Friday, 10th October 2008

News Archive

10th November 2007
Review Of The Week

Harrogate Railway Athletic were once again the toast of the UniBond League with a 2-0 win over Conference National side Droylsden in the First Round Proper of the FA Cup thanks to two second half goals.

Back on the domestic front Premier Division leaders Witton Albion went nine points clear of Gateshead and Guiseley who both lost whilst Albion were coming from behind to beat Hednesford Town.

Gateshead were failing to score for the first time this season in the league as lowly Worksop Town surprised the Tynesiders. Guiseley, meanwhile, were losing at Buxton who made it 14 points from the last six games thanks to a brace from James Turley.

Fleetwood Town and Marine put five points between themselves and Ossett Town for the final two play off spots with home wins. At the bottom Leek Town kept their first clean sheet of the campaign and then scored the only goal of the game in stoppage time to leave Frickley Athletic still searching for that elusive first win whilst Whitby Town continue to slide towards trouble after losing 4-1 at Eastwood Town who had lost their previous three games.

Curzon Ashton march on at the top of the First Division North maintaining their unbeaten record with a 2-1 success at Lancaster City whilst Bradford Park Avenue move in to second ahead of FC United of Manchester and Garforth Town on goal difference after two home wins in the week.

Just a point behind in the last play-off place are Ossett Albion but so close is it that Newcastle Blue Star had moved in to third in midweek only to finish up sixth on Saturday evening after losing at Wakefield for whom it was a first win in eight games.

Clitheroe continued to put space between themselves and the bottom two with a significant win over FC United whilst Radcliffe Borough again couldn't convert their cup form in to league points and Chorley could only draw at home to Ossett Albion.

In the First Division South it was a bad week for Grantham Town who hadn't lost since the opening day but crashed to bottom club Spalding United in midweek and then lost at leaders Retford United on Saturday. Retford also benefited from reverses for Cammell Laird and Sheffield FC with Laird's conquerors Goole AFC moving in to fourth on the back of six wins and a draw in their last seven outings.

At the bottom Spalding had a great week picking up four points thanks to Gary Nimmo hitting all their five goals and the points they took off Shepshed Dynamo on Saturday resulted in that club relieving manager Martin Rowe of his duties.

Whitby Sign Gordon

Whitby Town have signed the former Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace defender Dean Gordon to try to add some experience to their defence. The 34 year old has certainly led a varied career playing in Cyprus and New Zealand in addition to picking up thirteen caps for England Under 21's. He made over two hundred appearances for his first club Crystal Palace before moving to Middlesbrough in 1998. He has since played for Coventry City, Grimsby Town, Blackpool and Torquay United plus loan spells with Cardiff City and Reading.

FA Trophy Draw

Midweek replay wins for Bamber Bridge, Radcliffe Borough and Retford United gave the First Division five clubs in the 3rd and final Qualifying Round of the FA Trophy to be played on Saturday 24th November as Sheffield FC and Colwyn Bay were already through. The wins for Bamber Bridge and Retford United against Marine and Fleetwood Town highlighted the extent to which the lower tier clubs have held their own this season against Premier Division opposition in FA competitions. In the FA Cup they won five out of eleven meetings with the top flight whilst Tuesday evening's successes means the First Division sides have won five of the nine ties in which they have faced top tier clubs giving an impressive 50% win ratio.

Radcliffe Borough, meanwhile, must be wishing they could transfer their cup form in to league success as their cup performances would see them as title contenders rather than relegation candidates. Going in to today's game against Mossley they had not won a league game in contrast to their cup record which basically reads W7 D2 L1 given that the UniBond League Challenge Cup tie at Nantwich was only lost on penalties after extra-time.

There will be a minimum of three UniBond clubs, at least two of whom will be First Division sides, in the First Round Proper with Bamber Bridge's reward for their extra-time win at Marine being a home tie with Ilkeston Town.

The guaranteed First Division clubs will come from ties involving top of the First Division South when the draw was made Retford United at home to Radcliffe Borough, bottom of the First Division North whilst Colwyn Bay play host to Sheffield FC in an all First Division South game, Elsewhere Buxton, Gateshead and Guiseley have attractive home draws against AFC Telford United, Boston United and Worcester City respectively whilst Witton Albion travel to Hucknall Town.

