilkeston are currently 1st​ and 11 points clear in the Midland Football League Division One.

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Saturday 3rd​ February 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Snodland Town (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Joseph-Buadi, Davis, Allen (Hendrie 61), Logan (Reid 61), Guppy (Osei-Addo 61), Troke

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We were comfortable for the entire 90 minutes here and recorded a good away win which saw us go 10 points clear at the top.



Lewis Troke’s opener in the Snodland game was the fastest in league history. It took him only 22 seconds to find the back of the net!

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Saturday 10th​ February 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Crockenhill (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Trego, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Carruthers, Joseph-Buadi (Baffour 64), Davis, Allen, Logan, Guppy, Troke (Osei-Addo 64)

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We’ve scored more than anyone in the league and Crockenhill have conceded more than anyone, so the majority would assume this would be a home win by a good margin. But when we missed a penalty and a couple of sitters early on, I started to think it might not be our day. In the end, just the 1 Charlie Allen goal was enough to secure the win.



Max Hustwick will miss a couple of games after picking up a minor head injury in the Crockenhill game.

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Goalkeeper Peter Trego has left the club after accepting a contract offer from Kirkley & Pakefield. Quite surprised he’s left to be fair as he was playing every week for me, we’re well ahead in the league and he probably would have won a medal at the age of 36 before he retires. Kirkley are in a very slightly higher league (Eastern Counties League Premier Division), but struggling in 16th​.

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Well I didn’t expect that either. Just as young goalkeeper Tyler Reading would have become number 1, he also decides to leave the club only 2 days after Trego. Panic stations as I now have no goalkeeper going into the next game!!

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A frantic search through the transfer list ensued and I managed to snap up 20 year old keeper Alex Roughton from Walton & Hersham just in time. In fact, the deal was finalised on the Saturday morning and the lad was going straight in the team that afternoon for the game against Meridian VP. So far this season, Roughton had 13 appearances for Walton & Hersham and has only conceded 5 goals!

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Saturday 17th​ February 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Meridian VP (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Roughton, Willis, Tatham, Carruthers, Jibodu, Joseph-Buadi (Baffour 59), Davis, Allen, Logan, Guppy, Troke (Osei-Addo 59)

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Meridian are struggling down in 16th​ but they gave us a really tough game here and turned in a great performance to be fair to them. Their last minute equalizer from Harding was an absolute worldie!! He volleyed home with a strike that Cristiano Ronaldo would be proud of!!



New keeper Alex Roughton made his debut for the club in the game against Meridian. Although he conceded a couple, I can’t be too harsh on the lad as he only signed for us a matter of hours before the game!

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I wanted a new backup goalkeeper, so I dipped my toe back into the transfer market. I’ve signed up 32 year old Steve Taylor who has been playing his football for Wolves Casuals this season in the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division. He’s made 22 appearances and conceded 22 goals.

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Saturday 24th​ February 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Forest Hill
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Roughton, Willis, Tatham, Carruthers, Jibodu, Joseph-Buadi (Baffour 59), Davis, Allen, Logan, Guppy, Troke (Osei-Addo 59)

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Despite dominating this game, we suffer our first defeat in a while as Forest Hill win by a single goal. Our strikers just had an off day, but it is the first time we’ve failed to score in 16 games!



That defeat to Forest Hill was actually our first in 14 games!

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Apparently, we’ve got a golden generation on our hands with the new youth intake. I’m not reading too much into this as we don’t have any youth players presently, so obviously anyone would have been better than what we had.

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We’re still top of the league and with 11 games remaining, we have a 9 point lead and a game in hand. It seems like it could be ours to lose!

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Player of the Month: Anthony Guppy

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We kick off next month with a game against bottom side Lydd. We’ll also face Holmesdale and Erith who have both already beaten us earlier in the season.

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[Brane_Orsou]

Just caught up on this story and smashing it in the league. One important question though:

How's the barmaid with the big t1ts getting on? Have you been back to admire the view since taking up the job?

 

[Matt G]

Ah, you went for Alex Roughton. He proved to be a waste of resources for me in the early stages of my save with Boston United in the National League North but at the level you're at he'll hopefully be of use.

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Just caught up on this story and smashing it in the league. One important question though:

How's the barmaid with the big t1ts getting on? Have you been back to admire the view since taking up the job?

Ah there will be a manager's diary update coming up mate!

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Ah, you went for Alex Roughton. He proved to be a waste of resources for me in the early stages of my save with Boston United in the National League North but at the level you're at he'll hopefully be of use.

