CM4 Leigh RMI 04-05

[Katon]

The previous years of this dynasty may be found here.

The brief version runs like this: keep extremely bad Scunthorpe team in the Third Division, get fired for my troubles, find a job at Conference relegation favorites Leigh, and miss out on the playoffs on the last day of the season.

That said, on with the new season!

[Katon]

Our squad still has some fairly notable holes in it, most notably at right-back and on the wing, so I start spending. A few promising deals are interrupted by the player in question’s unreasonable objection to being paid half the wages he was asking for, but we do eventually make one buy. £6,000 brings us the bizarrely-named Ryan-Zico Black from Morecambe. He’s a 22-year-old Northern Irish winger, who isn’t in quite as good shape as one might like but it extremely talented on the ball.

Apparently, my preseason training routine is slightly too tough for most of the squad. Black has barely started training when he picks up a shoulder injury, and Scott Jordan dislocates his shoulder practically simultaneously. Both of them will be out until late September.

Contract news next, and about a third of the squad have their deals expiring in the coming twelve months. Brian Deane, Liam Blakeman, Craig Jones, and Daniel Robinson are all going to be leaving at that point; Gerry Harrison and Luke Weaver can both get new deals any time they want them, although Harrison is asking for a rather impressive raise. For the rest, Sasho Angelov appears to exist in a state of permanent almost-retirement; he was meant to go this last summer, but decided to hang on for one more year. He’s still got enough in him to be worth keeping around, but I’m not sure if that’ll hold true throughout the year or whether he’ll even be playing after this contract expires. Neil Durkin and Ged Kielty are both backups, and will need to play very well to earn another contract. Wayne Maden is slightly closer to the first team, and at only 21 there’s a lot of room for improvement. He’ll probably be coming back, although his wage demands could stop that. Dimitris Liaos, who has just scored a brilliant lob in our most recent preseason game, is asking for an extremely reasonable amount, so he’s immediately offered a deal at the wages he was asking for.

[Katon]

Somehow, I could tell Liaos’ willingness to sign a new deal was too good to be true. He’s suddenly decided that he deserves to be paid big money, and rejects my offer. I disagree, and, unless he changes his demands, he might be on the way out. With Luke Weaver still making up his mind as to what he wants to do and Gerry Harrison holding out to get more cash, we still haven’t signed anyone to an extension.

The bookmakers announce the 04-05 Conference odds, and this year they actually look fairly accurate. Morecambe and Scarborough are joint favourites at 6-4, with Margate just behind them, then Chester, and then us at 5-2. Scarborough were vastly overachieving last year to finish fourth, and they should be in for a fall, but aside from them that’s probably a fairly accurate prediction.

Gerry Harrison says he’s unhappy with his current deal and wants to start negotiations on a new one. Well, it isn’t me making unreasonable demands, is it? You want a new deal, ask for wages we can actually pay.

[Katon]

With the season fast approaching, time for a squad review:

Goalkeeper
Luke Weaver is clearly the starter here, having been our best player in the last two-thirds of 2004 after winning the job from Stuart Coburn. Coburn did a good job when he was the starter, and he’s an excellent backup. Craig Jones and Daniel Robinson, both in their last year at the club, can step in if absolutely necessary.

Left Back
Ryan Valentine is settled in here for his first full season after coming to us from the Darlington fire sale. He was the best left-back in the division last year, and I hope he can repeat the feat. Stuart Robson, also newly-arrived from Charlton, is an excellent backup, and strongly impressed during the preseason. Liam Blakeman, on the other hand, will be kept as far from the first team as possible.

Right Back
Right-back is our least settled position. Martyn Lancaster is the nominal starter, but Stuart Robson is right-footed and will get a chance to play here. Neil Durkin is a bit too slow to be a full-back, but he’s the best we have after those two.

Centre Back
Gerry Harrison, whatever his wage demands, is the main man here. He was one of our top players last year, and his partnership with Neil Fitzhenry looked pretty solid towards the end of the year. Behind those two, former Bulgarian international Sasho Angelov has opted to stay on one more year after previously having announced that this would be his last year. Angelov is on the way down, so I might give more of the substitute appearances to newcomer Marien Ifura, who’s just arrived on a Bosman from Q.P.R.

