AN ALTOGETHER MORE SPLENDID KIND OF LIFE - 2007/08

23 Seasons watching Maidenhead United

Part 14: 2007/08

Having made an immediate return to the Conference South, the first target was to stay up on the pitch for the first time in this division. Stability off the pitch was also the watchword as the club continued to recover from the lasting effects of the three turbulent seasons that had just passed.

Johnson Hippolyte strengthened his squad over the summer to be better equipped for the higher level, signing goalkeeper Louis Wells, midfielder Wes Daly, and attacking pair Carl Wilson-Dennis and Manny Williams (pictured right). It was the latter who despite his small stature had the biggest impact, scoring thirty goals, a beacon of consistency in a season which promised much but only just delivered the minimum requirement. 
This was reflected in microcosm in the opening match against Fisher Athletic. The chairman’s innovative approach to engaging the local community to support their team continued to develop with this match being deemed “pay what you want”.  A season’s best league crowd of 691 flocked through the York Road turnstiles to see Williams score on his debut, but a classy Fisher outfit, replete with players bound for a bigger stage, won by the odd goal in five. This heralded an opening period of struggle for United with only one three point haul, at Sutton United on August Bank Holiday Monday, in the first eleven matches.

It was at this time that the club heard the news of the sad death of former committee member Richard Jackson who had retired down to south Wales. I had happily taken on many of Richard’s responsibilities since he stepped down from his club duties a few years previously. In no particular order these included the programme, the PA, the telephone hotline and having a stopwatch to hand on the terraces, hoping he saw imitation as the greatest form of flattery!

As with the previous season, it was the Cup competitions which brought light relief from league woe. The County Cup produced a first ever trip to Stadium MK (Jason Stewart pictured above enjoying the room), which although ending in a comprehensive defeat to MK Dons, gave the Magpies a taste of playing in a modern arena which was at the time part of England’s World Cup bid. Ironically the FA Trophy brought AFC Wimbledon to York Road, in front of the only four figure crowd of the season, most of which cheered the Dons to a comfortable 2-0 win.

For the second season in a row, the Magpies reached the FA Cup 1st Round proper, following easy wins over minnows Brockenhurst and Shortwood, before squeezing past Hayes & Yeading United at York Road thanks to the ubiquitous Williams goal. The win came at the cost of a broken leg to Bobby Behzadi which ended his season. Watching the 1st round draw in the clubhouse afterwards, there were rapturous scenes (pictured top) when the Magpies were drawn away to Isthmian League Horsham. This turned out to be a great display of hubris as United yet again failed to make the second round, humbled 4-1 in Sussex, with Match of the Day rubbing in the humiliation by using footage of the Hornets first goal in their opening titles.

League form improved a little but only four games had been won by the turn of the year as Drax continued to shuffle his squad in a bid to find the right formula. The main problem was home form but a publicity stunt at the end of January when a coach picked up the squad at York Road for a drive around the town before the home match against Braintree (pictured left), failed to increase the solitary home league win total.

This hadn’t changed by the end of February and the five consecutive defeats that followed in March meant that the drop was once again a likely prospect. Matters weren’t helped by disruption to crucial trips to relegation rivals Dorchester Town and Weston-super-mare.

United were holding on for a vital point at their fellow Magpies in Dorset when referee Antony Coggins abandoned the match with three minutes remaining due to a waterlogged pitch. The match, rearranged for midweek on all fools day became the sixth consecutive defeat.

The following weekend supporters travelled by train for the six pointer at Weston. This meant they made it to Somerset unlike the team which was stuck on the M4 after a lorry shed its load. The referee refused to wait a minute past 3 pm to kick off, postponing the match despite others in the area starting as late a 4:30 to accommodate the delay.

Everyone returned on a Thursday night for the rescheduled date and in the meantime United had finally come good at York Road, thrashing Bishops Stortford 5-0. Despite then going behind at Woodspring Park, Maidenhead came back to beat Weston 2-1. A third successive win at Havant two days later all but sealed safety, the season ending in an unbeaten run of five matches after the final two games ended goalless.

