Our 2010-2011 campaign has been an eventfull one to say the least. It started brightly, with a 2-1 win over Sandwell Action in our first league match, and despite the odd defeat, things where looking up. We pushed up the table approaching the Christmas brake, reaching a league position as high as 4th at one stage. But within the space of three months, our high league position was reversed and we slid down the table quicker than Michael Barrymore’s trunks at a pool party.
We had built a team full of attacking flair, and our offence was made even stronger when Matt Cahalane showed up mid September and never really looked back, finishing the season with a superb game to goal ratio. We always had a goal in us. Our problems however, always lay at the back with us having very few defenders. Michael Cornaby has been the only real main stay in the back four through out the whole season and he had a number of partnerships at centre half. Sam Worton and Simon Nunn where converted from midfielders into full backs and even the very attack minded James Malpass tried his hand at right back. Not having a settled defence was not helped by not having settled keeper. A staggering 6 goalkeepers have been used through out the season. Most notably, Carl ‘Bully’ Yorke enthusiastically throwing himself in goal and doing superbly when the team was down to the bare bones. This contributed to a number of defeats midway through the season with defending set pieces our main Achilles Heel.
Our slide down the table was not helped by losing a number of key players. Ray Jones broke his foot against BNG Handsworth in October and we never saw him again. Tricky wingers Darren Cartwright and Chris Spittle then picked up an injuries which put him out of action for a number of months, Adam Kennedy was forced to retire, and worst of all, vice captain Edward Lloyd ripped his knee to bits putting in a harmless tackle late January, putting him out for 6weeks.
But, ‘out of the darkness cometh the light’, we kept going and despite results going against us, we finished the season putting in some really good performances. The best performance of the whole season has to be the 1-0 win over league champions Wednesbury Athletic early April, with the heroic 3-3 draw against second placed Gornal coming close second, both at Brickbridge Lane. We out played Wednesbury at times that day and also stood up to their physical threat too. That performance and result, as well as the Gornal one, has to be the catalyst for next season as it proves that on our day we can beat anyone.
Despite finishing in the bottom half of the table, there were some individuals in the team who really excelled through out. Michael Cornaby, Ben Mills, John O’Keeffe, Simon Nunn, Sam Worton, Mike McFarlane, Carl ‘Bully’ Yorke, Edward Lloyd, and Matt Cahalane have all had outstanding seasons. James ‘Eddie’ Malpass also deserves a mention. He takes a lot of stick from his peers for his style of play, but after the Christmas brake he really showed his class and finished the season as my first choice right winger. Mark ‘Henno’ Hennessey joined up with the squad after Christmas and added some much needed defensive cover. Chris Spittle and Darren Cartwright are two others who can not be forgotten, and where sorely missed after picking up unfortunate injuries. Lastly, I will be hoping that utility man James Brackpool can have a full season with us next season as he did extremely well at the start and end of the campaign.
The players mentioned above really form the spine of my team. It’s vital they stay for next season so we can push on into our second season together. To that core, we can add the likes of no nonsense centre half Mikey Bryan, goalkeeper Ollie Monk, and other new faces to our squad. But just adding those two, we look more solid already!
First seasons are always difficult in football. Players need to get to know each other and partnerships need to form. But I believe that if we are patient and stick together, we can push on up the league next season and be successful.

See you in June for Pre Season.

Ste