[Izulde]

vs Exeter (4th)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Tom Sharpe
DC Samuel Bangura
DC Sergio Sanchez
DR Andrew Burns
DM Taylor Parmenter
DM Seanan Clucas
ML Callum McNish
MR Izak Reid
ST Lewis Taaffe
ST Ashley Yeoman

Pull off the win in this one, and we'll firmly establish ourselves as a team to be really taken seriously in the BS Premier race this season.

38 - Our clearance and positioning have been awful, but we've managed to hang on. Bad news here, though, as Parmenter has to leave the game. Naturally Woodford takes his spot.

43 - At this rate, Crocombe is going to be our leading goal-scorer, as we're awarded a PK and he converts. 1-0

44 - McNish makes a fabulous tackle on the opening kickoff and sends it ahead of Taaffe, who is having a phenomenal game. He beats the defense and circles around the goalie, and just when I think LT is going to hang on to it for too long, he banks it right in on the angle and we have ourselves a two goal lead scored *just* before the first half ends. 2-0



Announcers are calling this a drab match, but they must have missed the last two minutes of the first half, because that was damned awesome.

49 - Exeter changes to a 5-3-2, which makes no sense to me given that they're down two goals.

70 - Yellow for Clucas

74 - Gueduioura on for Yeoman

75 - Yellow for Harris

80 - Bullshit. That goal was offsides. Didn't get called, though. 2-1

Not the best we've ever played, but it's a win I'll take. 7.9 for Crocombe and McNish, the latter winning MoM, 7.7 for Sanchez.

That pulls Exeter down to 5th, but they're still a point ahead of us.

Colwyn Bay sets a BS Premier record with 18 straight losses, and our huge upset win over Exeter had 880 fans, breaking our non-friendly attendance record by 5 attendees.

Andrew Burns finishes his loan and did so well for us that Billericay now considers him indispensable and refuses to consider another loan.

[b]Max Crocombe/b] is on the Team of the Week.

@Chester (14th)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Tom Sharpe
DC Leon Clowes
DC Sergio Sanchez
DR Izak Reid
DM Ryan Woodford
DM Seanan Clucas
ML Callum McNish
MR Izak Reid
ST Gianluca Gracco
ST Lewis Taaffe

Yep, that's right. Ashley Yeoman has officially lost his starting spot to Taaffe. It's all about the production.

8 - Yellow for Gracco

17 - Woodford sits on the ball too long when he has a clear shot, but we manage to get the corner, and Reid hits it to Clowes. The goalie deflects to the far post, but Sanchez is in the prime place to pop it in for the lead! 1-0

37 - Great sliding tackle shot by Taaffe, but the post robs him.

39 - Devastating injury to Harris. Reid moves up to MR to replace on him, and Bangura comes in at the DR spot.

We're playing really pretty well so far, so let's keep it going and maybe find some insurance somewhere.

50 - Chester makes a terrible pass back and Gracco's there to rush in, beat out the keeper, and strike the long-range shot at the empty net. In it goes for Air Italia's 10th goal of the season. 2-0

53 - And of course Gracco follows that by missing an easy header.

60 - In what is the most bizarre goal I've seen yet, Taaffe gives it to Woodford, who sends it forward for Clucas... and somehow the ball bounces up over the heads of both Clucas and Chester's keeper, and dribbles its way into the net for the score. Talk about craycray! 3-0



71 - Chester's screaming for a penalty on McNish, but the ref ignores it. It's getting nasty out there, and our Irishman is feeling tired, so I quickly put in Eyong.

76 - I'm really starting to hate Chester now. They're whining that a Bangura foul should have been a penalty. I'm suddenly quite glad the team passed on offering me the job when I applied to both them and Brackley.

88 - For some reason, Crocombe just stands there and lets the shot in. Maybe he didn't even see it. 3-1

They fight like crazy to get another goal and give themselves a puncher's chance, but phenomenal work by our defense allows us to hold firm with the two goal away win. Solid ratings all around, headlined by Woodford's MoM-winning 7.9, Sanchez's 7.9, and Gracco's 7.5 in his first game back from injury.

We're now up to 4th as part of a crowded field of playoff promotion contenders. Only Forest Green, who has 43 points to the 2nd place Macclesfield's 37, is well above the fray and in firm command of the league's top spot.