This late run to survival earned Drax (pictured right) the manager of the month award  for April, thanks in part to temporary signings goalkeeper Chris Tardif and striker Richard Pacquette. Although small beer, there was some cause for celebration for the Magpies at not only surviving on the pitch in the Conference South for the first time in three attempts, but also avoiding a change of manager for the first time in four season, something of a legacy for chairman Una Loughrey to hand over to husband Peter Griffin in the close season.  
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

BB = MW all squared

Odd game yesterday where both teams looked poised at one point to win comfortably but overall a draw was very much the right result. This was a satisfactory outcome for the Magpies not only given the way they folded in the second half but also in terms of taking another step towards safety by preventing a rival from taking three points. Although the supposed importance of the game had led local journalist Charles Watts to succumb to "massiveitis" in his pre match tweet, six points from the last two matches meant the pressure was off the Magpies yesterday.

In a game that had BBC Radio Berkshire been interested they would have called a derby due to their assertion that Basingstoke is in their broadcast area, Maidenhead had much the better of the first half with only the woodwork and a splendid performance from goalkeeper Ashley Bayes restricting United to a single goal lead at the interval.

Harry Pritchard was first to go close hitting a shot against the post with the loose ball being fired into the sidenetting by David Pratt. Pratt then hit the target with a snapshot from distance which was palmed by Bayes over the bar although the referee gave a goal kick. Bayes proved to be one of the most entertaining features of the game, not only for his impressive goalkeeping but also for his running commentary on his team's performance, not least his defence. His effusiveness was rather more enlightening due to its candid nature about Town's shortcomings rather than his manager Jason Bristow's constant focus on making the referee aware that he was the reason that Basingstoke did not take all three points.

As well as Bayes' heroics, Billy Lumley proved his worth at the other end saving well at full stretch from Delano Sam-Yorke when the striker had the goal at his mercy. 

Inevitably it was an Alex Wall free kick which led to Maidenhead taking the lead. This week though the set piece wizard's effort was partially stopped by the Town wall only for the ball to fall to Bobby Behzadi who finished well to score.

After the break, David Pratt who was having a decent game in the right wing position usually filled by Chris Flood, looked to be continuing the pattern of the first half when his cross hit the far post but almost immediatley Basingstoke took charge of the game, scoring twice in eight minutes. There was no need to check the programme to look for the scorer in either case as Manny Williams marked his return to York Road with a brace of goals which transformed the game. Both were deft finishes, the first from a well worked move down the left wing, the second when put through by Sam-Yorke who seized the initiative turning over possession from a dithery Maidenhead defence.

The transformation in the game  now saw Basingstoke in complete charge with Maidenhead starting to show the all too familiar defensive frailty which had characterised the autumn downturn in form. Still positive substitutions by Johnson Hippolyte saw a greater emphasis on attack with the return of Flood, releasing Pratt from his dutifully performed defensive duties into a more central attacking role.

After Mark Nisbet had signalled notice of Maidenhead's intent to equalise with a volley which fizzed narrowly wide, Pratt did the next best thing to scoring against his old club by winning a penalty which must have been frustrating to watch for the away fans as the striker looked to be heading away from goal as he drew the foul. After much chatter from the Basingstoke team about the position of the ball on the spot which led to one caution for dissent, Behzadi shrugged off the background noise to score from the spot with trademark aplomb to neatly square not just the score but the scorers.

Despite five minutes of injury time, largely caused by a case of just desserts when Jay Gasson was carried off on a stretcher after diving in for a late tackle, neither side looked to have quite enough in the tank to win the game leaving Hippolyte the happiest of the two managers thanks to the late comeback and sealing a point advantage with two games in hand over fellow strugglers Basingstoke.

Firing Blanks

A desperate day in Middlesex yesterday with neither teams or even the officials showing the composure in the final third of the pitch to score the goals this game desperately required.

Struggling Hampton had kept just one clean sheet in the league all season, in the corresponding fixture between the clubs at York Road, and whilst Maidenhead did everything but score the result had an inevitability about it. 

A grey day saw me crawl through the rugby traffic in Richmond, the town centre a sea of green plastic thanks to presumably liberal distribution of Irish favours particularly those odd pointy finger things. Sleepy Hampton village felt a world away from the crowds at Twickenham, the homely Beveree being a reminder of quieter times in the Isthmian League. 

Maidenhead fans gathered under the new roof at the far end as the game kicked off hoping for a first Magpie league win here since 1997. One player remained from this match, centre back Darren Powell. Fifteen years ago Powell was an exciting fresh talent bound for the Football League, now he had returned to Hampton to wind down his career.