Defensive Midfield
With Stoke stubbornly refusing to loan us James O’Connor, who filled this spot for us last year, we’re handing the spot to Phil Salt. Although Gerry Harrison and Neil Fitzhenry can also fill in here, Wayne Maden is the main backup.

Wingers
Ordinarily, I would differentiate between the wings, but the fact is that both of our starters can play on either side. Once he returns from injury, new signing Ryan-Zico Black will be patrolling the right side and Stuart Whittaker will be playing on the left. Behind them, there’s a rather significant drop-off. Andy Heald, on the left flank, and Ged Kielty, on the right, are distinct dropoffs from the starters. Liam Carr will be sitting in the reserves all year barring significant injuries problems.

Attacking Midfield
Two good players, no set starters. Phil O’Donnell had the starting job for most of last season, but we picked up Scott Jordan just before the transfer deadline and he played a part in our late-season surge. Both players will have a chance to win the job. O’Donnell has a good chance to set his mark on the position, however, as Jordan has fallen victim to the summer shoulder curse and will miss the first month or two. Veteran Ian Monk might get a game or two, although he’s never really gotten back in shape after a nasty groin injury shortly before I took over.

Strikers
Damien Whitehead, our two-time defending Player of the Year, is obviously our star player up front. The identity of his partner, however, isn’t quite so clear-cut. Ged Courtney probably has the edge after grabbing 21 goals in all competitions last year, but Dimitris Liaos, another recalcitrant negotiator, is also quite good. Brian Deane will be seeing out the last three months of his contract as our fourth striker before being replaced by another ex-Leeds player at the opposite end of the age spectrum, the 19-year-old Chris Armstrong. Well, Deane would be doing that if he hadn’t injured his groin trying for an acrobatic volley in a training match. As is, he’ll be recovering right about the time Armstrong joins us. This isn't set in stone, but Deane has almost certainly played his last game for us.

[Katon]

Our first match of the season comes against Darlington, who are having difficulty pulling out of the financial mess which saw Ryan Valentine head our way. In fact, they sold almost all of their defence trying to raise cash, and the replacements don’t seem to have quite mastered the offside trap yet, with the result that Ged Courtney is racing onto long clearances with almost monotonous regularity. All of his shots are flying a few inches the wrong side of the post, however. Our chances aren’t helped when Dimitris Liaos strains a muscle ligament. Liaos is standing in for Damien Whitehead, who fractured his jaw in a clumsy challenge during preseason training and hasn’t quite recovered yet. With Brian Deane also injured, we throw Ged Kielty up front as a makeshift striker, in which role he promptly fires our best chance of the first half right at their keeper. Readjusting so as to have Phil O’Donnell playing up front, with Ian Monk taking over the attacking midfield slot, we come out in the second half determined to take the lead. Ten minutes into the half, Phil Salt releases Stuart Whittaker with a beautiful long pass, Whittaker crosses, and O’Donnell proves to be a rather better striker than Kielty. O’Donnell also plays a role in our second, when his ferocious drive is spilled for Ged Courtney to slide home from a narrow angle. Straight from the kickoff, Courtney strips the ball from a harmless Darlington player. He looks up, sees the keeper off his line, and fires a blast goalwards from over forty yards out. Their goalie, Andy Collett, has actually been their best player, but his reaction to Courtney’s blast leaves something to be desired. Not that I’m complaining, you understand.
Leigh 3-0 Darlington