To be completely honest, there wasn't too many options for me to look as I literally had 4 days to get someone in before the next game lol! But initial impression is that he hasn't been too great as we've conceded a few since he joined. I'll give him til the end of the season and re-assess it then

 

[FM_TNSSO]

March 2018

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March 2018
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Saturday 3rd March 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Lydd (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Roughton, Willis, Hustwick (Jibodu 62), Tatham, Carruthers, Joseph-Buadi, Davis, Allen, Reid, Guppy (Hendrie 73), Troke (Osei-Addo 71)

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A victory against the bottom side in a very entertaining game for the fans as the teams shared 9 goals! Lewis Troke was the star of the show with 2 goals and 2 assists. His goals today took him past the 20 mark for the season too, without a doubt one of my star signings at the start of the season when I built this squad. 16 year old winger Reid was given a rare start and bagged himself 3 assists as well!



He loves a quick goal! A few games ago, Lewis Troke broke the quickest goal record netting in 22 seconds. Now he’s gone one better and scored in 16 seconds against Lydd, breaking his own record.

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My U18s Manager, Joel Osbourne, has left the club to take on the Manager role at Lewisham. We’ll play his new team in the penultimate game of the season.

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Chris Carruthers is the latest player to move on and leave the club. I’m a little annoyed that he’s gone as its one of our most experienced and better players, but we couldn’t compete with the offer he got from Bristol MF. We could only offer a maximum of £50 per game, where as they have offered him £85. I can only assume this was his only motivation for leaving as he’s left a top of the table side, for a team in 22nd​ place in the Evo-Stik Southern League Division One West.

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Saturday 10th​ March 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Erith & Belvedere (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Roughton, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Jibodu, Joseph-Buadi, Davis, Allen, Reid, Guppy (Hendrie 77), Troke (Osei-Addo 77)

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Wow, an absolute cracker of a free kick gave us the lead in this top of the table clash between 1st​ and 2nd​! And we were 3-0 up by half time and this was turning out to be relatively easy! As our third goal went in, their manager completely lost his ****, throwing a water bottle into the ground and shouting “we’re all over the f*cking place lads”! I couldn’t help but have a cheeky chuckle! Now, they did respond initially in the second half playing with much more purpose and within quarter of an hour, they had 2 goals back and I was the one spitting feathers on the sidelines! But it wasn’t long before we exerted ourselves back on the game and with another couple of goals we wrapped up what was a pretty easy win.



F*ck it….top scorer Lewis Troke has picked up another injury. This time he’ll be out for 5 weeks with pulled knee ligaments. Kelvin Osei-Addo will be getting a run of starts, so hopefully he can step up and prove himself!

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George McGhee was just on the comeback trail following his cruciate ligament injury in pre season 8 months ago! He’d been in training for about a month and I’d been easing him back into U23s/U18s games with 20 minutes here and there. I really feel for the lad as he’s gone and done the same injury again that is going to see him miss another year of football!

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With Chris Carruthers leaving the club this month, I needed to bring in another left back. Jake Downs has joined the club and will most likely act as a backup to Jerome Jibodu. He isn’t the best going forward, but defensively he is sound, with good tackling, concentration, decisions stats and has some good pace about him to keep up with opposition wide players.

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Saturday 17th​ March 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Holmesdale (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Roughton, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Jibodu, Joseph-Buadi, Davis, Hendrie (Baffour 72), Reid, Guppy, Osei-Addo (Watson 72)

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Lee Hendrie made his first start for the club, with Charlie Allen missing through suspension….I just hoped he didn’t keel over after 20 minutes! To my surprise, he was still going strong after half an hour and even grabbed the assist for Aaron Tatham’s 38th​ minute goal! Both sides added a goal in the second half and we held on for a good win, getting a little revenge over our ‘ground sharers’ who had beaten us earlier in the season.



Saturday 24th​ March 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: K Sports (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Roughton, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Jibodu, Joseph-Buadi, Davis, Hendrie, Reid, Guppy, Osei-Addo

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A comprehensive home win as we make it 4 wins from 4 games in March! Kelvin Osei-Addo stole the show today with a brilliant hat trick and showed that he is more than capable of stepping in for the injured Lewis Troke.



The media linked me to another job, this time Sporting Khalsa from the English Midland Football League. Again I distance myself from the position, which delights the board at Elmstead. The clubs I’m getting linked with are gradually getting bigger in stature. Although still from the lower leagues of English football, Sporting Khalsa are valued at over £70k, more than double the value of our little club here in Bromley.

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I’m then linked to an even bigger club in Biggleswade Town who are currently playing their football in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier, just one league off the Conference North/South. There is no way I’m turning my back on Elmstead at the moment though, with us now odds on favourites to lift the title.

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Saturday 31st​ March 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Stansfeld Oxford & Bermondsey Club (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Taylor, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Jibodu, Joseph-Buadi, Davis, Allen, Reid, Guppy, Osei-Addo

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Up until we scored that penalty in the 41st​ minute, we were really poor and Stansfeld probably should have been 2 or 3 in front by that point. But that pen changed everything and after it we had all the play and all the chances and went on to record a 3-1 win. There’s not many games where you can say the referee really changed it but today was one of those days.



Steve Taylor made his debut in goal for us in the game against Stansfeld. Roughton hadn’t kept a clean sheet since joining and I wanted to give Taylor a chance to see if he could. Although he didn’t get the clean sheet, he played a big part in keeping us in the game in the first half and I was pleased with his performance.