Games between the two clubs have always been tetchy affairs. Both tend to be at the same end of the table with all the players very familiar with each other. The pitch, tightly wedged in between the terraces seems to create a frenzied atmosphere with a red card being displayed more often than not. In 1997 Powell saw red and history almost repeated itself just before half time when he was booked for an off the ball challenge on Alex Wall. An hour later David Tarpey kicked out and this time the referee felt a dismissal was in order. The game was far from dirty though and instead these incidents reflected the bitty, stop start nature of a contest which neither team was quite good enough to win.

Hampton had the better start to the game firing some testing balls into the Maidenhead area without finding the target. The Magpies first half was hampered by two forced substitutions in the first half an hour but they grew in stature as time went on, Alex Wall hitting the bar with a cross come shot, and Reece Tison-Lascaris scoring only for the referee to frustratingly pull play back for an earlier foul on a United player.

Both teams seemed poised to score, Reece Jones having a long shot tipped over by Billy Lumley so despite the game remaining goalless at half time a promising second period looked to be in the offing with Maidenhead having survived a few close calls looking best set to take the three points.

The second half though essentially mirrored the first. Hampton took charge from the restart, Charlie Moone drawing a great save from Lumley just ahead of the hour mark but as the game entered its final stages, it was Maidenhead who seemed set to score.

In a frenetic six minute spell Maidenhead had four great chances to take the lead. The first saw Alex Wall go clear, his shot was parried by goalkeeper Craig Ross. The loose ball was collected by Manny Williams but with the goal at his mercy he was clearly impeded by a Hampton defender, the ball rolling out for a corner. Despite good views of the incident both referee and linesman saw nothing of note. As the corner swung in, a Maidenhead head met the ball and was goalbound before being scraped off the line by a defender. With the bit between their teeth Maidenhead upped the tempo and in the move of the game Wall headed the ball onto Tison-Lascaris only for the youngster to scuff his shot when well placed to score.

Once this momentum faded though the game drifted to a goalless conclusion, with neither team having the quality up front to earn three points. This will be of less concern to Maidenhead who continue their crawl to safety whilst Hampton are now looking down the barrel of relegation particularly as they will now be deprived for three games of play maker Tarpey.

Magpies survive Fishtank

Much against my better judgement I found myself trudging across London at lunchtime, heading for the Hotel ground, Thurrock, a shoe in for one of the slots in a footballing Dante's Inferno. With hindsight I should perhaps be grateful that ITV's scheduling prevented me from contemplating a trip to Sunderland, and after three weeks without live football even the best efforts of London Transport to disrupt my journey by closing half the District line couldn't put me off heading for the Thames estuary.
Thus after ninety minutes of travelling I arrived in Fishtank country, so called after the award winning film which so beautifully captured the untamed fragility of the area. The mix of industry and wilderness twixt station and ground summed up by the plastic bags fluttering on fences confining feral horses on scrubland. As the bus headed down the hill from Aveley on the long descent to the ground, it overtook that rarest of sights, a couple of young home town scarfers en route to the game, before dropping me off at the Hotel.
Of course these days you can go for a pre match pint inside the ground, when previously supporters would  uncomfortably mix with guests in the Hotel bar, all surrounding a TV to watch Football Focus or Final Score.
Kick off necessitated the usual migration to the far end, our steps hastened by the onset of rain. Disappointing Thurrock seem to be ignoring the ground regulation that requires that supporters can access the entire perimeter  by shoving a bin in the way of the bit that goes in front of the changing rooms. I wonder if that will be wheeled away when the grading inspectors are on site?

