Veteran Debutant Exacts Bay Revenge

 

   Altrincham 3-4 Colwyn Bay

    Saturday, 7 January 2012

    Moss Lane, Altrincham

 

Despite a wonderful team performance from Colwyn Bay, it  was veteran debutant Frank Sinclair who grabbed all the headlines at Moss Lane on Saturday afternoon after netting an injury time winner that brought to an end a run of three successive league defeats and ensured that Bay remained in a comfortable mid table position. 

The former Chelsea, Leicester and Burnley man, who turned 40 last month, might even prove to be one of the best acquisitions Jon Newby makes all season, given that Sinclair was still playing on a regular basis in a Wrexham side that reached the Conference Premier play offs last season.  With only 13 goals in a career spanning 20 years and nearly 550 appearances, Newby hardly signed the defender for his goal scoring prowess though.  However, with the manager opting for a 4-4-2 formation that was indicative of a more attacking mindset, despite the absences of Lee McEvilly  through suspension and Danny Lloyd, who has signed a full time contract with Lincoln City, Sinclair was given the opportunity to venture forward at corners and it was from one of these that he grabbed the 91st minute winner.  Mike Lea put the ball into the danger area and, in the goalmouth melee that ensued after the Altrincham keeper had fumbled the ball, Sinclair was on hand to coolly rifle home the winner.

The three points were sweet revenge for Colwyn Bay, who had suffered the ignominy of a 6-1 home reverse to Altrincham back in September that was at least partially to blame for the downturn of form since then.  In the opening 9 games of the season prior to that 6-1 defeat, Bay had kept 4 clean sheets and only conceded 7 goals, whereas in the 13 games since then they have conceded 26 goals and only kept 2 clean sheets as a loss of confidence clearly seeped into the team.  In terms of the defence, there is still a lot of work for Newby to do, though it is always easier to address issues after a victory.  Despite the win, however, Newby will have noted that his side conceded three goals in an away game for the fourth time in eight matches and they have now failed to keep a clean sheet away from Llanelian Road since the 1-0 victory at Gloucester on 17 September. 

With Sinclair suspended for the away trip to Eastwood Town next Saturday, further changes will have to be made to a defensive line up that is already missing Danny Meadowcroft. The captain, who was unavailable for the Altrincham game due to the illness of his newly born daughter, is unlikely to be available for either the Eastwood or Vauxhall Motors games, given that his daughter must still undergo further surgery.  It may well therefore be that the player with ‘Conference experience’ that Jon Newby is hoping to bring into the club later this week will be a defender.

The three points came at a critical time for Colwyn Bay, given the recent form of the teams in and around the bottom three.  Bishop Stortford’s victory over promotion hopefuls Guiseley, coupled with a 4-0 victory for Hinckley United over Eastwood meant that a Bay defeat would have left the club only three points off the relegation zone.  However with the six point buffer still in place, an installation of confidence throughout the team and games against Eastwood and Vauxhall Motors coming up, Colwyn Bay now have the opportunity to more or less secure their Conference North status for another season – at least from a playing perspective.

	Conference North	Pl	D	Pts
1	Hyde	26	33	59
2	Stalybridge	24	22	48
3	Guiseley	22	22	44
4	Nuneaton	24	15	42
5	FC Halifax	23	13	42
6	Gainsborough	23	7	41
7	Worcester	24	3	38
8	Corby Town	23	11	35
9	Droylesden	23	0	34
10	Boston United	24	-3	33
11	Altrincham	22	12	32
12	Gloucester	24	3	32
13	Colwyn Bay	23	-7	31
13	Histon	24	-5	28
14	Solihull Moors	24	-6	27
16	Workington Town	24	-7	27
17	Harrogate Town	24	-15	26
18	Vauxhall Motors	23	-8	25
19	Bishop's Stortford	23	-11	25
20	Hinckley United	22	-13	25
21	Eastwood Town	24	-37	14
22	Blyth Spartans	23	-29	13

Survival in the Conference North would be a fantastic achievement for a side that has won back-to-back promotions in the last two seasons.  However, this is still not guaranteed, even if Colwyn Bay gain the 16 or so points required to ensure that they do not finish in the bottom 3.  This is because the Llanelian Road ground requires four rows of seating in order to comply with Conference standards, rather than the three that it currently has.  Whilst plans have been drawn up to comply with the requirements, the cost of the project will be approximate £71,000 with building work needing to be started by March 31st. 

This represents a substantial cost for a club playing at this level of football and supporters have recognised that they will need to contribute if the club are to raise the required amount.  With this in mind, various events such as the recent Christmas party are being organised to try and raise around £30,000, with the club hopeful that they can secure an interest free loan to cover the remaining amount.  All associated with the club will hope that the success that has been achieved on the pitch can be matched by the same success of it.

Prediction: Eastwood Town 0 Colwyn Bay 2

Agree with the prediction? Why not vote yourself in the poll to the left.  Which Welsh teams do you think will win this week?  Will Colwyn Bay be amongst them?

Wrexham Target Fifth Straight Win

                New Year’s Day
                       v
  Racecourse Ground, Wrexham

The end of the calendar year is traditionally a time for both reflecting on the past 12 months and for looking forward to the future.  As Wrexham and Telford United prepare for their second festive meeting in a week, the clubs may reflect on just how long a period 7 months can be in football and just how dramatically fortunes have changed since the play offs were concluded last May.

