Chester thrown out of the Conference

February 26, 2010 Leave a Comment

Chester City were expelled from the Conference with immediate effect this morning after 75% of the member clubs voted against keeping them in the division to fulfil their league fixtures. City were suspended earlier in the month after their players refused to travel to an away game against Forest Green. Chester’s expulsion from the Conference now means that their results for the season are void and any points won or lost against them will be wiped from the league table. Boro have played and beat Chester twice this season so they will lose 6 points from their total, but will remain in 2nd place, 6 points behind leaders Oxford United.

The teams hit the biggest seem to be Tamworth, Rushden and Cambridge. In fact Cambridge must now be looking over their shoulder as they are just 1 point clear of the relegation zone. Tamworth, like us have also lost 6 points and will move down from 14th to 15th. Rushden lose their current place in the play-offs and are replaced by rivals Kettering who hadn’t faced Chester as yet.

Although the situation isn’t ideal for us, it doesn’t really effect us that much either. We are still 6 points behind Oxford, but they now don’t have a game in hand. Kettering and Luton have moved in on us, but I don’t really see them being much threat to our position considering they are still 6 points behind us, although Luton do have a game in hand on us as well. As far as we’re concerned we still have the same objectives. If we concentrate on ourselves and win our games then I’m confident we can still challenge for the title. There’s still 14 games left and 42 points to play for and if we win all them then we will win the league.

Boro don’t have a game this weekend, but travel to Eastbourne Borough on Tuesday night. Oxford, who now also don’t have a game this weekend as they were pencilled in to face Chester, travel to Cambridge on Tuesday night which is a massive game for both sides. Cambridge need to win to try to stay out of the relegation zone, whilst Oxford can’t afford to drop many points knowing both ourselves and York are not far away.

In other news, it sounds like Phil Wallace has given Luton a 2,800 allocation for the game on the 3rd April. According to Luton’s official website they will have 1,400 seated tickets plus a 1,400 terraced allocation in the East Terrace. I understand why Wallace has given Luton an increased allocation, but I don’t understand the logic of allowing them have half of the East Terrace. As all Boro supporters know, the ET is where the barmy army are situated and where the atmosphere, if any, is generated, so why give some of that to the away side. It would have made far more sense to have given them an extra 750 tickets in the main stand. This way they would also be paying more to be seated as well as leaving us to have the whole of the East, North and majority of the main stand.

Giving Luton half of the East Terrace also raises some security questions. After hearing about what happened after their win against Oxford and how their fans behaved recently at Cambridge, the decision to allow 1,400 Luton fans into the East Terrace is even more puzzling. There will have to be a very strong police presence and segregation will have to be severely enforced knowing what Luton ‘supporters’ are likely to do. It should prove to be an interesting afternoon at Broadhall Way both on and off the pitch.

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Wrexham Preview

February 23, 2010 Leave a Comment

Next up for Stevenage in their race for the Blue Square Premier title is a trip to North Wales to face Wrexham. The Welsh side currently lie in 12th place in the table, but have only played 29 games after a run of postponements in December and January. One of them was tomorrow night’s fixture which was originally scheduled for the 16th January 2010. The game was called off then due to a frozen pitch and although the weather is still causing havoc in that part of the country, the game is expected to be given the go ahead.

Boro will be hoping to improve on their recent away form after two straight defeats against Tamworth and Rushden respectively. The team has lost four games all season, but they have all been away from Broadhall Way and Graham Westley and co will not have favourable memories of their last trip to the Racecourse Ground. Stevenage made the trip on the opening day of last season and were hammered 5-0. Steve Morison was also sent off in what was Westley’s first competitive game since returning for a second spell as Stevenage manager.

