Holker Street Newsletter 1229 - 4th January 2004

You knew this was coming, didn’t you? Barrow won the UniBond Premier Division club of the month award, and then we put it under out arm and traipsed across to deepest darkest West Yorkshire and lose to Frickley Athletic.

I’ve been doing some research on the effect winning this award has on the recipient’s form, and I have some across some quite staggering statistics. In the 100 years the Northern Premier League has been running, the award has been in operation for the last 75, and if we assume there are nine awards a season, that means the club of the month has been awarded 675 times, and of those, 592 of the recipients have lost their next game. 433 have gone on to lose their next two games. Depressing reading is it not? Makes me thing it should be dropped and replaced with a good pie award or something similar. What makes the whole thing even more frightening is that Sunday morning broke in Palmerston North with a fierce sun poking between the sky scrapers, and I stumbled out of bed, turned on the PC, only stopping to make a pot of Earl Grey and scoff three pieces of toast, one with marmite, one with home-made blackcurrant jam (recipe available on request, but essentially it’s blackcurrants and sugar) and the other with Nutella chocolate spread. Well, I don’t live with my parents any more and I can have what I want for breakfast. Isn’t adulthood wonderful? Where was I? Oh, yes, I turned on the PC, and sat back dejected. Barrow couldn’t have lost, the Chaos Theory over-rides every possible scientific formula. Or so it seemed until now, but I forgot about the Club of the Month. I couldn’t think of a conspiracy theory to take comfort in, so I climbed back into my Paddington Bear sleeping bed with the jar of Nutella with comfort. And sulked and got an upset stomach a couple of hours later. The Marmite must have been off.

Ralph’s note: Some of the above is little bit of an exaggeration, but you’ll have to work out which bit.

Finally, Barrow have had the date set for the re-arranged game at home to Droylsden, it will now be played on Tuesday March 12, kick-off at 7.45pm. Which means during March we will play Alfreton Town, Vauxhall Motors, Harrogate Town, Droylsden and Hucknall Town. And the significance of this is what? Well, have a look at the League table later in the Newsletter and see who the top four are.

So, does this defeat by Frickley mean the end of our championship aspirations? No, not at all, it just removes some of the flexibility we had going into this weekend’s games. First and foremost we drop to fifth, if we had won we would have been third. Hucknall Town are now top, Droylsden were knocked off their perch by Alfreton Town, in a perfect world this game would have been drawn, and Harrogate Town didn’t play. Barrow are now seven points behind the League leaders, but we have played two more games than them, a sobering point to bear in mind at this point is that all the teams above Barrow have games in hand over us. Of the teams below us, a gap is emerging as the pack breaks away, and whilst we shouldn’t rule out the likes of Worksop Town and Gainsborough Trinity as they have games in hand over us which if they won, would mean they would catch up with Barrow, I’m going to, they won’t catch Barrow. They haven’t got the legs.

Can we still win the League? Yes, we can, there is a long way to go yet, and whilst Barrow have a week off from League action with the delights of the FA Trophy to look forwards to with a trip to Blyth Spartans, we still have the bit between our teeth.

We should remember that in order to be promoted to the Conference next season, you have to be champions of the NPL, finishing as runners up will not be good enough, and if the champions haven’t applied to the Conference, then only two clubs will be relegated from the Conference. If Droylsden’s cheeky late application to the Conference isn’t accepted, and I don’t really think it will, then the champions of the NPL will have to come from the nine following clubs: Altrincham, Barrow, Gainsborough Trinity, Lancaster City, Runcorn FC Halton, Southport, Stalybridge Celtic, Vauxhall Motors and Worksop Town. Of these nine, only the following club has any real chances of winning the title: Barrow.

Makes you think, doesn’t it? So, if Lee Turnbull is reading this, and I know he is, Barrow expects. You can handle the pressure can’t you? We can.