Liaos will only miss two weeks, it turns out. Still, that leaves us with only Courtney of our strikers fit for the Tuesday trip to Woking. My nerves aren’t exactly calmed by Woking’s dominating possession throughout the first half-hour. They have one of the worst attacks in the league, however, and we only have one real scare during the period. Just when I begin to think we’re doomed, O’Donnell loops a shot of the bar and Courtney latches onto the rebound. He’s on the verge of shooting when Woking captain Rob Kemper comes hurtling in with a desperate tackle. The only thing that Kemper’s tackle accomplishes, in spite of his intentions, is to supply the final touch on the first goal of the game. That’s the cue for us to start playing, and we soon double our lead when Courtney sets up O’Donnell to nutmeg the keeper. Woking promptly fall apart. Defender Jason Shackell, excellent so far, misses an easy interception as Courtney feeds O’Donnell for his second in a lightning counterattack. Our fourth is reminiscent of one of the all-time classic Premiership goals, the David Beckham lob against Wimbledon. We don’t have Beckham, of course, but Ryan Valentine does a rather good impression from just inside our half when Woking goalie Simon Royce goes walkabout. The second half is almost entirely devoid of action until, with less than twenty minutes left, Gerry Harrison picks up his second yellow. That, and Gary Nash’s long-range drive, gives Woking a slight glimmer of hope. They can’t find a miracle, however, and the game ends without further action.
Woking 1-4 Leigh

[Katon]

No sooner does Damien Whitehead recover from his pulled muscle than Ged Courtney is straining his groin. Time to increase our medical staff, methinks.

On current form, I’m not really worried by the thought of being forced to start Phil O’Donnell up front. Sure enough, within three minutes of the kickoff, he’s rounding the keeper from Whitehead’s neat pass to slot home his fourth of the season. Whitehead needs a bit longer to get his season off the mark, but we’re still in the first quarter of an hour when he glances home Stuart Whittaker’s cross. Just when we’re cruising, however, O’Donnell misplaces an elbow and the referee objects. We’re down to ten men for the second game in the row. I have to warn O’Donnell about this; he’s playing superbly, but I can’t have my players throwing elbows. Anyway, with a man disadvantage, the plan is simple: sit back, control possession, and make the other team score. We follow the plan to perfection, Luke Weaver only has to make one serious intervention, and they never score.
Leigh 2-0 Dagenham & Redbridge

For the next match, with O’Donnell out, I resort to the still-recovering Ged Courtney to partner Damien Whitehead up front. The match gets off to a flying start, as Stuart Whittaker fires straight into the keeper’s arms after a flowing move while Chester striker Mark Beesley hits the bar with Luke Weaver nowhere. Weaver redeems himself a moment later, however, with a superb save to deny the dangerous-looking Beesley. Against that, however, the supposedly injured Courtney almost scores after latching onto Ged Kielty’s ball over the top. Somehow, the match reaches the break with the deadlock unbroken; the peace, on the other hand, is in tiny pieces. Chester seem to feel that the best way to win the match is to injure our entire team; Kielty and Whitehead both spend time off the pitch receiving treatment, although fortunately neither needs to be taken off. When the second half kicks off, Mark Beesley’s awful luck continues. Just when he finally beats both Weaver and the woodwork, the linesman intervenes. The action flares on, but, somehow, the first goal never comes. One of the most exciting goalless draws I’ve ever seen finally finishes just as Ged Courtney reaggravates his groin strain in an unfortunate challenge. Fortunately, it’s nothing serious, and he’ll be fit for our next game.
Chester 0-0 Leigh

More injury news: Neil Durkin tears his groin muscle, and will miss three months. We’re really not having much luck with injuries this year.

Our next game gets off to a rather interesting start when Wayne Maden starts arguing with the referee over a petty decision. Wayne doesn’t let it go, even after being booked for dissent. In fact, he doesn’t let it go until he’s been booked for dissent twice. Phil Salt is left to fight the midfield battle single-handedly. Fortunately, he’s in top form, emerging from the battle with honors even and still having time to scramble the ball home from a Whittaker free kick in first-half injury time. A combination of Luke Weaver and the crossbar ensure that we hold onto the lead, and Courtney and Whitehead can even afford to miss a few chances to kill the game.
Leigh 1-0 Bradford Park Avenue

Cue yet more injuries. Damien Whitehead is due to miss four weeks with a groin strain and Gerry Harrison will be out for three weeks with a fractured cheekbone.

[condors]

katon-you mind telling us your training schedule so i know what not to do?

large blunt objects should not be used as motivational tools

[Katon]

Actually, I don't need blunt instruments to motivate anyone, now that Brian Deane's injured. The problem was that some nameless idiot in the club's secretarial staff made a few typos when I was busy changing the training program back from the preseason one to the regular one.