A quick sprint around the back meant the first task of the afternoon was slightly delayed, the headcount, always a source of entertainment when the official attendance is revealed. Three tallies produced an average of 88, just over half the official number.
By now the game had started to take shape, Maidenhead taking the initiative and pushing hard for the opening goal. In the tenth minute a Reece Tison-Lascaris shot was spilled by youthful goalkeeper David Hughes, with further hope that he might be the source of a goal when he repeated the juggling act from an Alex Wall shot following good work from Martel Powell and Manny Williams. However after this promising start the game got progressively worse resembling the scruffy state of the weatherbeaten pitch.
Forward moves from both sides were comfortably dealt with but in the key moment of the half Maidenhead goalkeeper Billy Lumley suffered a head injury whilst cutting out a Thurrock attack. Initially he was able to continue but as the half drew to a close, a second consultation with Max Bangura saw the physio indicate that he would have to come off. With watching Sam Beasant nursing a dislocated finger, there was no specialist stopper on the bench and so captain Mark Nisbet made his return from injury in rather an unexpected fashion, coming off the bench wearing a blue goalkeeper's shirt.
The cumulative stoppages meant eight minutes were added to the first forty five, Thurrock taking the lead in the seventh of these when an Ahmed Deen free kick flew in to the top corner, an effort that Lumley would have done well to tip over the bar.
Nisbet soon had a chance to prove his aptitude between the sticks after the break, scrambling away a close range effort with his legs, and as the half went on, a game at York Road where Purfleet fielded an outfield defender in goal for the whole ninety minutes came to mind. A game which Purfleet won. Indeed Maidenhead started to increase the pressure on the home side, winning the game's first two corners, heralding an equaliser which arrived in the sixty third minute.
The goal came from a move which saw Tison-Lascaris drive into the penalty area, losing the ball to a defensive challenge. It was picked up by Wall who produced the save of the game from Hughes only for the ball to run free again, this time to Williams who fired the ball into the empty net to level the score.
With Thurrock seeing perhaps their best opportunity to break end their season long winless run at home fading fast, they pushed hard to retake the lead, but Nisbet was equal to everything that got through the defence. The final stage of the game was played in a rain shower of biblical proportions and although the players stuck to their task there seemed little chance of a winner for either side, as shown when Magpie away regular Steve King left early to beat the traffic.
So mission accomplished in part with a point secured despite playing for over fifty minutes without a recognised goalkeeper. Without this mitigation though it would have been two points dropped against a Thurrock side who look to be using their reprieve from relegation as well as Maidenhead did six seasons ago.

Lumley leads relief of the Alamo

With Man of the match Billy Lumley in the John Wayne role Maidenhead worked their socks off this afternoon to earn a point against a powerful Sutton side. With this season's memory scarred by a first half humbling at Gander Green Lane, I approached this match in trepidation of a repeat particularly with Mark Nisbet on the sidelines, the centre back's withdrawal through injury at Havant last week being seen unanimously by those who went as being instrumental in the Magpies' late collapse.

Guided by Paul Telfer at the back, Sutton again looked set to swamp Maidenhead having an early penalty shout turned down, and almost catching Lumley out with a speculative cross come shot, but it was the Magpies who took the lead in the seventh minute. With the Sutton defence pushing up, Alex Wall slipped through the offside trap, haring down the right wing before crossing to Manny Williams who scored with ease. Sutton responded instantly when Anthony Riviere ran through the Maidenhead defence to score.

Sutton then set up camp in the Maidenhead half until the break, the Magpie midfield providing only a buttery blockade for the pacy Sutton knives to run through. With Maidenhead effectively playing two wingers on either midfield flank in the shape of Max Worsfold and Reece Tison-Lascaris, the defence was afforded little protection from the amber onslaught but held up admirably, particularly when full backs Leon Solomon and Bobby Behzadi were switched over.

Despite their penetration up the pitch Sutton lacked a finisher and Lumley dealt comfortably with their frequent goal attempts which tended to be shots from the edge of the penalty area. Thus there was little for the massed scouts from Cambridge, Watford and Wycombe to see in the Sutton front line, the best chance being spurned when Craig Watkins ran clear only for Lumley to save with his legs. 

The Maidenhead forward pairing of Wall and Williams worked like trojans to chase down the Sutton missiles repelled and returned by the defence, Williams applying a delightful finish from distance which unfortunately meant nothing thanks to an offside flag. Wall went close to scoring two minutes ahead of the interval but the overall feeling at the break was one of relief that Maidenhead had hung on to keep the score level.

The introduction of Daniel Brown and Paul Semakula for the second half bolstered the Maidenhead midfield enough to make the game more of a balanced contest albeit one in which Sutton remained on top and so genuine attempts on goal became rarer. The roar of the large travelling support wasn't enough to convince the referee to interpret Michael Pook's last ditch tackle on Moses Odubajo as illegal early on in the half and by the time Harry Beautyman's free kick deep in stoppage whistled past the angle of post and crossbar Maidenhead had done enough to earn a point and continue the Magpies excellent league record against the Us at York Road, unbeaten in the clubs' last six meetings.