FROM BEHIND OUR ELECTRONIC FENCES
Frickley 4-2 Barrow, 3 January 2004
Barrow team: Bishop, Shaw, Maxfield, Hume, Salmon, Hill, Knight, Oliver, Campbell (S), Curtis, Warren (S). Subs: Rankine (S), Ridley, Arnold (S). Scorers: Oliver, Campbell

Barrow's defence took a belated New Year break and gifted the home side four goals in a match where they had the lion's share of possession. Ignoring the scoreline, it was certainly an exciting game to watch, with non-stop incident, much of it controversial. Frickley, as usual, were an awkward team to play against, very physical and given to theatricals, but Barrow could and should have made short work of this game.

They started badly and gave the home side some self-belief by a series of dreadful individual errors at the back in the first ten minutes. The defending was Sunday League standard and Frickley took the lead in the 13th minute when, having given away a corner by some sloppy defending, they failed to deal with an in-swinger and Morris headed in. Three minutes later, they were two down when they failed to deal with a long ball down the middle and Morris was left free to lob Bishop. Barrow then appeared to get more of a grip and were twice unlucky not to reduce the arrears. However, Oliver was then caught napping in midfield and Morris was able to break clear to net his hat trick. More pressure from Barrow eventually led to a goal when Oliver drilled the ball in after good work down the right by Knight and Hill. Curtis might have reduced the arrears still further just before the interval but he fired straight at the keeper when Campbell was waiting for the layoff.

Playing down the slope in the second half, it was still a fair bet the Barrow could snatch this game from the fire. The pressure was relentless and Frickley survived several scares before their keeper came out of the area and tried to head a through ball in the 60th minute. It fell for Campbell who did well to chip it into the net. In the 75th minute, Knight was brought down when about to shoot into an open goal. It was clearly the turning point: an equaliser at this stage and Barrow would surely have gone on to win. Knight took the penalty himself but fired it hard against the crossbar and over for a goal kick. Barrow continued to press and Frickley did their best to break the flow with a series of fouls and 'injuries'. Salmon just failed to win a 50-50 ball in the Frickley box and a home defender collapsed with an anguished cry. However, play went on and with defenders still up in the Frickley half, they were caught on the break and although Bishop parried Blythen's first effort he was able to place the rebound into an empty net.

Barrow paid the penalty for failing to stamp their authority on the game at the start. Whether it was complacency or tiredness is hard to say. Frickley adopted the right tactics on a greasy pitch, moving the ball quickly and wrong-footing defenders. Barrow's build up was often too laboured and predictable. Discipline was again a problem. There was a lot of provocation, but Campbell's value to the side was diminished by an early caution and then Frickley took advantage to wind him up at every opportunity. Barrow's captain also appeared to gesture to the home keeper that he would meet him after the match, presumably not for a social drink, and then squared up to him after the final whistle.


FROM BEHIND THEIR ELECTRONIC FENCES
From the Frickley site at www.frickleyafc.co.uk

The site also has some video clips of the game, go to the above site, click on the Barrow report and follow the instructions.

The Blues managed a hard earned victory over high flying Barrow after cruising into a 3-goal lead with just 32 minutes gone but Barrow rallied and had the Blues hanging on until a Michael Blythen goal two minutes from time sealed the win. With Scott Brough unable to play due to an agreement with Barrow when Brough joined on loan Mark Vickerage came back into the side after missing the last few games through illness. Otherwise the starting eleven was the same as for Boxing Day's win at Wakefield & Emley. Dale Rimmington replaced the unfit Antony Jackson on the bench.