Both clubs made the play offs last season; Wrexham made the Conference play offs after having finished 4th, only to have their entire season’s work undone during a disastrous 20 minute spell in their semi final home leg against Luton Town, during which they conceded three goals and effectively lost the tie.  In contrast, Telford United finished runners up to Alfreton Town in the Conference North and then safely negotiated the play offs to earn promotion to the Conference in front of an impressive 5,436 crowd at New Bucks Head, Telford.  Instrumental to this success was 29 year old midfielder Phil Trainer, who netted crucial injury time goals in both the semi final first leg at Nuneaton and in the final itself.  Consequently Telford United, one of the biggest names in non league football, entered the 2011-12 season in buoyant mood, full of the hope and expectation that promotion brings, whilst Wrexham not only had to contend with the disappointment of play off failure but with the very real possibility that they would go out of business due to crippling debts.

Fast forward to the end of December and the future of the two clubs looks very different.  The Wrexham Supporters Trust successfully completed their acquisition of the club after the Football Conference ratified the takeover on 12 December and the Dragons sit proudly at the top of the Conference having gained an impressive 56 points from their opening 25 games.  Much of the credit for this must be given to former manager Dean Saunders, who assembled together a group of talented players who have exceeded all expectations this season.  However, since the departure of Saunders to Doncaster Rovers in the middle of September, Wrexham’s form has just continued to improve.  Since Andy Morrell took over the managerial position for what seemed to be a tough away trip to Grimsby, Wrexham have won 11 of their 15 league games and are now on a run of 13 without defeat during which time they have only conceded 3 goals.

In contrast, as so often happens with newly promoted clubs, Telford United are experiencing an alarming mid season dip in form which has seen them win only 1 of the last 14 games.  This poor sequence of results, whilst admittedly against some of the bigger clubs in the league, included a recent 3-1 defeat at basement club Bath City, and has caused Telford to become embroiled in an 8 team relegation battle that is developing at the foot of the table.  It also caused manager Andy Sinton to try deflecting some of the pressure off his beleaguered side before last Monday’s encounter with Wrexham by claiming that the pressure is actually on the bigger clubs in the league.  However, in front of a bumper Boxing Day crowd of 4500 at New Bucks Head, Wrexham ran out 2-0 winners despite a relatively lacklustre performance.  Now, with form and statistics against them, Telford have somehow got to blunt Wrexham’s attack whilst finding a way past what seems to be an almost impenetrable defense.  Furthermore, they have to do this without midfield talisman Phil Trainer, who was sent off in the closing stages of the first encounter for a second bookable offence.

Despite the challenges facing his own side, Andy Sinton is right in claiming that the pressure is on Wrexham.  The club are desperate for a return to the football league but, despite their impressive form, they have still not managed to open up a significant gap between themselves and Fleetwood.  However, with the Cod Army having to travel to Southport on Sunday, this represents Wrexham’s best opportunity of establishing some daylight.  Given the contrasting fortunes of the clubs at the moment, it is difficult to see anything other than a Wrexham win in this one.

Colwyn Bay v Vauxhall Motors Preview

 

 

                      New Year’s Day

                      v

 
 

Hearing manager Jon Newby discuss the possibility of bringing himself back into the team in order to address a mini goal drought amongst discussion of the need for a big performance is a measure of just how far Colwyn Bay have come as a club over the last two years.  Having beaten FC United of Manchester last May to secure back to back promotions under Dave Challinor, who left the club at the start of November to take over the reigns at Fylde, Colwyn Bay are now enjoying live at the elevated level of the Conference North.  Given this dramatic rise and the recent change of management, it is perhaps unsurprising that Bay are currently experiencing a few challenges as they adjust.

After a very promising start in which Bay picked up 16 points from their first 9 games in a run that appeared to be placing them on the cusp of yet another promotion battle, form has dipped.  Defeat to a 91st minute Holsgrove goal at Vauxhall Motors on Boxing Day followed a home defeat against Worcester and an away day thrashing at Harrogate, leaving Colwyn Bay with some concerns as they approach the New Year.

Although a third consecutive defeat without scoring since the 6-3 drubbing of Droylesden undoubtedly needs to be addressed, Bay should be well satisfied with their performance over the first half of the season.  Having been promoted in two successive seasons, their current position of 12th should be considered a success, as demonstrated by the steady increase in attendances over the course of the season.

As Colwyn Bay prepare for the return fixture against Vauxhall Motors on New Year’s Day, Newby knows the importance of clinching the three points that could see his team move back into the top half of the table.  Perhaps lively young left winger Danny Lloyd and Newby himself, joint top scorers with five goals each, are Bay’s best hope of getting back on track.  Lloyd was the one player who looked threatening at Rivacre Park and it is important that he is given the opportunity to run at defenders on Sunday.

One other record that Colwyn Bay will want to erase on Sunday is the run of nine consecutive games without a clean sheet.  They came within a couple of minutes of achieving that on Boxing Day but with the side having conceded twelve goals in the four games prior to the game at Vauxhall Motors, confidence is fragile.  However, given that Colwyn Bay were the first team to fail to score against Vauxhall Motors this season, the return fixture can be expected to yield a few more goals.  Newby will be hoping that it is his team that come out on top to help retain their comfortable mid table position.