[Katon]

Among the revolutionary ideas suggested by our new physio, Fabrizio Agostini, is that a weekly session of weight training often helps prevent injuries. You know, I’d have sworn we already did that. Apparently, some idiot managed to take the weight training out of both our attacking and defending training schedules when we were making the changeover from preseason to season. Now who could that have been?

Anyway, our rather battered team is off to Enfield. Unsurprisingly, our skeletal squad has an unusual amount of difficulty with a rather poor newly-promoted team. Indeed, they have the better of the first half. No goals, however, and when Stuart Whittaker drops a cross onto Dimitris Liaos’ head shortly after the restart, we have the lead. With Neil Fitzhenry titanic in defence, we hold onto that lead. Of course, Fitzhenry does tail off slightly at the end after picking up a slight knock, but he’ll only miss two weeks. By our recent standards, that’s positively healthy.
Enfield 0-1 Leigh

With so many injuries, I need some cover. Fortunately, I have a few loan spots still free. Defender David Wattley, from Boston United, and striker Fabian Forde, from Watford, look like good prospects to fill said spots. They join up on a temporary basis. The day after he joins, however, Wattley is made expendable when cash-strapped Carlisle agree to sell us right-back Darren Kelly for £6,000. Back to Boston for Wattley, then.

With Kelly starting and Forde on the bench, we actually have a reasonable squad for Southport’s visit to Hilton Park. We burst out of the blocks, flashing chance after chance narrowly past the posts. In the end, it takes us half an hour before Phil O’Donnell tackles an advancing defender. The ball squirts into no-man’s-land, about halfway between our strikers and their keeper. Dimitris Liaos wins the race, sidesteps the goalie, and slides the ball into the net from just outside the area. As has been our habit recently, we settle down and hold onto the 1-0 win.
Leigh 1-0 Southport

With our sixth win from seven games, we are now top of the table by a clear three points from Morecambe and Margate. While our offence hasn’t been bad, the real key has been our defence, which has conceded just once all season – and that, ironically, at the end of our most emphatic win. All this success is recognised by the decision to name me Manager of the Month for August/September. They’ve apparently decided to merge the two awards this year; anyway, this is the first award. The other awards go elsewhere, as Stevenage striker Anthony Elding narrowly beats Phils O’Donnell and Salt out for the Player of the Month award and Man. U youngster Graeme Port, currently on loan to Enfield, wins the Young Player award.

[Katon]

There are two chances within the first minute of our duel with Stevenage. One falls to exactly the man you’d expect, with Conference Player of the Month Anthony Elding drawing a good save from Luke Weaver; the other comes to a slightly more surprising person, as Ryan Valentine bursts through only to fire just wide. After that, we have another scare when a cross falls to Stevenage midfielder Leon Bell, who draws a near-miraculous parry out of Weaver. We might be the league leaders, but – aside from Weaver and Phil O’Donnell – we don’t look it. Shortly after the break, I decide to mix things up a bit, so I move Phil O’Donnell up front and take the underachieving Dimitris Liaos off for Scott Jordan. The move pays immediate dividends, as we start pressing and go ahead just after the hour mark with a low shot from Ged Courtney. Chances fly our way and theirs – mostly ours – but things aren’t finally decided even after, with less than ten minutes left, substitute Fabian Forde goes over in the box. Ryan-Zico Black, finally making his debut after that shoulder injury, blazes well wide. I’m no closer to finding a good penalty-taker now than I was earlier in the season. Black redeems himself somewhat with an excellent run and cross to set Courtney in one-on-one with their keeper, but the shot hits the side netting. Still, we hold out for what is now our fourth 1-0 win in succession.
Stevenage 0-1 Leigh