The Blues should have been ahead after just three minutes when Lee Morris took the ball off Mark Salmon out on the right and cut inside to roll the ball across the box to Vickerage who miss-kicked in front of goal. The ball fell to Nick Richardson who blasted wide of the left hand post. Two minutes later a Mark Hume mistake let in Dan Sheriffe who curled an angled 16 yard shot against the left hand post, with the ball rebounding to safety. Barrow had their first chance on eight minutes but Wayne Curtis shot wide from just inside the box. The Blues then forced some pressure which earned a couple of corners. From the second Vickerage's left wing kick found it’s way into the roof of the net off the gloves of Barrow 'keeper Simon Bishop who was under pressure from Lee Morris. Six minutes later it was 2-0 as Steve Robinson played the ball over the Barrow defence for Morris to flick the ball over the onrushing Bishop, with the ball bouncing into the roof of the net. On 20 minutes Barrow played a quick free-kick to Lee Warren who got down the right to send over a dangerous cross which was headed clear. Wayne Curtis then beat Phil Lindley before having his angled drive from 15 yards well blocked by Jon Hood. The Blues increased their lead on 32 minutes when Vickerage played a neat ball inside the Barrow defence for Morris to beat Bishop from 12 yards. Barrow scored a crucial goal on 39 minutes give them selves a lifeline when Andy Hill fired a low 15 yard shot past Hood and they went close to reducing the arrears even more on 44 minutes but Hood saved Curtis' powerful 18 yard shot.

Six minutes after the break the Blues almost snatched a fourth goal following a break after a Barrow corner. Robinson cleared to Vickerage who picked out Morris but the striker's 20 yard shot drifted wide of the right hand post. Barrow were now pushing forward much more than they had in the first half and he Blues were being forced to defend deeper. On 54 minutes Hood smothered the ball at the feet of Curtis but the defence did well to get back and block Gavin Knight's follow-up shot. However, on 58 minutes Barrow did score a second goal when a long ball from half way saw Hood come out of his goal to head clear but he mis-judged the ball and could only glance it into the path of Neil Campbell who hooked the ball into the empty net . Hood was called into action again when he parried a shot on the turn from Knight, then on 73 minutes Barrow had a glorious chance to equalise when Knight was clearly fouled in the box as he tried to dribble his way into a shooting position and the referee awarded the penalty. However, Knight himself took the penalty and blasted off the top of the crossbar (click here). This seemed to deflate the visitors, with the Blues coming back into the game again. On 84 minutes substitute Blythen teed up Richardson but his 18 yard shot cleared the bar but on 88 minutes the Blues sealed the game. Gary Hatto's clearance sent Blythen away into the box and, despite, Bishop blocking his first shot, he followed up to fire into an empty net.

Frickley Athletic: Hood, Richards, Fawcus, Lindley, Pugh, Marquis, Robinson, Richardson, Morris (Hatto 83), Sheriffe (Blythen 80), Vickerage (Rimmington 68).
Barrow: Bishop, Shaw, Maxfield, Hume, Salmon, Hill, Knight, Oliver, Campbell (Rankine 68), Curtis, Warren (Arnold 78)
Att: 300
Ref: Mr I. Smedley


UNIBOND PREMIER DIVISION
Alfreton Town (1) 4-2 (1) Droylsden (404), Altrincham (2) 4-0 (0) Whitby Town (501), Blyth Spartans (3) 5-0 (0) Marine (405), Burscough (0) 0-0 (0) Worksop Town (229), Frickley Athletic (3) 4-2 (1) Barrow (300), Gainsborough Trinity (0) 0-0 (0) Stalybridge Celtic (500), Lancaster City (1) 3-0 (0) Wakefield Emley (271), Radcliffe Borough (1) 2-0 (0) Bradford Park Avenue (319), Runcorn FC Halton (1) 1-2 (1) Hucknall Town (272), Spennymoor United P Southport P (postponed due to frozen pitch), Vauxhall Motors (1) 1-2 (0) Ashton United (209).

