AN ALTOGETHER MORE SPLENDID KIND OF LIFE - 2008/09

23 Seasons watching Maidenhead United

Part 15: 2008/09

Despite a best ever Conference South finish in 2008, survival was seen as a scant return for the investment in the playing squad. However an unbeaten run in April to secure safety would act as a foundation for a season when United would raise the question of promotion.

Top score Manny Williams moved up to the Conference with Woking but a replacement in Richard Pacquette (pictured right) was already in situ, and he was joined up front with exciting young talent Mustafa Tiryaki (pictured left).

Their supply route would be provided by classy left winger Dale Binns whilst the defence was shored up by new goalkeeper Shane Gore and full backs Tyron Smith and Narada Bernard. Ashley Nicholls improved the central midfield with his tireless running from box to box.

The Magpies hit the ground running, a Lee Newman brace at Bromley securing an opening day win, and the first three points of seventeen earned from the twenty available in the first seven matches. The last three of these at Fisher Athletic on September 1st, saw United hit top spot in the Conference South for the first time.

This set up a top of the table at resurgent Wimbledon, the Dons disabusing United of any title notions with a comfortable 3-1 win.

For once there was little joy in any of the knockout competitions but the pleasure derived from watching improved league form week in week out meant this was shrugged off.

The team peaked perfectly on my birthday, destroying Worcester City 5-0 at York Road, new signing Rocky Baptiste notching his first goal for the club. This set up a real promotion clash with Chelmsford City for the next match at York Road, a crowd of almost 800 turning up only to once again see the Magpies found wanting when it came to a stiffer test, the Clarets winning 2-0.

At the turn of the year though, the playoffs was very much a realistic target and a plan was hatched to renovate the existing stand to ensure it could accommodate the five hundred seats required to meet the criteria to qualify off the pitch.

However heavy snow at the start of February stalled the season, and in the unexpected winter break Chairman Peter Griffin announced three decisions which would have consequences for both the short and long term future of the club. Firstly he decided to cut the playing budget. Initially this only led to the departure of Dale Binns to Hayes & Yeading United, and a loan to Histon of top scorer Richard Pacquette to test his Conference potential, but it signalled the break up of a promising squad over the summer. This naturally led to  a second decision not to install the extra seats in the stand and therefore ended any interest in the playoffs. Finally after three years of discussion with the council, it had become clear that planning permission for a new ground in the Maidenhead area of the standard required for the Conference and beyond would not be forthcoming. Therefore Griffin announced that the club would no longer seek to move away from York Road, bringing to an end twenty five years of speculation.
The air of initial disappointment around the club at losing the opportunity to seek promotion was compounded by the confirmation that popular striker Lee Newman had been jailed for drug dealing. However as the season drew to a close results matched those at the start, helped by the burgeoning talent of Tiryaki, as five wins and two draws in seven matches meant the final game of the season at home to Hampton would offer the possibility of a top five finish. This hope ended when Pacquette was sent of early in the match, as the Beavers secured their runners up place with a 3-0 win.

The fledgling partnership of Pacquette and Tiryaki which saw both of them score prolifically quickly came to an end as they were snapped up by York and Havant respectively. They were joined on the way out by player of the season Ashley Nicholls who moved to Bishops Stortford to herald a summer of rebuilding with tighter purse strings for Johnson Hippolyte. Having at last consolidated their position in the Conference South and at York Road, another milepost was reached in stabilising the club as a traumatic decade started to draw to a close. With average crowds breaking the 400 mark for the first time in a generation thanks to winning football, the dilemma for the club was how to develop hand in hand the playing side with a ground fit for the twenty first century.  It was a problem that would take six years to solve.  
With thanks to Mark Smith’s book One For Sorrow Two For Joy for the statistical content of this series.

To read more about this season visit www.mufcheritage.com

Double and drop?

The sun shone once again on York Road yesterday as two goals in three minutes early in the second half set up what was ultimately a comfortable victory for the Magpies over Staines Town to complete an early season double courtesy of the arcane method of compiling the Conference South fixture list.

Maidenhead's win at Wheatsheaf Park in September was a lot easier than the 2-1 scoreline suggested, with United passing up a number of opportunities to increase their lead against ten men. Yesterday saw the opposite as by clinically taking the best two chances on offer Maidenhead made light work of a Staines team which promised much in the first half but visibly wilted once they went behind.

Drax had made a few changes to the line up that earned a point in Essex last week, with loan signings Will Britt and Connor Waldon going straight into the team, and Harry Pritchard resuming his left back role.

The first half saw both sides promise much going forward but offer little in the way of clear cut chances. With twenty minutes gone Elliott Buchanan had the best opportunity of the half to open the scoring but his header went wide for a corner. It was unclear quite how the ball went wide so the credit goes to Britt. At the other end Pritchard went close from the unlikely position of in front of the right hand post which may explain why the shot from his weaker foot hit the side netting. In between Stephane Ngamvoulou was a mite fortunate to stay on the pitch when a very late challenge floored Ashley Nicholls, the referee opting for a yellow card.