Now that we’re approaching a fit squad again, I send Fabien Forde back to Watford. We don’t need him enough to keep paying his wages. We definitely don’t miss him when Gravesend visit Hilton Park, as we look more like our normal selves than the previous week. We come close twice in the early going, as Ryan-Zico Black comes close after a marvellous jinking run and Dimitris Liaos almost gets on the end of a cross from Ged Courtney. The goal takes even longer to come than last week, but it does come in the end. Marien Ifura heads a long clearance back from whence it came and Courtney follows along behind before stroking the ball wide of the keeper. Now that we have a lead, we’ve as good as won, right? Not quite, as a disastrous breakdown in discipline results in an opponent finding himself wide open at the near post as a corner wings in with less than five minutes left.
Leigh 1-1 Gravesend

Two bits of news crop up after the Gravesend match. One is welcome; one is not. Stuart Whittaker will miss two weeks with another shoulder injury; on the other hand, third-string left-back Liam Blakeman will be leaving for second-placed Morecambe, with £2,000 coming our way. Unless they know something I don’t, the deal was a swindle; Blakeman was totally useless and his contract was up at the end of the year anyway. In other news, the need to convince him to negotiate with me prompts me to congratulate Luke Weaver on his recent performances; heaven knows he deserves the congratulations.

There are several different ways that a team can keep a clean sheet. Letting Ryan-Zico Black in behind the defence, however, is not among them. Canvey Island need two tries to learn that lesson. While their keeper manages to stop our right winger’s shot the first time, the second time sees Dimitris Liaos collect Black’s feed to put us ahead just seven minutes in. Our party is interrupted ten minutes later, however, when former Nottingham Forest defender Des Lyttle thunders a drive past Luke Weaver from the edge of the area to draw Canvey Island level. The rest of the match is end-o-end stuff, with both teams having chances to grab the winner; Black curls one drive just past the far post, while Canvey striker Daniel Marney glances a header just outside the post with the last touch of the match. No goals come, however, and we finish with our second consecutive 1-1 draw.
Canvey Island 1-1 Leigh

A national newspaper tells us that Wayne Maden is unhappy with his current deal, which is due to be up at the end of the year, and wants to start negotiations. Well, it isn’t me asking for unreasonable wages, is it?

Against AFC Wimbledon, for just about the first time this season, we have our first-choice strike force of Whitehead and Courtney available. It is neither of them who puts us ahead a quarter of an hour in, however; instead, Andy Heald’s cross is half-cleared onto Phil O’Donnell’s boot, and the ensuing volley is past the goalie before he even has time to blink. We haven’t had much luck holding onto one-goal leads recently; how about two? When Whitehead swings over a cross just before the break, Courtney has enough time to take a dozen attempts at converting. He only needs two. Our third comes along similar lines, as Ryan-Zico Black sets Whitehead off down the right, Whitehead crosses, and the wide-open Courtney nods the ball just inside the near post. After all that, Whitehead deserves a goal of his own. It almost comes with twenty minutes left, when his volley from an O’Donnell cross is turned onto the crossbar. Fortunately for us, Courtney is nearest to the rebound, and he completes his hat-trick. No sooner has that happened, however, than Wimbledon finally show up, as Neil Fitzhenry misjudges a long ball to let Adam Shaw round Weaver and score.
Leigh 4-1 AFC Wimbledon

Just when we were almost back to full health, another major injury comes along. In this case, Phil O’Donnell tears a groin muscle (doing what, I wonder?), and will miss two months. Excellent though he has been this season, O’Donnell isn’t irreplaceable; Scott Jordan was filling his spot during our ten-match unbeaten streak toward the end of last season – a run, incidentally, which was displaced from the team record book by the current one after the AFC Wimbledon game. We have now collected 51 points from our last 22 games. A pity that was split over two seasons; we’d have clinched promotion if it had all been in one year.

[Katon]