CSI Maidenhead

A criminal investigation should have started at the final whistle yesterday after the Magpies were robbed of £4,500 and a place in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup by some mysterious officiating in stoppage time at the end of the game. A forensic team would be required to find the scraps of evidence necessary to legitimate two key decisions as their rationales were invisible to the naked eye.

Despite being down to ten men for over half the game Maidenhead were looking most likely to score a winner as the ninety minute mark was passed. The Magpies had stretched the Farnborough defence all afternoon with some penetrating long balls, quite apt as Glenn Hoddle was watching from the shelf, with Martel Powell in scintillating form. His pass deep into the right corner of the pitch was hared after by attacking dynamo Manny Williams and under pressure the defender chipped his diminutive keeper to score an exquisite own goal from a tight angle but the celebrations were cut short by the linesman who waited until the ball hit the back of the net and the players had long parted to raise his flag for a presumed foul in the build up. Who knows what this was but the big question was why didn't he flag the instant it happened? Did he take pity on the miserable sight of an embarrassed defender at his feet?

Within a minute the Powell/Williams double act worked again on the opposite flank. This time Williams had the ball at his feet and an arm around his chest as the defender tried to jostle him off the ball, Williams stayed on his feet and after the defender, having failed in his Machiavellian mission, collapsed in a heap leaving just the keeper to beat the referee awarded a free kick to Farnborough when surely he should have let play continue then dismiss the defender for a professional foul?

Then again this was par for the course in Maidenhead's encounters with Farnborough. I missed the win in August over the non league kings of financial doping, but was reminded of it just before the kick off when a Farnborough fan chose to scream abuse at the Maidenhead bench for being whingers that day when Chris Taylor was stretchered off having been crippled for the season by Ashley Winn. Its this sort of thing that put Farnborough on my games to avoid list, not quite eclipsing an incident in the 2000 Isthmian League Cup Final  in that other loathsome part of Hampshire, Basingstoke, when a woman standing behind me informed Chuk Agudosi that he should "go back to the jungle".

Anyway back to the football. This tumultuous FA Cup tie began in whizz bang fashion with both teams launching balls forward at every opportunity. One punt from Nevin Saroya found Williams whose shot hit the post whilst at the other end Reece Connolly went close for 'borough. Maidenhead suffered an early set back when Max Worsfold limped off injured having forced a great save from Sam Somerville. Then with half time in sight United went down to ten men when Sam Beasant was sent off. His onlooking dad Dave must have winced as for third time his son came out of his penalty area and failed to deal adequately with a long ball. The first two attempts saw long shots on an open goal go wide but this time Beasant got his hands to the ball to allow Andrew Fagan to tidy up behind him and a red card was inevitable.

Earlier Maidenhead had taken the lead with a glorious sweeping move which Ashan Holgate instigated with a deft back heel to Anthony Thomas who drove inside from the left wing, passing to Williams who helped the ball onto Powell on the right to score with a drilled shot inside the far post.

This proved to be a mixed blessing for both teams. After the break Farnborough used the extra man to briefly run Maidenhead ragged and it was no surprise when Adam Bygrave eluded a statuesque Magpie backline to convert Connolly's cross. Instead of going for the jugular they then sat back and Maidenhead slowly worked their way back into the game, an approach exemplified by the tireless Fagan who often doubled up on his defensive duties on the right side of midfield. Following the dismissal Drax had surprisingly opted to replace the hard working Thomas rather than the languid Holgate with Jordan Clement and the young Shots keeper pushed his claim for the number one spot in the replay with three good saves from Tony Garrod and Reece Connolly (twice). This enabled the fitter Magpies to press for the winner which was cruelly denied them in stoppage time by the men in black and so go into the replay without suspended talisman Williams and Bobby Behzadi. Time for Will Hendry to return and inspire a win at Cherrywood Road?

Post script: Seeing Dave Beasant at the game reminded me that Maidenhead fielded two sons of the 80s crazy gang yesterday both in goal!

