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24. Freefallin...

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  Match 17: Campion v Morley Town Our next game is a West Yorkshire derby against Bradford-based Campion. They lie in a middling 12 th place, while we are in 6 th , just outside the play-offs. I make one enforced change with young Marley Haylock filling in at left back for the suspended Lacey. I also make a slight adjustment in the formation with Aaron Smith in an attacking midfield role behind lone striker, Rowe. Team: McLachlan, Croft, Clappison, Broadhead, Haylock, Wright, Makiessi, Grantham, Smith, Rowe, Preston Match Action The home side clad in their AC Milan style red and black striped shirts dominate proceedings and have two good chances to take the lead. I fire the team up and they respond. Smith dummies and lets in Preston down the left. He plays the ball back to John Claude Makiessi who rattles the crossbar with a fierce shot from range. That’s more like it. But. From a Campion free kick we fail to win the first header and Harry Horton heads in from close range....
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23. Up For The Cup

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Happy New Year wherever in the world you are reading this!  Match 13: Morley Town v Abbey Hey – 1 st  Division Cup Second Round Another milestone is reached on our rise up the English pyramid- our first cup competition. While there hopefully will be more prestigious national knockout tournaments in the future as we go up the leagues, such as The FA Vase, FA Trophy and of course the oldest competition in the world, the FA Cup, the First Division Trophy will do for now. This tournament consists of teams from the North West Counties Division One North and South, with six rounds of exciting cup action! Strangely it begins on my wife’s birthday and finishes on mine... Even stranger is we got a bye to the second round, even though we are debutants in this competition. Abbey Hey are in the Division One South and lie in 7 th place in their league, so I am expecting a close game. I put out a strong team. Hall, Busfield, Clappison. Bentley, Lacey, Wright, Makiessi, Grantham, Rowe, ...
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22. Lighting up The League

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  After a bright start to the North West Counties League Division One we have shown that our team more than belongs at this level after three wins a draw and a defeat in our opening five games. Can we sustain it and set the early pace at the top of the league? Match 6: Morley Town v Ashton United We host the team from Ashton in Makerfield in reasonably good spirits. They lie in a middling 11 th , while we are in third and are unbeaten since the opening day. I make two changes with Jake Croft replacing Eddie Busfield at right back and Jean Claude Makiessi starts in midfield instead of Schorah. Team: Hall, Croft, Clappison, Bentley, Lacey, Wright, Makkiessi, Grantham, Rowe, Smith, Preston Nowt much happens in the opening 20, until  Rowe runs down the right wing, skinning two defenders in the process before crossing to the edge of the box where Wright chests it down and unleashes a scything shot into the corner. Then Preston and Lacey combine on the left. The latter makes ...
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21. Adventures Across The Pennines

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  Sounds more like a school mission statement than a county... The big kick off has finally arrived and it's fair to say I'm excited. Gone are those short easy little trips down the motorw....   Hang on! Were in West Yorkshire.. there's no short, easy trips anywhere without congestion, roadworks, temporary traffic lights or a tailback on the M62, M1, M621, M1/A1 Link Road or if in Bradford the M606.. . as well as those stupid drivers that think the A6110 ring road is bloody Silverstone! Anyway I digress... In the amateur leagues, places like Huddersfield and Keighley were the furthest we ever travelled to and were relatively short compared to the massive trip we were about to undergo to Barrow in Furness in Cumbria to take on Holker Old Boys in our first game of the season in the North West Counties Division One North.  During pre-season we managed to raise enough cash to buy a team coach as it would be too much to expect players who are earning barely enough for a t...
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