1 Hucknall Town 25 17 3 5 52 26 54
2 Droylsden 26 16 4 6 59 44 52
3 Harrogate Town 25 15 4 6 43 29 49
4 Alfreton Town 25 14 5 6 52 29 47
5 BARROW 27 12 11 4 48 35 47
6 Gainsborough Trinity 24 11 8 5 42 21 41
7 Worksop Town 25 11 8 6 36 26 41
8 Radcliffe Borough 27 10 3 14 55 60 33
9 Ashton United 24 10 3 11 32 46 33
10 Southport 25 9 5 11 34 34 32
11 Marine 25 9 5 11 43 47 32
12 Altrincham 25 6 13 6 37 28 31
13 Lancaster City 23 9 4 10 32 34 31
14 Stalybridge Celtic 25 8 7 10 33 38 31
15 Blyth Spartans 24 8 6 10 38 37 30
16 Spennymoor United 25 9 3 13 34 52 30
17 Runcorn FC Halton 25 7 8 10 33 38 29
18 Frickley Athletic 25 9 2 14 35 48 29
19 Whitby Town 21 8 3 10 28 36 27
20 Bradford Park Ave. 22 6 7 9 32 35 25
21 Vauxhall Motors 23 6 5 12 43 53 23
22 Burscough 27 4 9 14 28 48 21
23 Wakefield & Emley 25 5 4 16 23 48 19

UNIBOND PREMIER DIVISION ONE
Bamber Bridge 5-1 Kendal Town, Belper Town 1-1 Farsley Celtic, Bridlington Town 2-1 Kidsgrove Athletic, Chorley 2-0 Rossendale United, Hyde United 0-1 Leek Town, Lincoln United 1-0 Prescot Cables, Matlock Town 1-1 Colwyn Bay, Ossett Town 4-0 Gateshead, Stocksbridge Park Steels 3-1 North Ferriby United, Workington 2-2 Guiseley.

1 Matlock Town 26 16 3 7 53 35 51
2 Leek Town 26 13 7 6 38 24 46
3 Hyde United 26 13 5 8 49 34 44
4 Bridlington Town 24 13 4 7 49 36 43
5 Lincoln United 23 13 4 6 43 33 43
6 Bamber Bridge 24 12 5 7 45 34 41
7 Gateshead *(4) 25 14 2 9 38 38 40
8 Prescot Cables 26 12 4 10 43 46 40
9 Farsley Celtic 22 9 8 5 38 32 35
10 Witton Albion 24 10 5 9 38 36 35
11 Workington 22 9 6 7 42 34 33
12 Kidsgrove Athletic 26 9 5 12 33 39 32
13 Bishop Auckland 22 9 4 9 37 33 31
14 Guiseley 24 8 6 10 39 37 30
15 Belper Town 25 7 8 10 31 34 29
16 Rossendale United 21 7 5 9 31 33 26
17 Chorley 23 7 5 11 33 41 26
18 Colwyn Bay 24 7 4 13 33 50 25
19 Stocksbridge PS 21 6 6 9 35 42 24
20 North Ferriby United 25 5 6 14 29 48 21
21 Kendal Town 26 6 2 18 38 54 20
22 Ossett Town *(3) 23 4 6 13 24 46 15


NOT A BAD IDEA?
From David Ingham

I notice that the Blyth Spartans website at http://www.spartans.freeserve.co.uk/bshome.html, publish the minutes of their board meetings. This is something I feel Barrow AFC should be doing as another way of keeping the fans informed of the everyday issues at the club. What do others think?

Ralph’s note: This is a good idea and one that I would be interested in hearing Barrow’s perspective on, I’ve contacted the club and hope to have their reply in a future Newsletter.


FA CUP THIRD ROUND
Games involving Non-League clubs

Accrington Stanley 0-0 Colchester United [4368], Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Telford United [7085], Southend United 1-1 Scarborough [6902].

NATIONWIDE CONFERENCE
Burton Albion (0) 0-1 (0) Morecambe [1478], Chester City (2) 2-2 (0) Gravesend & Northfleet [2670], Dagenham & Redbridge (3) 5-0 (0) Shrewsbury Town [1571], Farnborough Town (1) 1-2 (0) Exeter City [1354], Halifax Town (1) 1-2 (0) Barnet [1517], Hereford United (0) 1-0 (0) Stevenage Borough [2875], Northwich Victoria (1) 1-1 (1) Aldershot Town [752], Woking (2) 2-0 (0) Leigh RMI [2105].

