|
1 November: Stony Stratford Town 2-1 Wodson Park
We managed only four shots to our opponents' 17, but half of ours wound up in the net. I have four strikers who all believe they deserve to be in the first team (a reasonable expectation on their part, given their squad status), so today I picked Craig Curtis to play beside Mark Buzzeo. Craig was outstanding, setting up Mark for our first goal and scoring the second one himself.
Even better, a bumper crowd of 718 turned up at Ostler's Lane! That's a new attendance record for us, by a wide margin.
2 November
Operation Find Players Who Are Content To Be Backups continued, with the signing of midfielder Luke Pike. He began the season at Tividale, who play two divisions higher, but he broke his leg in preseason and was released in October. Luke is 22, and he's primarily an M(C). His first touch is very good and he's an especially hard worker. He needs to work on his marking and tackling, but he'll be a useful reserve.
8 November: Crawley Green 2-2 Stony Stratford Town
This was a fairly unremarkable match. Buzzeo continued his yeoman work from the penalty spot, and after the home side took the lead, Max Wallace responded with the equalizer, eight minutes from time.
9 November
I've decided to add a Director of Football to the staff here at Stony Stratford. Welcome Matt Reid, who comes to us from Harrowby United. I will give him the responsibility of finding new players and negotiating deals with them, subject to my approval.
15 November: Stony Stratford Town 4-2 Baldock Town
Craig Curtis continued to make his case for a starting spot, firing in a hat trick. We needed all three of his goals, because our defense was nothing special.
The worst news: Wide man Dave Amos strained ligaments in his knee, and it looks like he'll be out of action for about two months. Jamie Hackett and Sam Edwards will fill in while he's recuperating.
21 November
One of our forwards, Liam Hayward, spoke with me about getting more playing time. I asked him to be patient, and he understood. Hayward's professional attitude impressed me, and I'm going to give him a run of games in the first team. Buzzeo, who has scored only one goal from open play in his last six matches, might sit for a while.
22 November: Amersham 0-2 Stony Stratford Town
This one looked like it might end as a scoreless draw, until Sam Edwards opened his account at 76'. Liam Hayward added an insurance goal in stoppage time.
Brian Street, who assisted on both goals, was the Man of the Match with a 9.0 rating, while left back Shaun Charles' eagerness in the tackle (10 in 11 chances) earned him a 7.9.
The three points gave us 24 for the season, good for third in the table. London Lions (27) and Edgware Town (25) are ahead of us.
29 November: Stony Stratford Town 1-1 Risbrough Rangers
When a team that's barely above the drop zone comes to town, we really need to take three points. Rangers entered this match with 12 points, and went home with 13, thanks to a generally lackluster performance from the boys in blue.
Shaun Charles could hold his head up high; he scored his first goal for us and did his job on defense. Bobby Creswell also played well at center half, after a string of mediocre form that nearly caused me to drop him from the eleven.
Still, as the month ends, the board is very pleased with my performance as manager, and I'm even more pleased with how the season is progressing.
|