The Vans Trophy first round is next on the agenda, and, with second division Barnsley coming to Hilton Park, I don’t expect to be in the draw for the next round. Early on, that prediction looks a trifle pessimistic, as we match them blow for blow, with both teams being held to a few potshots from distance. For some reason, whenever anybody looks like getting into the area, they either dither on the ball until the defence can recover (Ged Courtney) or swing out too wide and hit a poor cross (Bruce Dyer). Just when it looks like the first half is going to finish goalless, however, a bit of excitement pops up. A Barnsley attack is partially cleared with a header into no-mans-land; Damien Whitehead drops back to pick it up and then hits a beautiful pass into the path of Courtney. Our second striker makes rather more of this chance than of his previous ones, and we’re ahead. Within a minute of the restart, a perfect Scott Jordan corner and an excellent header from Whitehead have doubled our lead. Barnsley now need to knuckle down and get some good attacks going; they do so. Keith O’Neill swings in a cross from the left which somehow worms its way to Dyer and they’re right back in it. They almost fall back out of it shortly afterwards, however, when Ryan-Zico Black puts Jordan through only for the midfielder to fire the ball right at the goalie. Barnsley don’t learn from that scare, however, and are caught out again when Black hits an extremely similar ball to get Whitehead behind the defence. Whitehead heads for the byline before cutting the ball back for Courtney to put us into Round Two.
Leigh 3-1 Barnsley

Since we’ve just had so much fun welcoming a second division team to Hilton Park, why don’t we do it again? Oldham, currently struggling to avoid the drop to Division Three, are scheduled to be our opponents in the second round of the Vans Trophy.

From one cup match to another. After the Vans Trophy, we now take on Scarborough at Hilton Park in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round. We had quite a good run in this competition last year, making it to the fourth round proper before getting knocked out by Cardiff. Our run this year certainly starts out as if it’s going to match that: within two minutes, Ged Courtney has flicked on a long clearance for Damien Whitehead to score. Classic Route One football, but who’s complaining? The lead lasts – with the help of an excellent stop by Luke Weaver – until the twenty-sixth minute, when Gerry Harrison misreads a long ball to let Scarborough striker Chris Downey in. The game stays thus balanced until shortly after half-time, when Ryan-Zico Black drops a cross right on Courtney’s head, which promptly redirects it into the net. Shortly afterwards, Stuart Whittaker swings in a ball from the opposite flank which is only prevented from reaching Whitehead by the intervention of a Scarborough defender’s hand. Whitehead duly becomes the first Railwayman all season to successfully convert a penalty. Our fourth comes when Whitehead nods in a Scott Jordan corner to complete his hat-trick.
Leigh 4-1 Scarborough

As if we haven’t been playing enough second division teams lately, our first round FA Cup tie is against Rotherham. In addition to these absurd cup draws, we’re also wronged in the Conference monthly awards. The best manager of the month, according to whichever idiot selects them, is Gary Johnson. His Bury team managed six points from four games. Meanwhile, Leigh were getting eight points and Morecambe – whose manager deserves it for my money – were earning ten.

We send out the same lineup against Yeovil that gave Scarborough such fits. The method by which we take the lead, however, is somewhat different. The Scarborough game was the Damien Whitehead Show, but our first goal here doesn’t involve any strikers at all. Ryan-Zico Black wins the ball off of a Yeovil defender before feeding Stuart Whittaker, who cuts in from the wing to beat the keeper. We haven’t kept a clean sheet in ages, however, and the streak continues as Yeovil winger Kenny Pavey thunders the ball into the roof of the net from at least thirty yards out. Our team looks a bit tired from its midweek exertions, and we can’t regain the lead.
Yeovil 1-1 Leigh

[Katon]

Last year, we had real difficulty beating the league’s worst teams, losing to both Shrewsbury and Telford. Could we do better this year against bottom-placed Dover? Well, our offence isn’t looking at its sharpest, but it doesn’t need to be. Dover keeper Iain Turner tries to collect a low cross by Ged Courtney, fumbles it, and then can only watch as Damien Whitehead steers the ball home. We double our lead shortly before half-time, as Scott Jordan and Ryan-Zico Black combine to release Whitehead, who draws the keeper out before sliding the ball across to give Courtney an open goal. After that, the game peters out somewhat. Whitehead has one good chance, when Courtney crosses after being put through by a glorious ball from Black, but Turner pulls off an excellent stop to somewhat redeem himself for the first goal. We do get a third, however, and it’s something special. Black strips a Dover fullback of the ball, looks up, spots the keeper off his line, and lashes the ball into the far top corner from over thirty yards out. Our fourth isn’t quite in the same league, but it’s not bad either, Courtney thundering home a volley from the edge of the area after Whitehead and Paul Robson combine to tee him up. Just to make the day perfect, second-placed Margate come from behind with a late goal to get a draw at home to third-placed Morecambe.
Dover Athletic 0-4 Leigh

