Blarney

Match Seventeen from we stole this one Down 0-1, nothing falling, 80 minutes into the match. We finally put one in at 82 minutes and then follow that up with another in stoppage time to get the win. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Papa Johns Northern Section Group E from Blundell Park, Cleethorpes too little, too late We got the win in our final group match in the Papa Johns competition. Unfortunately we had already been knocked out. But, it gave us another chance to rest our players in back-to-back matches.

FA Cup First Round from The Community Stadium, Boston nice win We took a chance, needed to rest some guys so basically played all backups and we got the win. The supporters probably would have been all over me if we had lost this one but Boston is a National League club and I just assumed we'd get the win. We didn't really blow them away and they definitely got their shots off, but I had faith in my defense.

Match Sixteen from Meadow Lane gave it up last minute We had this one won until we allowed a penalty shot to tie it in the 90th minute. In all honesty they probably deserved something from it. We did a good job of keeping them out of the net for most of the match but they definitely controlled the pace. Guess I should be happy with the draw.

The Independent Reports Trent Crimm sports At the start of the year, Eddie Sirrel signed 2 replacements at the keeper spot for Notts County to replace, Mair who had been on loan the previous season. As the season has gone along though it's obvious that Kovacevic has stood out from Bishop - who's only started a few games and has been injured twice, including going down with a training injury yesterday. Eddie had this to say to the media. "Bishop twisted his knee in training and it looks like he'll be out for 5-6 weeks. Brooks will back up Kovacevic while Bishop is rehabbing."

Match Fifteen from Brunton Park, Carlisle (so is it normal for a stadium to be completely flooded like this???) eeked out another one Even match as far as shots go but they killed us in possession. In the end we got one in and they didn't though and that's what matters.

Match Fourteen from The Suit Direct Stadium, Hartlepool (cool little stadium) rollin' along Our defense was absolutely impenetrable this match. Hartlepool only got off 4 shots total and none on target. On the fip side we pounded them with shots, but somehow were short on the possession side... which just goes to show how that just doesn't matter at times.

The Independent Reports Trent Crimm sports We sat down with Eddie Sirrel and had an opportunity to ask him a few questions. "Eddie thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. You're 13 games into the season now and your club hasn't lost a match yet. You're also at the top of the table so things are going well for you. How has the season been from your point of view to this point?" "No problem, Trent. Umm, obviously we're very happy with where we are at right now. It's, it's very early obvoiusly so we're not getting ahead of ourselves. But it's hard to complain when you're at the top of the table. We've faced some good competition and obviously teams are going to be gunning for us now. If I'm being honest we've been a little lucky at times but we've stayed in every match and given ourselves an opportunity to win." "Your defense has been a fortress. You're leading the league in goals against. Kovacevic has the 2nd best save percentage in the league. You were very good defensively last season as well. Has this been a focus for the club?" "It's been a matter of emphasis. You know I came into the league having more of a reputation as someone that cared more about the offensive side of the game. My focal point was scoring goals, I said as much more than a few times. It's not that I didn't care about defense, it's just that I wanted to maintain a positive attack and control the match from holding possession and putting pressure on the opposition. But from the start we reshaped our defense and brought in players that I felt were very strong on the backside. We've played a formation that lends itself to being a strong defense, while sacrificing a little attack... but then we've allowed our wing-backs and midfield-defenders to push up the field and push the attack to our forwards. We have a very fluid tactic from back to front, I think."

Player Stats Attacking I'm really glad I didn't give in and sell Langstaff off because other than him... our attacking does not look good. He is the centerpiece for sure. Now, I'm not going to worry too much because I had an idea it was going to be a year of growth which is why I brought in so much youth to give them a year to develop and then separate those that I thought had talent from those that don't. Still you'd like to see something other than just 1 guy doing it all. Defense It's a different story on the defensive side as we have several players that are turning in key performances. This side of the ball has definitely been the guiding light so far this season.

October in Review Schedule Another excellent month. Despite the loss in the Papa Johns Trophy competition we have managed to remain unbeaten in league play. Table We aren't the only club having a good season though and it's still a battle for the top spots. League Two Team Stats Our offense has been just good enough... but it's our defense that continues to win games for us this season. League Two Player Stats Langstaff and Kovacevic. Kovacevic and Langstaff. Thank you. Financials Money is still looking okay.

Match Thirteen from Meadow Lane we earned this one Another tough match but we continue to find ways to either win or draw. This was a very even contest, shots about the same, possession about the same. We each put one in the net in the first half and then went back and forth in the 2nd without either club being able to break through.