“I think they are a very good side. When I have watched them play this year, they have impressed me. They have some really good individual players and as a team they function effectively. They play some really good stuff. They are a very dangerous opponent and we are going to have to be right on our mettle if we are going to beat them.” Westley on Wrexham

Wrexham are very much a club in transition. Last season saw a lot of changes both on and off the pitch and that has continued into this season. Dean Saunders is working hard to try and get a winning team together, but seems to be struggling to find some level of consistency. Things haven’t been helped at board room level either after former Chairman Geoff Moss stood down from his position after receiving abusive criticism from some supporters. On the pitch, the Red Dragons are stuck in mid-table and whilst they don’t look like being sucked into a relegation battle, they are too far behind to mount a late challenge for the play-offs, regardless of what a certain Ashley Westwood says.

Earlier in the season, Wrexham visited Broadhall Way and held Boro to a 0-0 draw. The game will be remembered for Joel Byrom’s glaring miss, which cost the home side all 3 points. Wrexham came to Hertfordshire and stifled Boro’s play. They came to get a draw and they got one. It’s also worth noting that the Welsh side are the last team in the Blue Square Premier to have won at Broadhall Way.

I think it will be a very difficult game for Boro tomorrow night. Conditions will not be good and it all depends if we can get ourselves up for it or not. Recent form suggests that we are beginning to find travelling to strong, physical sides a little difficult. Tamworth defended for the majority of the game against us and scored from a set-piece. Rushden did the same and their late winner was also after a set-piece was cleared. I don’t think Wrexham will be as defensive, but they will be tough to break down and have goalscorers like Andrew Mangan and Lamine Sakho in the side. It should be an interesting game and one that will go a long way to deciding where Boro end up this season.

Prediction: Wrexham 1-1 Boro

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Boro draw Kidderminster in FA Trophy

February 22, 2010 Leave a Comment

Stevenage’s reward for beating Workington at the weekend is a semi final tie against Kidderminster Harriers in a repeat of the 2007 final, which Boro came from 2-0 down to win 3-2. The semi-final will be played over two legs, with the first at Aggborough on the 13th March. The second leg is a week later on the 20th March at Broadhall Way. The two league games that were originally scheduled for those dates will have to be re-arranged into an already busy fixture list. Boro’s long trip to Gateshead will now be played on a Tuesday night on the 20th April, just 4 days before the end of the season. The trip to Grays has yet to be re-arranged.

FA Trophy Semi Final Draw

Kidderminster Harriers v Stevenage Borough
Salisbury City v York City/Barrow AFC

Kidderminster reached the last four of the Trophy after knocking out Blue Square Premier leaders Oxford United on Saturday. Harriers went ahead when Brian Smikle finished from close range, but Matt Green equalised for the U’s after a defensive mix up. Kiddy never gave up though and were rewarded late on when Robbie Matthews turned and shot past Billy Turley with just minutes remaining. Kidderminster have hit some form recently and are unbeaten in their last 6 games in all competitions. New manager Steve Burr seems to have got the team playing well and they will not be an easy team to beat.

Boro progressed into another FA Trophy semi final after they beat Workington by 2 goals to 1. Workington shocked Broadhall Way when they took the lead in the first half. After Chris Beardsley had given the ball away, Workington got the ball forward to Phil McCluckie who finished. The Blue Square North side went into the break 1-0 up. Boro came out for the second half knowing they would have to attack from the off if they wanted to continue their superb run in the Trophy going and within 10 minutes of the second half, Boro were level. Stacy Long curling the ball after good build up play with Beardsley.

As the half went on, Stevenage were dominating the game more and more, but the ball just wouldn’t go in. 7 minutes were added on after an earlier injury to their goalkeeper and that was to cost them as deep into added time, Stacy Long scored again to give Boro the win. It had been a tough game, but Boro did enough to make it through. They will have to perform better though to beat an improving Kidderminster side.

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Workington Preview

February 19, 2010 Leave a Comment

It’s hard to believe that Stevenage actually have a game tomorrow afternoon with how quiet it has been this week. The only news coming out of the club this week was the reserves beating Peterborough 1-0 in with Dino Maamria getting on the score sheet. Boro named a fairly strong side with the likes of Andy Drury, Mitchell Cole and Tim Sills getting valuable minutes under their belts. Other than that the week has been dominated by the demise of Chester City and their almost certain expulsion from the Blue Square Premier.  