The other remaining top flight club Ossett Town are also on their travels but have to wait to find out who their opponents will be. Rushall Olympic who drew with First Division North side Clitheroe in their encounter last Saturday lodged a protest before Tuesday evening's replay could take place and a hearing over whether one of the Clitheroe players was ineligible due to suspension will be heard next week.

Curzon Claim Football League Scalp In FA Youth Cup

Wednesday was a magnificent night for two of the three surviving UniBond clubs with sides in the FA Youth Cup First Round Proper as Curzon Ashton claimed a Football League scalp whilst Retford United brushed aside Stourbridge. Odd man out was Marine who, in their first ever appearance at this stage of the competition, bowed out 4-0 to Chester City

Curzon Ashton also found it tough going against Chesterfield in the first half and were a goal adrift at half time before dominating much of the second period to force extra time and a penalty shoot out where goalkeeper Luke Barrett became the hero with two superb saves to enable the UniBond side to topple the Football League outfit 7-6. Having won their previous two ties in penalty shoot outs Retford United made sure they didn't have another late night with a 6-0 thrashing of Stourbridge in front of a crowd approaching 250 - a figure many first teams would enjoy having.

In the 2nd Round draw Curzon Ashton have been drawn at home to Marine's conquerors Chester City whilst Retford also have an attractive home draw against Football League opposition in Shrewsbury Town who struggled past Bromsgrove Rovers 5-4 in a penalty shoot out in the First Round Proper. The matches are scheduled to be played in the midweek commencing 19th November.

The Macron "Safe Hands" Awards

The UniBond League "Safe Hands" awards for October have gone to Marine's Andy Banks in the top flight whilst the First Division prizes have been won by Lancaster City's veteran Mark Thornley in the North Division whilst the South Division has gone to Sheffield FC's Jamie Holshaw. All three will receive a pair of top of the range goalkeeping gloves courtesy of Macron, the League's preferred kit supplier. The season's overall winner with the most shut outs throughout all three Divisions will receive an all expenses paid trip next pre-season to an Italian La Liga club sponsored by Macron.

Gateshead Sign Veteran Musselwhite

Gateshead have signed veteran goalkeeper Paul Musselwhite who amassed more than six hundred appearances in a long full time career after he started out with his home town club Portsmouth. Although he never made a Football League appearance with "Pompey" he clocked up over two hundred games in two spells with Scunthorpe, more than three hundred at Port Vale and around another century with Hull City.

Polish "A" International Arrives At Leek

Leek Town boss Paul Moore has signed former Polish "A" international Sebastian Krupa as he continues to rebuild his team since his appointment three weeks ago. The 31-year-old Pole had played under Moore previously at Congleton Town in the North West Counties League.

Redfearn To Add Experience At Bridlington

Bridlington Town have landed the signature of one of the games most experienced players Neil Redfearn who has over a thousand games under his belt most of them in the Football League. Bridlington's management team of Ash Berry and Paul Stoneman are looking to the 42 year old's experience to help a youthful side that has shown signs of improvement in recent weeks.

Redfearn is fifth in the all time appearance record in the Football League having played for Nottingham Forest, Barnsley, Oldham Athletic, Charlton, Bradford City, Boston United and Scarborough. After leaving Scarborough he moved in to the UniBond League with Bradford Park Avenue where he made his 1,000th appearance in an FA Trophy game against Solihull Borough last season. Since then he has had a short stint as manager of Northwich Victoria before resigning in September and returning to the UniBond League with Frickley Athletic.

Thompson Sets Club Goalscoring Record

Gateshead's veteran striker Paul Thompson set a new club goalscoring record on Wednesday evening when he hit a hat-trick against Birtley in the 2nd Round of the Durham FA County Challenge Cup. It was his second treble in successive rounds of the competition and took him past Bob Topping's long standing record in what was Thompson's 400th appearance for the Tynesiders. Now aged 34 Thompson is in his third spell with Gateshead having made his debut in 1995 before leaving for Stevenage Borough where he played in the epic televised FA Cup encounter with Newcastle United. He re-signed for Gateshead at the start of the 1999/2000 but left again in 2004 playing for Bishop Auckland, Blyth Spartans and Whitley Bay before returning to his home town club again for a third time in 2005.

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