Youth Recruitment We just got done doing a 400k upgrade to our youth facilities, which absolutely HAD to be done... but I'm greedy and wanted more. So I asked about upgrading our youth recruitment which was below average. And they said no -- shocking. So I met with them... and after telling them 3 times it had to be done... Winning matters.

Match Twelve from Meadow Lane snuck one past 'em We had to rest a couple of players in this match, including Langstaff, so I'm very happy we got the positive result here against a tough competitor. We did just enough for the win and that's all I ask when we're not out there in full force, which is going to happen in a long season.

Match Eleven from Rodney Parade, Newport tough match After exploding against Cheltenham we had a much tougher contest against Newport. Their defense played us really tight and we didn't get many shots off. Macaulay did manage to get one in early in the match from about 16' out but after that they really shut us down.

Match Ten from The Completely-Suzuki Stadium, Cheltenham (huh??) big win Breakout match for the good guys. We finally put a complete game together. 20 shots, 10 on target, 4 in. Cheltenham got off their shots but we held when it counted.

Papa Johns Northern Section Group E from The Mazuma Stadium, Morecambe darn Well we tried. We substituted a bunch of our guys again to get them some rest and gave it a shot and failed. I'm not too sad about it. We just didn't play a good match at all, couldn't get shots off, couldn't stop them. Way overmatched.

Match Nine from Meadow Lane nice win Wimbledon gave us a match. We did get a lot of shots off but still having trouble finding the target. Miles and Roberts were the heroes here, with Langstaff getting an assist.

September in Review Schedule 3 wins, 2 draws in 5 league matches. Table Solidly in the upper half even though we've had some tough matches, we still haven't lost a match though. Barrow is looking tough. Chesterfield is struggling. League Two Team Stats Yeah, other than a good first few games from Langstaff our offense is struggling mightily. I might need to look at a different tactic but I don't want to mess with our defense either. League Two Player Stats So far this season is all about Langstaff and Kovacevic. Financials Made a little money.

Match Eight from The Peninsula Stadium, Salford we'll take it 14 shots, 2 on target...... but 1 in is all we needed. Much like last season our defense is nearly impenetrable which is good because our offense - much like happened for a time last season - has gone stale.

Match Seven from Meadow Lane finally put one in Our offense stepped up in this one, although we didn't have a real good shot on target percentage. Our defense continues to play strong as we held Mansfield to just 5 shots total.

Match Six from Meadow Lane hard fought Back-to-back tough matches where we just didn't shoot well. In this one we didn't even get a shot on target. Hard to win that way. On the plus side, it's another match where our defense stood strong and held off a pretty good attack from our opponent.

Match Five from The Lamex Stadium, Stevenage tough match Tough match against Stevenage. They got off quite a few shots but we were able to hold them out. Unfortunately, we didn't get off a lot of shots and couldn't put one in either.

The Independent Reports Trent Crimm sports I caught up with Eddie Sirrel after the match versus Newcastle's U21 squad and asked him this question. "You had a pretty full rotation out there tonight. Some of the supporters have questioned the idea of sitting out so many of your regular starters and whether or not you took Newcastle seriously. Do you have a reply?" "One of the things that I said at the start of the season was that we had a lot of depth this year and wanted to give guys an opportunity to play and show they earn a spot on the club. I've done a good amount of rotating in our league matches but there were still some guys that haven't had a lot of playing time early in the season. I wanted to give them their shot. And whether the fans want to hear it or not, my focus is on the league, so if I get a chance to rest some guys before a big league match, that's what we're going to do. I can imagine the backlash if we played full strength every cup match and then rested guys in a big league match and lost. I wouldn't like it as a fan and I can't imagine most would. That's not to say we don't care about cup competitions, because we do, but we have to pick and choose which we give our full attention to and hope for the best when we have to rotate guys."

Papa Johns Northern Section Group E from Meadow Lane ouch Under no circumstances was this a good match for us. We were completely overmatched. We did hold a possession advantage but a lot of that was due to the fact that every time Newcastle U21s touched the ball they were launching it at our goal. We did a decent job of allowing just 1 goal in the 1st half but were under constant pressure in the 2nd half and let in 2 more.

The Independent Reports Trent Crimm sports We caught up with Eddie Sirrel after their win against Harrogate and asked him this question. "This win marks 20 in a row unbeaten at Meadow Lane. How have you been so successful at home and is it important to keep that streak going?" This was his response. "It's all about our supporters. They're the 12th man when we're at home. They give us a huge lift and disrupt our opposition whenever they have the ball. We want to make Meadow Lane a fortress where nobody wants to play. As far as the streak, I mean if we keep it going it means we're at least getting a point every match, so we want to keep it for as long as we can. The lads know how important it is to play well at our stadium for our fans. That's what this game is all about."