Captain Kirk leads Weston to boldly go

Maidenhead United v Weston-super-mare had become an utterly predictable fixture, with a fourth goalless draw in five York Road meetings only being averted by a stoppage time Lee Barney winner last season. This was largely due to Weston adopting a typically Southern League attitude of thou shalt not pass with Maidenhead lacking the guile to break down a ten man defence.

Having surprised many last season by effectively transplanting a Bridgwater team into the Alliance South from the lower reaches of the Southern League, Craig Laird now looks to shaping up his team for a tilt at the play offs. The sheer lack of height in the Seagulls line up suggested that the hoof to the trees philosophy had disappeared and so it was proved as they ran out 3-1 winners.

For their part Maidenhead were missing midfielders Craig Taylor and Will Hendry, with a lack of suitable replacements leading to the Magpies fielding a very attacking line up, with a predictably disjointed look. However with United in fine form with thirteen points from the last five games, the first half was a tight affair with both sides showing much attacking intent without end product. The exception to this was Weston captain Ben Kirk's startling strike from distance to break the deadlock midway through the first half. Kirk hobbled off injured before the interval but had set the game up nicely for his team.

After the restart Weston had a good claim for a penalty turned down which cancelled out two half claims earlier on by Maidenhead and seemed to have sealed the points when Jamie Price finished off a neat free kick in the 63rd minute.

Maidenhead struck back quickly though when Manny Williams capitalised on a collision between the Weston goalkeeper and a defender to apply a sweet finish to score. The diminutive striker should then have completed the comeback when Martel Powell supplied him with a pass inside the penalty area but Williams put his effort into the side netting.

Still there was plenty of time left with the referee rightly taking into account the Weston time wasting antics, particularly from the hectoring Kane Ingram. The man in the middle did not help himself by being all too ready to engage in conversation during the game but by indicating a minimum of seven minutes stoppage time ensured that the Somerset gamesmanship was accounted for. Drax threw on Nevin Saroya as a target man with time on the watch and although the keeper was beaten forcing a Weston defender to head off the line Maidenhead could not conjure up the equaliser so it was annoyingly Ingram who had the last word by scoring from a breakaway attack.

300

Or as the marker above at Truro station more accurately put it 300 and 3/4 miles from London was the suitably novel journey facing me on non league day. Having made it to the top of the reverse L shape that is England to watch Maidenhead take on Blyth Spartans in the FA Trophy ten years ago, the promotion of Truro City to the Blue Square Bet South had presented the opportunity to travel to the westerly point with a first ever trip to Cornwall for the Magpies.

As I waited for the bus to take me to Paddington I received news of the Magpies that had already arrived in Truro, some by the Friday night sleeper train and as I approached Paddington I recalled the largely successful fortnightly trips to the west country during United's brief and ultimately glorious spell in the Southern League. Just how much further I would be travelling hit home when the train reached Tiverton in under two hours, the only Devon club Maidenhead faced in that promotion season. The lionshare of the journey was still to come with that great achievement of the nationalised railway, the High Speed Train being wasted as it crawled to my destination. Strange to think that this journey was unchanged in my lifetime although a Cornwall fixture would have been impossible without an overnight stop for the first century of organised football, a nice contrast with the previous Saturday's game against Staines, opponents for over a hundred years.

Still I wasn't alone with enough fans on this train to make up a team with those already in Truro. With the stunning coastal scenery between Exeter and Newton Abbot, time passed satisfactorily on a packed train although the grey mist shrouding Dartmoor gave no hope of an Indian Summer's day. Passing over the suitably battleship grey Royal Albert Bridge, the dark clouds deposited drizzle and on arrival in Truro there was nothing to lift the gloom thanks to a dull walk along the ring road to City's Treyew Road ground.

After some welcome pints of Tribute in the cosy clubhouse the approaching kick off lured me outside to a distinctly underwhelming ground that will need plenty of work on it to obtain the grading necessary to stay at this level of football. Clearly money had been spent on an impressive playing surface and the talent to play on it, but what surrounded it was a basic county league ground with a small stand and an almost complete lack of terracing which was particularly annoying as there was none under the only covered standing area. Two sides consisted of temporary seating (uncovered along the side, covered behind the goal) which gave credence to rumours circulating in the bar over a move to push the local authority into building a new stadium for both football and rugby club, a policy which had led to no little controversy surrounding Chairman Kevin Heaney which was augmented by his role in a protracted takeover of Plymouth Argyle. This had led to an internet campaign by Plymouth fans to disrupt the game but this proved to be nothing more than cyberchat, unlike goings on a the previous home game which had led to a seemingly knee jerk draconian ban on Truro Independent Supporters Merchandise being worn in the ground. This explained what proved to be an unnecessary police presence and so everyone was free to focus on the football.