It’s been a nightmare season for Chester, who have gone from one disaster to another. The situation has been getting progressively worse all season and the club were suspended last week after failing to fulfil their last 2 fixtures against Forest Green and Wrexham respectively. Thursday saw the Football Conference announce that they had recommended the expulsion of Chester City to the 23 remaining clubs. A final decision will be announced in the coming week, but the Cheshire club remain suspended from the BSP.

As I’ve mentioned before, the collapse of Chester doesn’t do Stevenage any favours at all. We have played both of our games against them and won both without conceding. If Chester do go then it will take Oxford 6 points clear, but they will have lost their game in hand. Chester’s expulsion will also benefit Luton and Kettering who will move up the table as a result.

Away from the pressures of the league, Stevenage face Workington in the Quarter Final of the FA Trophy at Broadhall Way tomorrow afternoon. Boro have been quite lucky in this season’s competition so far as every tie has been at home and mostly against lower league opposition. Tomorrow is no different, although Workington will be no pushovers having already knocked out Rushden and AFC Wimbledon earlier in the competition.

Boro boss Graham Westley has to decide whether to start both Andy Drury and Mitchell Cole after they came through the reserve fixture against Peterborough. Tim Sills is also pushing for another start after also featuring in midweek. Ronnie Henry serves the final match of his 3 game suspension after his sending off at Tamworth a fortnight ago, but Darren Murphy could return after recovering from a groin injury picked up in the same game. Workington lost away against Alfreton Town in the week and haven’t scored in their last 2 games.

On paper it should be a comfortable home victory for Stevenage, but I think Workington will come down to Broadhall Way and play like it is their cup final. They have nothing to lose and have already shown their giant-killing pedigree this season after beating both Rushden and AFC Wimbledon. Boro will have to be focussed and will be eager to get back to winning ways after last Saturday’s disappointing defeat at Nene Park to Rushden.

Prediction: Boro 2-0 Workington

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Wolleaston winner sinks Stevenage

February 13, 2010 Leave a Comment

A late goal from Robert Wolleaston was enough to give Rushden all 3 points and condemn Boro to their 2nd straight defeat on their travels. Ex Cambridge midfielder Wolleaston collected the ball on the edge of the box and fired in a cracking shot which beat Chris Day at his near post. The defeat puts Boro back into 2nd place in the Blue Square Premier table after Oxford United beat Histon 2-0 at the Kassam Stadium. However, York City failed to profit from Stevenage’s slip up as they were also beat 1-0 by Ebbsfleet United.

Boro lined up in their usual 4-3-3 formation with Tim Sills starting up front alongside Mitchell Cole and Chris Beardsley. Joel Byrom started in midfield with David Bridges and the in form Stacy Long. Jon Ashton continued to fill in for Ronnie Henry at right back with the England C international missing the game through suspension. Rushden fielded former Boro striker Jefferson Louis up top alongside Craig Farrell. Jamie Stuart skippered the side.

The first half was quite an even affair with both sides cancelling each other out. Boro seemed to start in a 4-4-2 formation, but adjusted to 4-5-1 to match what Rushden began with. It was quite a scrappy contest with neither team able to get a foot on the ball and play their game. Rushden did very well to close down the Boro midfield and not allow the likes of Long and Bridges time to pick their passes. Boro defensively were solid and didn’t allow the home side many opportunities to open the scoring.

The most notable chance for Boro came from a free-kick, but Joel Byrom’s effort failed to beat the wall, while Scott Laird’s follow-up effort ended up in the Peter De Banke terrace. Rushden created little, but did get an opening towards the end of the half when Jefferson Louis found himself free in the box, but he failed to trouble Day as he screwed his shot wide of the goal.

The second half was more of a spectacle as both teams seemed to open up a bit more, looking for the first goal. Stevenage pushed up a bit more, but still lacked any real quality in the final third to create a clear chance. Westley sent on Yemi and Drury for Cole and Sills to try to shake things up a bit and it almost worked as Drury worked his way down the right before sending in a good cross, but no one was in there to make it count. Funnily enough that sort of chance is what Sills was crying out for, but he was replaced at the same time of Drury coming on.