DR MARTENS LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Chippenham Town (1) 1-1 (0) Nuneaton Borough, Bath City 2-0 Hednesford Town, Cambridge City 0-0 Eastbourne Borough, Dover Athletic 2-1 Worcester City, Havant & Waterlooville 0-3 Newport County, Hinckley United 1-2 Chelmsford City, Merthyr Tydfil 1-0 Dorchester Town, Moor Green 2-0 Tiverton Town, Stafford Rangers 0-1 Grantham Town, Welling United 2-1 Weston-super-Mare, Weymouth 0-1 Crawley Town.

RYMAN LEAGUE PREMIER DIVISION
Bishop's Stortford (1) 4-1 (0) Kettering Town, Braintree Town (0) 0-3 (1) Canvey Island.


FROM THE BARROW v LANCASTER MATCHDAY PROGRAMME (PART 2)
UniBond Review by Phil Yelland.

UniBond Confirm Support: Although restructuring is on the cards for next season, Henkel, the parent company of UniBond have re-affirmed their commitment to the League by extending their sponsorship of the competition through until June 2005. That will extend their relationship with the League to eleven years during which time they will have paid over more than UKP1 million in sponsorship.

Two In; Two Out?: Premier Division Harrogate Town have brought in two new strikers as they look to boost their title bid. First to arrive at Wetherby Road was Scunthorpe United youngster Andy Parton. He has arrived on a one month loan deal and scored on his debut against Ashton United. The second new face is much travelled Rob Pell who has played in both the Conference and UniBond League for a number of clubs. Over the summer he moved from Southport to Worksop Town. Having failed to hold down a regular place at Sandy Lane he moved on a one month loan to Lancaster City. When that spell finished he moved, on loan, again to Wakefield & Emley. That spell has now concluded and Town boss John Reed has signed him on a permanent basis. Two players who have been listed by Town are midfielder Scott Bonsall and striker Robbie Whellans. Both are initially available on loan. Bonsall has Conference experience with Hednesford Town whilst Whellans has been a regular scorer wherever he has played, most notably with Farsley Celtic and Town.

Magpies Net Woodward: First Division Chorley are continuing to rebuild under recently appointed player boss Mark Patterson. He has taken the opportunity to bring in an experienced defender to shore up his defence. The player in question is 30 year old Andy Woodward who has been released by Conference outfit Northwich Victoria. He has made over 200 League appearances over the years for a number of clubs including Crewe Alexandra and Scunthorpe United. He had been at Northwich for over three years.

Busy Tolson: First Division Hyde United have been enjoying a good season but hit a problem prior to the recent home game with Colwyn Bay. With regular goalkeeper Tim Mullock unavailable, his replacement was delayed in traffic before the game and didn't arrive before kick off. Top scorer Neil Tolson, a man of Football League clubs took the keeper's jersey and kept a clean sheet during the opening half hour. At that stage the keeper entered the fray and Toslon returned to his striking role. He netted twice as the Tigers won 4-0 to boost their title chances.

All Change At Southport: Since Liam Watson took charge at Premier Division Southport a couple of months ago, results have been disappointing and it looks as if over the closing months of the season there may be wholesale changes to the squad. With Andy Whittaker already gone, it looks as if two other experienced players are set to leave the club. Striker Peter Thomson who played with today's visitors Lancaster City, having started his UniBond career with Chorley is tipped either to return to City or to join Northwich Victoria as they bid to stay in the Conference. Also likely to move is experienced defender Neil Whitworth who is reported to be in talks with Radcliffe Borough. Whitworth has fallen out of favour since the arrival of our former trialist Neil Fitzhenry who started the season at First Division Workington.

Moors Net Defender: Spennymoor United have enjoyed a decent first half of the season on their return to the Premier Division. However, they have sometimes leaked goals and boss Tony Lee has now brought in an experienced defender to try to solve the problem. The player in question is 22 year old Mark Robinson. He made over 75 League appearances in the last two campaigns for Hartlepool United.