Leeds youngster Chris Armstrong joins the squad for the match against second-placed Margate, and I decide to give him a go behind the front two. Not that our central attack matters that much; Margate’s weakness is clearly down the flanks, and we’ve been peppering them with dangerous crosses for almost a full half before one of Ryan Valentine’s efforts is intercepted by a defender’s hand. Damien Whitehead duly converts, and we head in at the break with a one-goal lead. The lead only lasts until the hour mark, however, before Margate equalize with a flank raid of their own, their first real attack of the match. The game goes on, however, and we regain the lead with less than fifteen minutes left. Ryan-Zico Black swings in a cross; Armstrong gets up highest; we’re on course to win. Not a bad way to make a debut.
Leigh 2-1 Margate

Four days later, we face Oldham in the Vans Trophy. I’m rather worried about the scheduling nightmare that too many cup runs can cause. I saw it last year with Chester, who never lived up to their status as promotion favourites primarily because they reached the Vans and FA Trophy finals. We look like we’re feeling the tight scheduling, with a performance which is extremely undistinguished right up to the point where an Andy Heald drive takes a drastic deflection off Ged Courtney and goes in. Courtney’s credited with the goal, but we really don’t deserve to be ahead. Oldham grab a quick equalizer, which redresses some of the injustice, but we’ve had a flash of hope and we slowly begin to come back into it. We are given a giant helping hand when Courtney latches onto a long clearance and gets knocked over by Clint Hill, who is sent off for a professional foul. Gerry Harrison converts the kick, and we’ve got another lead. With the Oldham manager showing no inclination to cover the gaping hole in his defence, chances start coming faster. We never quite score one, but we don’t need to; they never equalize.
Leigh 2-1 Oldham

Now, we’ve all had enough of hosting second division teams in the Vans Trophy. Fortunately, we won’t have to do that in the north section quarter-final; the match is at their place. We’re travelling to Stoke, folks!

We are able to cut something out of our increasingly busy schedule the next Saturday, as Rotherham thoroughly outplay us in the FA Cup first round. We never look like pulling off the upset, and our defence does rather well to hold the scoreline down.
Rotherham 2-0 Leigh

While the exit from the Cup is welcome, the news which come with it is not. Ryan-Zico Black, who has been nothing short of excellent so far this season, has reinjured the shoulder which caused his Leigh career to start two months late. He is expected to miss two months again.

[Katon]

For anyone wondering what's happened to this, sorry about the lack of updates. I got Skies of Arcadia and Ghost Master last weekend and I've been playing them whenever I get any free time. Add in the normal end-of-year panic about finals and I really haven't played CM in the past week or so. The dynasty is not dead and I will be resuming it whenever I start playing CM4 again.

[klayman]

Good luck on your finals.

[Katon]

Finals over, and they went pretty well. Time for some more CM!

[Katon]

Our first match after Black’s injury comes against perpetual over-achievers Scarborough, who for the second straight season are challenging for the playoffs with relatively little talent. The match gets off to a lightning start, as Luke Weaver is forced to make a top-class double save practically straight from the kickoff while one of our corners pings around in their area until Damien Whitehead is dispossessed by illegal means. Whitehead converts the kick and we have the lead. After the frantic opening, the match settles down somewhat, and the next goal doesn’t come until Darren Kelly launches a huge clearance into the path of Ged Courtney shortly after half-time. With no defenders within ten yards, Courtney has an easy finish, and we’re two goals up. We’re content to settle for that.
Leigh 2-0 Scarborough

Our lack of fit creative midfielders really comes back to bite us against Hereford. With O’Donnell, Jordan and Black all hurt, our offence can contribute little more than the occasional route-one attack. Our defence, led by the superlative Ryan Valentine, gives Hereford little more in the way of openings. As a result, the most interesting thing about the match is Hereford’s collection of yellow cards. They accrue four in the end, including two to Andrew Leeson. Any hope I have of taking advantage of this numerical superiority is seemingly dispelled, however, when Hereford revert to a 5-4-0 formation. Not so. While we may not have much hope of scoring from open play, there are always set pieces. Sure enough, with less than ten minutes left, a Stuart Whittaker corner spins crazily along the goal-line before being lashed home by Ged Courtney for the win.
Leigh 1-0 Hereford