After the restart, kicking down the hill with the sun in Swans goalkeeper Jack Turner's eyes, Maidenhead soon gained the upper hand. I know I'm biased in millinery matters but Turner really should have worn a hat. With the young Maidenhead fans behind the goal showing a fine appreciation of popular culture, asking about the whereabouts of Ali G., the force was very much with United and they pushed harder and harder until the Staines defence cracked twelve minutes into the second half.

A Dave Tarpey shot was saved by Turner but the ball ran loose with Nicholls springing into action to reach it first. He then calmly beat the stricken Turner with a cool finish, which was damning in its delicateness. Staines had barely kicked off when Maidenhead won a corner which Tarpey took and placed perfectly onto the head of Adrian Clifton who made no mistake to score.

The lack of any real response from Staines to this double blow meant the game was all but over as a contest. So far this season the Conference South has been marked by its competitiveness and the absence of a real whipping boy, but with seven consecutive league defeats Staines are fast fitting the bill.

Jusqu'a la fin

A suitable low key end to the season on May Day Bank Holiday Monday at the Berks & Bucks Senior Invitation Cup Final. There was a real end of term feel as the players and officials gathered at the Holiday Inn Maidenhead for the traditional pre cup final meal (English breakfast). The blazing sun more suitable for cricket was another reminder that it was time to lay the football season to rest although the coach tried its best to create last day drama by almost breaking down en route. The driver decided to ignore the usual route to Chesham along the M40 and through Beaconsfield, instead going right through the middle of Wycombe. After one hill too many it gave up the ghost as the engine overheated but just about managed to crawl to the Meadow.

A healthy sprinkling of Magpies made it to the game but a crowd of 336 was probably smaller than that which would have gone to the original venue of Burnham and pale in comparison to the 2,000 crowd at the Kent Senior Cup Final on the same day. Still I'd forgotten what a great setting Chesham is for a football match surrounded by the rolling Chiltern hills with its facilities just right for a game of this stature.

An innovative selection by both managers led to an entertaining first half which ended all square after Wycombe scored twice in the first ten minutes through Murtagh and Bloomfield then Ashley Smith drove the Magpies forward to equalise.

The second half was something of a damp squib with I guess both teams all played out and it came as something of a relief when the referee played enough injury time to allow Wycombe to score a penalty to win the game.

It was then back to Stripes for the end of season awards, again not helped by the change of final venue. After an unprecedented apology from Drax for the general performance of the first team over the course of the season it turned into the Ashley Nicholls show as he picked up all the major awards. This was quite deserved as his consistency has been remarkable. Without his dynamic presence in the team at virtually every game I very much doubt that relegation would have been avoided. Unfortunately he's leaving to continue his academic career in Exeter but surely goes not just with all the awards but also the accolade of the club's most intelligent footballer. Hopefully one day he'll return to the squad as Dr. Nicholls, a first for the Magpies?

Stand and Deliver

Non league football's dandy highwayman Steve King brought his Farnborough team to town on Tuesday night and duly made off with the goods with little fuss in a three goal win.  With both teams relatively open in defence boro' were always going to be favourites against a Maidenhead team that has lost the ability to score goals.  Thus they were two up by the half hour mark albeit in unusual fashion as firstly Kezie Ibe was in the right place at the right time for a cross to hit him and go in whilst Jack King scored from a free kick courtesy of a misplaced Maidenhead wall.  In between United's luck again deserted them as a wicked deflection from an Ashley Nicholls shot in the style of Paul Parker at Italia 90 saw goalkeeper Michael Jordan twist to slam dunk the ball over the bar.  With Farnborough comfortably resisting the best efforts of Jefferson Louis and Craig Faulconbridge to grab the Magpies a toehold in the game the onset of time made a third goal inevitable with double forenamed sub Michael Malcolm obliging in the last minute.

Jingle all the way

Maidenhead kept up their fantastic recent record at Hayes Lane with an accomplished 2-0 win, the first reverse Bromley had had at home in the league this season.

This hastily arranged fixture clearly served its purpose by attracting a fair crowd at short notice who seemed as eager for football as the teams that had been denied action for a fortnight by the snow.  As always the crowd included a big number of floating voters which included a sizeable group of young Germans and local youth who couldn't decide if they were Millwall or Palace but were sure they lived in a place called Brommerley.  The latter group were obviously new to non league football as they declined to change ends at the start of the game until politely encouraged to do so by a steward.

The game itself neatly mirrored the corresponding game at York Road on non league day way back in September when an entertaining game ensued although short of chances, with the away team taking the points with two second half goals.

Both sides were happy to play home and away stereotypes with Bromley taking the game to Maidenhead who were a constant threat on the counter attack.  Both were denied by the woodwork in the first half but in the second half the best chances all fell to United, who took two early on to assume an unassailable lead.  The second goal from Ashley Nicholls was amongst the best I have seen on any stage this season a sublime chip from nothing.

This result means Maidenhead have taken seven points from their three visits to Kent so far this season, so roll on 2011 and trips to Welling and Dartford.