The first half produced little incident but set the pattern for the second period with Truro looking dangerous from set pieces whilst Maidenhead looked most potent attacking down either flank. Some well timed interventions by Leigh Henry helped to stop the former whilst the Magpies couldn't quite conjure up a goal scoring opportunity with the latter.

This all changed within two minutes of the restart when Maidenhead took the lead with a well worked goal. A quickly taken free kick by Will Hendry went short to Bobby Behzadi who found Manny Williams heading for goal. Williams unselfishly laid the ball off to his right into the path of Martel Powell who stunned Truro keeper Tim Sandercombe with a delicate shot which went in at the near post.

This goal sparked a period of Maidenhead domination and they could have gone onto seal the points with Williams again pulling the strings to give Alex Wall the opportunity to strike a fierce shot which was parried by Sandercombe, Daniel Brown's follow up being deflected wide.

Truro then took the initiative, Scott Walker forcing a good save out of Lumley before beating him with a neat   free kick only to see the ball hit the inside of the post. The loose ball fell straight to Barry Hayles to equalise from close range and the points were up for grabs once more.

It was Maidenhead's classy counter attacks pivoting on the fulcrum of star man Williams that still looked most likely to produce a further goal and so it was that after the diminutive striker himself had been denied at close range by Sandercombe, he capitalised on great work from Brown and Powell to feed substitute Anthony Thomas on the left wing. Thomas then cut inside to unleash a shot from just inside the penalty area to beat Sandercombe with a strike worthy of three points.

Thus the final whistle sparked celebrations from the travelling Magpies as the players went off to a well deserved night out on the Cornish Riviera. Wandering back to the station  the day was made complete when my 50/1 treble of wins for Thurrock, Farnborough and Maidenhead was confirmed.

So the perfect non league day. A journey a bit too long to repeat but definitely one worth making yesterday.

Forward March Halted

Felt like two points dropped yesterday after an opening half an hour where the Magpies were every bit as dominant as in the win over Thurrock but were only able to score once. 

The die was cast in the second minute when a Manny Williams effort from close range hit the post. This was the signal for United to set up camp in the Staines half, gradually ratcheting up the pressure. 

Ex Magpie Louis Wells was able to push a Chris Taylor long shot round the post in the twentieth but cracked in the next wave of attack when he was only able to deflect a Will Hendry effort into the path of Williams who helped the ball over the line to break his duck for the season.

So the afternoon looked set fair for a third successive win for Maidenhead and the chance to erase their negative goal difference, but a soft penalty let the visitors back into the game eleven minutes ahead of the interval. Striker Richard Butler seemed to be going nowhere in the box but once goalkeeper Billy Lumley went to ground, he was presented with the opportunity of an outstretched arm to tumble over, and as was repeated several times on Match of the Day that evening, the referee pointed to the spot. 

Butler got up and converted the spot kick himself with the equaliser changing in the tone of the match, Maidenhead going into their shell and reverting to the virtual 8-0-2 formation which ubiquitous in the Devonshire years. Unlike the previous Saturday at Bromley where two disciplined banks of four had both repelled attack and provided a midfield outlet for respite, Maidenhead seemed to be pinned to the eighteen yard line and it was only the post which stopped Butler giving Staines an unlikely half time lead.

After half time Maidenhead again started strongly but Staines looked equally dangerous on the break so that although Hendry and Bobby Behzadi went close in the dying minutes it was David Wheeler who had the best chance to score in the second half, Lumley standing up well to make the save.

Looking ahead to Monday's trip to Farnborough the wisdom of squad rotation, particularly in the ageing back line in self evident but the lack of a replacement for Daniel Brown's energy and drive in the midfield to compliment the creativity of Hendry and Taylor means Bradley Quamina's return to fitness cannot come quick enough.

