Monday Morning Quarterback 2019-2010 Issue 4 Upon Further Review
Well let’s just start off with a great sigh of relief for the club and all Stoke fans as we picked up our first win of the season. This one in the last of our cup exploits as we came from behind like a runaway truck down a slope on a pitch that I’ve not seen at this level of football before. The players and coaches celebrated afterwards like we had just made our way to a Wembley Final, but to be honest it was fantastic, and we hope to see many more of these over the coming weeks.
Also funny was listening to one of our previous Managers rip into the North Leigh clubhouse and team facilities, well at least verbally. The officials and volunteers at North Leigh were great, but to be honest I was shocked by the complete lack of their fans who attended the game. The term ‘One Man And His Dog’ was very appropriate, except the dog failed to show up as well!
As for the match itself, the players showed resilience to come back after going 3-1 down early in the second half and without doubt the insertion of Riccardo Andrady on the hour made a huge difference as the home team couldn’t deal with his pace down or crosses from the right. Many fans, including me still question why he hasn’t earned a start yet, but it can only be a matter of time before he does.
A rare header from Ben Wright and what a finish it was, deserved to be the winner in the end. It was good to see Zach Robinson get a brace of goals and it can only be good for his confidence going forwards. Rumours that our on-loan players are keen to extend their stay with us is great news, as they seem part of the camaraderie the team has shown despite the poor start to the season.
Up next is Tuesday’s night rescheduled league fixture at Mangotsfield Town, who also played in the FA Trophy last Saturday losing 1-2 to Slimbridge Rovers.
Ok it wasn’t all great news this weekend as whilst we earned £1,500 for our win in the extra preliminary round, there was seven games played in our league over the weekend. But I will start at the top of the table first.
Early season leaders Frome Town slipped up again as they were held to a 1-1 home draw against Highworth Town. They now sit in 3rd and were replaced by Thatcham Town who won 2-0 at home to Larkhall Athletic with a brace of goals by forward Kyle Tooze.
Paulton Rovers continued on their strong run of results and behind a hat-trick from Ben Bament demolished Barnstaple Town 4-0. Although two of them were penalties, sound familiar?
In 4th are Evesham Town who won 0-1 at Melksham Town behind Jordon Sangha’s 7th minute goal. In 5th is Cinderford Town who won for the second time on the Simply Health pitch, this time beating Winchester City 0-3.
This leaves the top of the table looking like this;
The Top Five in Our League
TEAM | PLD | WON | DRAWN | LOST | PTS |
Thatcham Town | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 |
Paulton Rovers | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
Frome Town | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
Evesham United | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
Cinderford Town | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
Well for all those who were hoping that Willand Rovers will be saviours at the bottom of the table, as they won their second game in a row beating lowly Sholing 2–0 at home. They have moved up onto 7 points a light year away from us.
Above us sit both Bristol Manor Farm and Moneyfields on five points, but also after only five games as well. Quite apt was the fact they played each other in the FA Trophy, with Manor Farm destroying Moneyfields 7-1.
Above them sit Barnstaple Town as stated earlier they got thumped 4-0 by Paulton Rovers. They sit on 6 points after 9 games.
We still remain the only team in the league without a win, may that change this Tuesday night in Mangotsfield.
The Bottom Five in our League
TEAM | PLD | WON | DRAWN | LOST | PTS |
Sholing Fc | 7 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 6 |
Barnstaple Town | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 6 |
Moneyfields | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Bristol Manor Farm | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
Basingstoke Town | 7 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
Basingstoke Town League Goal Scorers Chart (NO Change since last week)
Ben Wright 2
Claudio Herbert 2
Reece Rusher 1
Adam Everiss 1
OK as promised here is the league goal-scoring chart according to the Bet Victor website
Ben Bament – Paulton Rovers 10
Thomas Hillman – Mangotsfield Utd 6
Jonathan Davies – Frome Town 6
Kyle Tooze – Thatcham Town 5
Soloman Wanjau-Smith – Slimbridge 5
With our game being the only mid-week game in our league, this coming weekend’s games affecting us at the bottom of the table are,
Barnstaple Town (17th) vs Moneyfields (18th)
Sholing Fc (16th) vs Winchester City
Meanwhile Bristol Manor Farm face Wealdstone in the FA Cup.