Bean And Gone?: After a run of poor results, it looks as if Radcliffe Borough boss Kevin Glendon might be about to make a number of changes to his squad. Glendon has stayed loyal to the players who have served the club well in recent years and won them promotion through the play offs last term. However, following the departure of top scorer Jody Banim to Shrewsbury Town for a club record fee, skipper David Bean has been transfer listed. Bean, a veteran of over 400 games for the club has been at Stainton Park for over ten years.

Athletic Secure Morris: It looks as if Premier Division Frickley Athletic have unearthed a very promising striker in Lee Morris. Previously with Hallam in the Northern Counties East League, Morris top scored for Athletic last term with 12 goals. Already this season he has netted fourteen times and boss Phil Sharp has placed the twenty two year old on a contract following interest from other clubs.

Town Tempt Todd: There is no doubting the ambition of Premier Division Hucknall Town these days as they chase Droylsden at the top of the table. Boss Steve Burr continues to try to improve his squad and having snapped up the promising striker Mark Ward from Belper Town last month, he is now raiding another neighbouring UniBond side to bring in a midfield player. The man in question is 24 year old Andy Todd who has been a regular with fellow title chasers Worksop Town over recent seasons. Todd was expected to sign just before Christmas and will add depth to a squad that has changed almost completely over the last twelve months.


BARROW AFC YEARBOOK 2002-2003
From Phil Yelland

10: April - Runners Up and Kenny's Surprise.
Although the chances of catching Accrington were diminishing with every game that they failed to drop points in, Barrow began the month in pole position for the runners-up spot after their excellent run. They narrowly missed out on the UniBond Premier Division 'team of the month' award for march but did claim the Premier Division 'top goalscoring' award for their 15 goals in seven games.

The Reserves opened the month on Tuesday 1 April with a visit from champions elect Morecambe. The Shrimps second team included a number of players with Conference experience and they ran out 6-2 winners. On a windy evening, Barrow's first goal came from a Ross Liddicott clearance whilst Mike Kewley netted the second goal. Three nights later, the Reserves lost 7-2 to a strong Southport side with the goals coming from Stuart McCullough and Mike Spegaleare.

For the Bradford game, Simon Bishop returned in goal for Luke Weaver who had returned to Carlisle United at the end of his loan spell. However, Anth Hall was missing as he was serving a one match ban for his dismissal against Colwyn Bay two weeks earlier. In an entertaining game, Barrow trailed twice but gaols from Mark Anderson, a Steve Gaughan penalty and a last minute wonder strike from mark Salmon secured all three points and a first ever UniBond League win over the Yorkshire side.

The Reserves enjoyed a busy and successful week thereafter. They produced an excellent performance on the Tuesday evening to defeat Burscough reserves 4-1. Scott Redhead netted a hat trick with the other goal coming from Karl Fox. On the Friday night, they topped that by defeating Chester City's second team 3-2 with goals from Mike Fiddler, Mike Kewley and Dave Swarbrick.

Before the first team travelled to Ashton United came the news that Neil Tarrant had left the club. Whilst his move to South Korea had never materialised, he had been offered full time terms by League of Ireland side Drogheda United and he took the chance to return to the full time game. That created a potential problem, as with Ian Arnold on the injury list, there was a shortage of recognised strikers. Long term absentee Nicky Peverell had tested his fitness with Thornaby in the Northern League but was still some way short of being fit enough to play a full game at UniBond level. Mark Hume found himself leading the attack with the recalled Brian Dawson. Ross Liddicott made his League debut in goal with Simon Bishop serving a one match ban for his dismissal at Farsley. Barrow took the lead when the persistence of Dawson forced United midfielder Jason Dormer to put through his own goal. However, by early in the second half Barrow trailed 2-1. On 70 minutes, they were awarded a penalty. Steve Gaughan had just been substituted and Lee Warren took on the responsibility but saw his shot saved. It was the team's first penalty miss of the season. It seemed as if United were going to follow in the footsteps of Harrogate Town in completing the double over Barrow when, deep in injury time, Mike Kewley forced the ball home for an equaliser. It was the teenager's first senior goal but not enough to prevent the title going to Accrington who clinched glory with a 3-1 home win over Altrincham.