'Rockin Magpies

Maidenhead United's home record over the last 12 months and their all time home record against Purfleet/Thurrock had one thing in common until last night, one solitary league win. The recent home record is well documented and when combined with the annual miserable defeat against the Fleet before a sparse crowd at York Road you could say expectations were low as I walked down to York Road last night. Picking up the team sheet eyebrows were raised at the amount of churn in the starting eleven following Saturday's impressive win at Bromley. Still it was ten years since the nadir of a defeat against a Purfleet team unable to field a goalkeeper and the current Thurrock team had had a rough start to the season after their AGM Cup reprieve.
Hopes were raised after a bright Maidenhead opening which was capped in the twelfth by a goal from Martel Powell.This followed a fierce strike from distance by Daniel Brown which goalkeeper Craig Holloway could only parry to Powell who applied an exquisite finish to curl the ball inside Holloway's left hand post.
Maidenhead continued to dominate and effectively won the game in an exciting two minute spell midway through the first half. In the twenty sixth minute Manny Williams made a strong run down the middle only to be hauled down outside the penalty area. Alex Wall thumped the resulting free kick into the wall, the ball being deflected wide for a corner from which Will Hendry received the ball in the left corner of the box only to be chopped down for a penalty kick. Anthony Thomas scored from the spot then from the restart the Magpies swiftly turned over possession to get on the attack again, Wall making it three when he despatched a loose ball in the box. Two goals in two minutes and Maidenhead out of sight at home for the first time in eighteen months!
A great forty five minutes work was sealed in stoppage time before the interval when Powell picked up a Williams pass to score his second. After the break Thurrock predictably picked up, Brown heading an effort off the line and Billy Lumley saving well from a Dean Cracknell longshot but there was no denying the Magpies three points and a second consecutive clean sheet to balance the disastrous opening four days of the season. Lets hope this heralds the start of a more profitable home record this season.

Hayesmazing Lane

Maidenhead have never been the best of starters but two consecutive 4-0 defeats helped to eclipse even the opening month pessimism of 1995 and 2005. Still hope springs etc. and the irrational optimism which places faith in coincidental events left me in no doubt that Hayes Lane, Bromley was the place to be on Saturday. In my seven previous visits to this part of Kent I had seen five Magpie wins and two draws. Coincidence or with recent results in mind had Drax worked out a flawless plan to beat Mark Goldberg's Bromley?

Pre match, soaking up the hopeless consensus of the Tuesday night defeat at Dorchester in the bar, I looked across the pitch and failed to share the stubborn keep calm and carry on nature of the cricketers playing in the teeming rain on the neighbouring cricket pitch, not helped by the big screen showing an all too predictable late collapse by Arsenal in their lunchtime match against Liverpool.

Still having ploughed through crowds of tourists understandably bewildered by the tube shutdowns in central London, and suffered a stale pint of Amstel, it was time to hit the impressive Bromley terraces, steep with just enough cover behind each goal. From the kick off the partnership of Scarborough and Saroya looked solid, and United showed confidence in their forward moves. Chief attacking protagonist was Anthony Thomas who capped a superb first half display with a fantastic individual goal in the ninth minute. Driving forward through the inside right channel he went through the Bromley defence like a knife through butter before applying an accomplished finish to post an early rival to last term's goal of the season by Ashley Nicholls from almost the same spot.

Bar the kneejerk reaction which always follows a goal Bromley had little response to going behind for the first time this season and indeed it was Maidenhead who could have gone into half time further ahead with both Manny Williams and Max Worsfold being denied. Indeed the impressive Bromley centre back Joe Dolan was the key factor in keeping the deficit to one. United also had a good claim for a penalty when a Bromley defender developed a bee like attraction to Alex Wall's yellow shirt grabbing a good handful of it to a total lack of interest from the referee.

After the break the Bromley management almost inspired an immediate comeback when a fierce Orlando Smith strike was parried by debutant goalkeeper Billy Lumley. This set the tone for the second period with Lumley imperious at the back, dealing with any Bromley effort with calm efficiency. With no way through for Bromley, Maidenhead grew in confidence helped by the introduction of Will Hendry for Williams. Hendry, bar his customary petulant caution, clearly relished his role just behind frontman Wall as Bromley became increasingly desperate for an equaliser which four minutes of stoppage time could not facilitate, the final whistle bringing a reward for those Magpie fans who had also made the midweek trip to Dorset.

So six United wins and two draws now at Hayes Lane, I just hope our appalling record at home to Purfrock isn't similarly extended on Tuesday night.