Farnborough now, and our midfield is still decimated by injuries. We need barely five minutes for Damien Whitehead to burst through on a counterattack and slide the ball across for Ged Courtney to finish. With our league-best defence, that should be enough for us to win. Unfortunately, such is not the case. Fifteen minutes after we’ve taken the lead, we fall victim to a similar move, Joff Vansittart slamming the ball home. Shortly after the break, Vansittart strikes again, heading in a cross from former Sheffield Wednesday winger Simon Donnelly. From there on in, we’re doomed. Chris Piper adds a third – over half as many goals as we’ve conceded prior to this all year – as we slump to our first defeat on the year.
Farnborough 3-1 Leigh

With Scott Jordan back, our offence can step up a gear against Northwich. We get off to a great start with a beautiful flowing move in which Damien Whitehead collects a cross-field ball from Ryan Valentine, works his way into the area via a one-two with Stuart Whittaker, and crosses for Ged Courtney to head home via the keeper’s glove. After our defensive collapse last week, I’m feeling somewhat nervous, so I have our lot pull back and hold onto the lead. This works for an hour before a long ball into the box spins off Gerry Harrison and is knocked home by Gregg Blundell. Back to the drawing board. We need less than ten minutes to restore our lead, though, with Whittaker bombing a cross to the far post where it is met by Courtney for his second goal of the day.
Northwich Victoria 1-2 Leigh

With our defence showing signs of weakness, I’m on the alert for potential signings. One player, 21-year-old Stoke defender Michael Nelson, is a particularly tempting target. For some reason, however, he prefers fighting for promotion to the Premiership with Birmingham, leaving to join them.

Having scored inside the first five minutes of our last two games, we almost make it three against Nuneaton. We flood forward straight from the kickoff, slamming Nuneaton onto the back foot and keeping them there. Only some poor finishing keeps them level, most notably when Ged Courtney hits the post of an empty net after being teed up by Whitehead. As the end of the first half approaches, the possibility of their scraping an undeserved draw begins to grow worryingly. Before the break actually comes, however, they give us two fairly large pieces of help. First, striker Adriano Rigoglioso gets sent off for; second, hitherto excellent keeper Chris Taylor flaps helplessly at a Liam Carr potshot. Not satisfied to have let in one long-range effort, Turner then gets caught wandering out to the penalty spot by a quite magnificent curving volley from Scott Jordan. Jordan is still a bit short on stamina after his injury, but the hour he can manage today is one of the best performances anyone’s turned in during my tenure at Leigh.
Leigh 2-0 Nuneaton Borough

Brian Deane’s contract comes up now. He was signed to provide some emergency cover up front; with two goals in eighteen games (all but three of them as a sub) he did that and not much more. As he leaves, someone else arrives. Ryan Wilkie, who we loaned in last year, has been released on a free by Liverpool. He was a bit inconsistent for us last year, but that’s predictable in teenagers and the high spots were good enough for me to want to add him on a permanent basis. He’s unlikely to displace Ryan-Zico Black, but with the latter’s shoulder problems it should be nice to have Wilkie around.

Another rather interesting piece of news that I receive at about the same time is that Barcelona forward Ronaldo feels he should be a regular part of the first team. He’s only played in slightly more than half their league games so far; why a team which already had Javier Saviola, Patrick Kluivert, and Rivaldo felt a need to pay over eight million pounds for another forward is beyond me anyway.

Time for the Vans Trophy Northern Quarterfinal now. Quite frankly, I’m half-hoping we get knocked out, as playing games Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday isn’t really the best way to keep the team fit. Away to second division Stoke, the team obeys that half-hope with embarrassing ease. My objections to the packed schedule also materialize, as both Luke Weaver and Scott Jordan pick up knocks which will have them out for the better part of a month.
Stoke 4-0 Leigh