On the Sunday, the Reserves ran out of steam being held to a disappointing 0-0 home draw by Guiseley Reserves.

The final midweek home action of the season in the UniBond Premier Division saw a visit from Worksop Town whose title challenge had failed to materialise as expected. Simon Bishop returned in goal. Sadly only 788 fans turned up to see an excellent game which saw Andy Hill open the scoring in just 40 seconds. The visitors, however, looked impressive, equalised before the break and might have taken the lead but for several excellent saves from Bishop. The game seem to be heading for a draw when Mark Hume headed us back in front five minutes from time. As the Tigers looked for an equaliser, Scott Brough netted his first goal for the club in a breakaway. The scoreline of 3-1 was a little harsh on Worksop.

Saturday 19 April gave the team the chance to clinch the runners up spot in the League with Droylsden visiting Holker Street. At the start of play a win was necessary to clinch second place but a poorer result might be enough depending on the results elsewhere. A better crowd of 911 turned up to see a scrappy game with few clear chances. For only the third time in the League campaign the team failed to score. However, the point form the 0-0 draw was enough to clinch second place as Stalybridge Celtic went down 2-1 at Bradford.

Both the first team and Reserves were in action on Easter Monday. The reserves travelled to play Northwich Victoria in the final game at the Drill Field ground. Despite a Nick Beach goal, the home side ran out 4-1 winners. The Reserves players and supporters then made the short trip to see the first team at Marine. The Liverpool side allowed the Reserves and their supporters into the game for nothing that was a much appreciated gesture. Sadly, the first team turned in a disappointing performance going down 3-1 although Steven Ridley's long range goal was worth the admission money. It was the team's first away defeat in the League since the 4-3 loss at Stalybridge Celtic in early December.

The final first team game of the season saw a visit from Gateshead who were already doomed to the relegation play offs. There was good news with Ian Arnold declared fit to play after a lengthy injury absence. Simon Bishop was carrying an injury that meant a first home League appearance for Ross Liddicott. Arnold soon made his presence felt with a goal in the sixth minute whilst Mark Hume wrapped up the points with a second half strike. The team might have scored more but the win was an excellent way to round off a highly successful campaign.

After the final whistle, the 'Player of the Year' awards were presented in the Cross Bar. However, At the start of the presentations came the shock news of Kenny Lowe's resignation as manager after four years in charge. Most people were aware that his work commitments had meant that he had missed a number of midweek games and Kenny made it clear in a tearful speech that he could no longer do the job if he was not able to give it his full attention. Everyone, players and supporters alike were stunned. In four years Kenny had taken the club from nowhere to challenging for a place in the Conference and that had been achieved against the background of the club continuing in liquidation. It was a tremendous achievement and will see him ranked as one of the best managers the club has had in its history.

The atmosphere was subdues by the time the 'Player of the Year' awards were presented. Lee Warren collected all the first team awards. These were 'Players Player' Official and National Supporters’ Clubs, Programme Starman and Club 'Player of the Year'. The awards were thoroughly deserved. Lee had been outstanding wherever he had played in the team throughout the season.

The Reserve awards went to Ross Liddicott - 'Players’ Player of the Year' and Andy Hill - 'Player of the Year'.


ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - 4 January
1930 D3N Port Vale (H) Drew 1-1
1936 D3N Stockport County (H) Won 1-0
1947 D3N Bradford City (A) Lost 0-5
1958 D3N Chesterfield (A) Lost 3-4
1964 FAC Swansea Town (A) Lost 1-4
1992 CONF Kidderminster Harriers (A) Won 2-1
1997 NPL Leek Town (H) Won 3-0
2003 NPL Marine (H) Won 1-0