Courtney Harris is out 3-4 weeks, so bad, but not nearly as terrible as it could have been.

We've now gone five games without a loss in league play, and people are calling us paper tigers, which is a very fair assessment. But as long as we avoid the drop, it'll be a successful season.

We poach Billericay again, this time taking on MR Max Noble on a 3 month loan. He's had 5 goals to be the team's leading scorer, though obviously that won't be his role here - he'll be a fill-in for Harris's injury.

Good Trains
Samuel Bangura
Claidiu Hoban
Seanan Clucas

Bad Trains
Tom Sharpe
Dale Binns
Elvis Hammond

Callum McNish surprises everyone by finishing 2nd in Player of the Month voting, and Seanan Clucas is 3rd in Young Player of the Month tallies. I finish 3rd in Manager of the Month voting, and there's no question Forest Green's boss deserves it.

Just shy of $25k in profit last month. Don't remember if I posted this before, but last season we lost $513k, or almost a half-million. This season we're on track to lose a little over $100k, but I'm wondering if the stadium expansion got applied to this season's bill or last year's.

@Northampton (FA Cup 1st Round)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Stevland Angus
DC Leon Clowes
DC Samuel Bangura
DR Brett Solkhon
DM Ryan Woodford
DM Aaron Wickham
ML Claudiu Hoban
MR Izak Reid
ST Nabil Guedioura
ST Ashley Yeoman

We got hosed on the seeding for the FA Cup having to visit a League 2 team, so I'll just end out a B/C list lineup and see how it goes. Let's see if our two strikers can *finally* crack their goal drought (706 for Yeoman, 611 for Guedioura)

10 - A knock for Reid but he'll play on. One of Guedioura's problems by the way, is that he's having trouble fitting in with the rest of the squad - probably because he only has a basic command of English. Maybe I should find someone else who speaks fluent Arabic to help him adjust (Note: he also has basic French).

13 - Speaking of which... Guedioura performs this absolutely amazing run forward to steal the ball away and dash on to a one on one with the keeper. Now normally our Algerian prospect would shank it... but this one he hits for his first ever goal for us!!! Drought broken! 1-0



15 - They score immediately on a rebound. Sigh. 1-1

16 - Getting ugly fast. 1-2

23 - That's an 8 minute hat trick for Moult. Damn it. 1-3

34 - 4 goals by one guy all in the same half. Unbelievable. 1-4

40 ...5 by the same guy. 1-5

Let's put Hammond and Eyong in for Guedioura and Reid and call this a day.

52 - 6! 6 by the same guy! 1-6

85 - Wickham goes down and Parmenter replaces him for the last few minutes of the game.





I salute you, sir! And I totally don't care about the result or how badly we sucked. We just went up against a guy who was absolutely on fire.

Oh nice. Reid is out almost 2 months. Good thing we got that Noble on loan!

...LOL Now Izak Reid wants to stay and be removed off the transfer list. Fine.

Samuel Bangura may be hinting at wanting a new contract, but I think I'll wait to the offseason to be able to extend him until 2017.

@Gainsborough (23rd)
GK Max Crocombe
DL Tom Sharpe
DC Leon Clowes
DC Sergio Sanchez
DR Samuel Bangura
DM Taylor Parmenter
DM Seanan Clucas
ML Callum McNish
MR Max Noble
ST Gianluca Gracco
ST Lewis Taaffe

This game should be a nice tonic to bounce back from that brutal defeat.

6 - Disallowed goal due to Gracco offsides.

10 - Yellow for Taaffe

46 - Their defense has been doing a terrific job of shutting us down in the middle, and Crocombe's made some dumb clearance mistakes. They almost score here, but Parmenter gets out the danger just in the nick of time.

So yeah, we're sucking ass here. Angus comes on for Clowes because we're that banged up on the D-line right about now.

75 - Full credit to their keeper - he's been lights out today, stopping what looked like a few sure goals. Guedioura on for Taaffe.

82 - McNish to Guedioura who sends it to Gracco... who plays a frozen rope between two defenders and finally into the damn goal. 1-0

Not the greatest and not the worst. One of those days where 3 points and Sanchez's 7.5 for Man of Match will do. That'll do.

20 games in, we have 38 points and a +17 GD, good for 4th in the league. We also hold a 4 point cushion on 6th place, which is crucial, given we get #1 Forest Green next game.