Boro were now beginning to dominate the possession and had a great chance to go in front when David Bridges poked the ball towards the Rushden goal, only for Dale Roberts to make a superb save. The Rushden keeper had little to do all afternoon, but reacted very well to Bridges’ effort. Boro failed to build on that chance, but continued to enjoy the majority of the possession. The home side had offered little going forward all game, but won a corner with 2 minutes remaining on the clock. Mark Byrne’s corner was half cleared to the edge of the box where Robert Wolleaston controlled it and fired in a superb shot which sent the quiet Diamonds fans into raptures.

Overall, it was another disappointing result away from home, but I felt we deserved a point from the game. I would have settled for a 0-0 draw before the game as Rushden have been in good form recently and are a tough side to beat. The most worrying aspect of today’s game was the lack of chances we created. Rushden were defensively very solid and kept us quiet, but apart from Bridges’ header we didn’t look like scoring. We also defended well and limited Rushden to half chances, but the fact is they took one of their half chances and won the game. Next up for us is Workington in the Trophy Quarter Final next Saturday. It’s worth noting that they beat Rushden in an earlier round.

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Boro bounce back to the top

February 11, 2010 Leave a Comment

Boro’s 3-1 victory over Mansfield has put the Hertfordshire club back at the summit of the Blue Square Premier. It was a hard-fought game, which at times threatened to boil over, but Stevenage kept their heads and in the end won the game. It was a superb response from the team after Saturday’s disappointing defeat away to Tamworth. The night got even better late on when news filtered through that Luton had done us a favour and beaten Oxford by 2 goals to 1 at Kenilworth Road.

“We played against a good side who are up there and we had them on the rack. I thought we governed the game for long periods. They certainly showed the right spirit and the right endeavour, but it’s just that little bit of luck at the moment, we seem to be getting balls spinning away, hitting posts and crossbars.” Holdsworth’s slightly biased view of Tuesday’s game

Tuesday night’s results put Stevenage 3 points clear at the top of the BSP on 63 points. Oxford are 2nd with 60, but do have 2 games in hand on the leaders. York City are 3rd on 59 points, but they also have a game in hand on Boro. Rushden’s recent good form has propelled them up into 4th position, while Luton are now 5th after that last gasp win against Oxford. It is certainly one of the more exciting title races in recent times. In the last few seasons, there always seems to have been a runaway winner, like Aldershot or Dagenham, but it could well go down to the last day of the season this time around.

Another factor in this season’s title race is the possible expulsion from the league of Chester City. The troubled club have just been suspended from the league for 7 days after failing to fulfil two of their fixtures and the future of the club is in severe doubt. If Chester do get expelled from the Conference, then Stevenage would lose their 6 points gained against them, while Oxford would lose 3 as they have only played them once. The team that would profit the most from the demise of Chester would be Luton Town, who only managed to pick up 2 points against them. That would mean they would be 4 points nearer to Boro at the top of the BSP.

It does seem a bit unfair that because of another club, Stevenage’s title chances will take a big knock. Stevenage did their job in both games and won the points, but because of Chester’s poor finances and mis-management, it is the Hertfordshire club that will suffer. What will it take for Boro to get promoted from this league? When we won the Conference in 1996 we were denied promotion because of the Broadhall Way ground, although it was perfectly ready for league football ahead of the following season. Now we have our best chance of promotion since then and it looks like it could be Chester City that ruin it this time.

In other news, the club have announced that the home fixture against Luton Town is to be made an all ticket fixture. It’s the first league fixture I can remember being made all ticket. The official website says that Stevenage have acted on Hertfordshire Police advice and have also moved the kick-off forward to 1pm. Luton will be given a 1,400 seated allocation which I’m sure they’ll fill. Stevenage will sell tickets initially to season ticket holders, if they wish to purchase more tickets and then move on to Supporters Association members and Flexi ticket holders.

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