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With 5 wins from 5 games in the league this month, we’ve extended our lead to the top to a massive 15 points! With only 6 games remaining, only one more win should secure the league title for us!

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Player of the Month: Anthony Guppy

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Four games coming up in April but we only need one!! Hopefully, we can kick off the month with a win against Punjab United and seal the league title!

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[FM_TNSSO]

April 2018

​

April 2018

Before we kicked a ball in April, there was the business of a new contract to attend to. Liam Archer approached me and asked me if I’d be interested in staying on with the club for another season at least. I told him I was grateful for everything he’d done for me in giving me my shot and I wanted to continue to repay him, so I’d be delighted to stay on. Archer said he’d offer me a new deal but said he appreciates that if we keep performing as we are, then it’s inevitable that some jobs are going to come my way that will definitely be of interest to me. He said to me that I’ve already done more than enough for his little club and he didn’t want to hold me back….all he asked for was an open and honest conversation further down the line if I decide to talk to any clubs. I owe him at least that!! I sign a new 1 year deal with a £50 per week pay rise!

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Saturday 7th​ April 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Punjab United (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Taylor, Willis, Hustwick, Tatham, Jibodu (Downs 71), Joseph-Buadi, Davis, Allen, Reid, Guppy (Troke 71), Osei-Addo

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Both my strikers were bang on form today and Osei-Addo and Guppy both pick up hat tricks. We were unbelievable from start to finish in the best performance I’ve seen from my team all season! We’re not quite champions yet though as the win leaves us 15 points clear with 5 games left….1 point required to seal it!



Saturday 14th​ April 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Fisher (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Taylor, Willis (Downs 32), Hustwick, Tatham, Jibodu, Joseph-Buadi, Davis (Hendrie 55), Allen, Reid (Logan 71), Guppy, Osei-Addo

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Fisher gave us a really good game here and they didn’t shame themselves in defeat at all. Although the scoreline was highly in our favour, it doesn’t tell the whole story in what was actually a very even match. But we did what we had to do and this result secures us the league title with 4 games still left to play!



It’s official, we are the Southern Counties East League Division One Champions!

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Right back Olly Wills will miss the remainder of the season after breaking a rib in the match against Fisher.

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Tom Davis will also miss the last few games, having started every one of our 32 league games to date!

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The fans are delighted with the unexpected title win. All 65 of my season ticket holders definitely got their money’s worth this season.

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Liam Archer released a statement to the press to publicly declare his love for me.

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A clever marketing ploy from the club I think. Just wrapped up the title and they set the game against Sutton as a fan day to encourage some new fans to the club. Hopefully we can turn in a good performance and get some more season ticket holders on board for next season.

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I bagged my first official coaching badge and I’m feeling pretty **** proud of myself. Less than a year ago I was operating a printing press with no qualifications to my name. Now, I’m a football manager with a league title medal to my name and an official academic qualification to say I know what I’m doing.

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Although some of the lads didn’t think much of the new stretching routines I’d learnt.

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Saturday 21st​ April 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Sutton Athletic (Home)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Taylor, Mills, Hustwick, Tatham, Jibodu, Joseph-Buadi (Baffour 60), Hendrie, Allen, Reid, Guppy (Watson 77), Osei-Addo (Troke 60)

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It was fan day at Oakley Road and we’d encouraged along an extra 100 supporters on top of our regular turnout. And we gave them a decent performance too, with a comfortable 2-0 victory over 4th​ placed Sutton, with a goal in either half. First clean sheet in 11 games!



Saturday 28th​ April 2018
Southern Counties East League Division One: Bridon Ropes (Away)
Kick-off: 15:00
Lineup: Roughton, Mills, Hustwick, Tatham, Downs, Baffour (Joseph-Badui 67), Hendrie, Allen, Logan, Guppy (Osei-Addo 57), Watson (Troke 57)

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I decided to give a few players a start in this one who hadn’t featured in the starting lineup for a while, so Roughton, Downs, Baffour, Logan and Watson all entered the team. Some might say it backfired as we fell to our first defeat in 9 games, but I’m not too bothered and with the title already won I still think I did the right thing giving some game time to some of the other lads.



So there it is….we are champions and will win the league by an absolute minimum of 6 points!

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Player of the Month: Kelvin Osei-Addo

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The games against Lewisham and Crockenhill are just a formality next month with the league already won.

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[Matt G]

Congratulations on the title! Sounds like it'll only be a matter of time before you on to something bigger.

 

[Brane_Orsou]

Well done, much deserved after such a good 1st season

 

[FM_TNSSO]

Congratulations on the title! Sounds like it'll only be a matter of time before you on to something bigger.

Thanks mate! The links with higher clubs continue to come in but I'm not sure what to do yet....whether to see out another season with Elmstead or move up a couple of leagues with someone else. So far, none of the other jobs have interested me at all