The Ultimate English Pyramid Game

  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....

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, ...