on lyne 28-04-08

Congratulations to Mark, Mad Dog, Kingy and all the players and supporters at North Leigh. It just goes to show what an unpredictable game football is and I suppose that’s why we all love it so much. I’m also sure that my good friend Tommy Larman was delighted to get a good gate and three excellent points.
There is no doubting that North Leigh fully deserve their promotion especially after last seasons fiasco with Slimbridge and indeed for the seasons where they’ve won it before or finished second.
As a Manager though I cant help but feel for Paul Weeks and Almondsbury as a club.
I have suffered similar last day disappointments myself with both Witney (twice) and Burnham and it takes a long time for the pain to ease.
Everyone at Witney will doubtless recall our last day 2-1 defeat at Sudbury (which meant we missed promotion to the Southern League Premier Division on goal average) that was one long and very difficult journey home. No amount of drink seems to numb the brain on such occasions.
Im sure Almondsbury will bounce back even stronger and such experiences only serve to make you more united and determined as an individual and unit.
On the whole we have been pleased with our season and after a poor start to lose just 4 out of our last 38 league games is decent. I am told that the quality of the division this season has been high in comparison to recent years so fourth spot is a step in the right direction.
Our presentation night was well attended on Saturday evening and all the awards were well contested and close. I was especially pleased to see Andy Younie pick up the Players Player award. Being voted for by your peers is what its all about and if ever a player deserved it then its Younie.

Have a good summer

18-04-08

Next Tuesdays game at Badshot will sadly be Andy Leach’s last as assistant manager.
It was only fitting therefore that he should receive a presentation prior to the AFC Wallingford game in front of our own supporters.
He was a tremendous captain and player for me at Witney Town and I also worked with him in his younger days at Oxford City and latterly Marlow.
If ever you wanted someone in the trenches with you then it was him.
We had a very good team at Witney during his time with us and more especially a tremendous defence. Over the period Leachy had Jimmy Austin, Peter Hutter, Anton Vircavs, Justin Millar and Keith Knight as partners and rarely did we concede, in fcat I think keeper Kevin Alder kept over 25 clean sheets in one Southern League season.
There is no way I will be able to replace Leachy with more of the same because he is a total one off and manages and coaches exactly the same as he used to play, giving 200% every week and expecting nothing less from everyone around him.
There have been occasions this season when he has needed to lift me after a bad performance or result and the fact that he can do that (I am a miserable bugger when we lose) is the measure of the man.
He is staunchly loyal but calls it as he sees it and although we have disagreed from time to time, in general we see things pretty much the same!
One of the benefits of working with Leachy is that it has allowed me to be the good cop for most of this season, something I cannot recall being for many years!
It has been great working with him again and by and large we have had a really good season and made good strides forward. I am hopeful that we wont lose him for good but if theres one thing you can be sure about with Leachy its that he is his own man.

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