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Rick87

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  1. 200px-Midannandalefc.png

    October 2023

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    Action against Upper Annandale

    Things are looking up for us at the moment, three wins from three games in October, and unbeaten in five. We may have turned a corner and established a vain of form.

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    It was Mids Vs. Uppers in the Annandale derby, the 68 supporters in attendance weren't exactly treated to a classic match, however, a low cross caused Lewis Hyslop to accidentally turn the ball past his own goalkeeper with nine minutes to go, to hand us a big three points.

    It was another close-fought game at home to Edinburgh-based Tranent in the South Challenge Cup. Left-winger Ryan Muirhead scored the only goal as we reached the third round, where we will face East of Scotland league side Linton Hotspur at home next month.

    Finally, we traveled West to Stair Park to face Stranraer Reserves, who were heavily fancied to win the division back in pre-season, they however have started underwhelmingly and find themselves in the bottom half of the table. We took full advantage of their perceived weaknesses as we raced into a 3-0 lead at halftime lead, Ryan Muirhead scoring in a second consecutive game. Stranraer pulled one back which made me a little nervous, however, Ross Hay alleviated me of any doubts when he scored his second goal of the season and helped us up to fourth!

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    There are only two games to play in November, first, we face Linton in the Challenge Cup on the 22nd, before we contend with Lochar Thistle away in the league three days later.

    Linton Hotspur | Macron Sports Hub  Lochar Thistle F.C. - Wikipedia

  2. September 2023

    Lorimer Park, home to Nithsdale Wanderers, Nithsdale Wanderers Ladies -  Football Ground Map

    Lorimer Park, home of Nithsdale Wanderers. The scene of a humbling defeat for us this month.

    My team's form remains inconsistent, but there are signs of improvement on the whole, with our general play not looking too bad after I transitioned to a more direct approach tactically.

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    Defeating top-of-the-table St Cuthbert's was a good result, which was brought about by a formations switch from 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1, midway through the second half, necessitated by us being dominated by the opposition's sleek passing. Having an extra man further up helped stem the tide and begin applying pressure of our own, which was rewarded in the 81st minute by winger Ross Hay's winner.

    Following the win over St Cuthbert's, we felt confident against Nithsdale, until an abdominal injury to goalkeeper Sam Henderson on the day of the game, forced me to put in untested Dominic Duffy for his professional debut. To say his first appearance didn't go to plan is an understatement as the visitors peppered our goal with shots to test the rookie keeper. Time and again he was left picking the ball out of his net, not that he was entirely to blame, the whole team played dreadfully but I was glad that Henderson would be back for the next game. 

    With Henderson restored to the line-up, we faced our closest rivals, Lochmaben with local bragging rights at stake, While we didn't win, it was at least an improved performance (It could hardly be worse than the 5-0 drubbing) Dan Harvey's header put us ahead, that lead lasted eight minutes as the noisy neighbors equalized with a shot from distance. We had better chances to win, however, we just couldn't convert one of those opportunities and were forced to settle for a point.

    Before the final game of the month, I completed the transfers of two new faces;

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    Frazer joins us on loan from Lowlands League outfit Dalbeattie Star, he will give me a rotation option for Adam Walton at right back.

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    19-year-old Andy started his career as an academy graduate at Ayr, before joining Queen of the South, unfortunately, he never established himself as a Doonhamer and was loaned out to Lochar Thistle and Kello Rovers. I intend to help him find a home at King Eddie's Park.

    Finally, with two new signings, some more tactical refinement, and work in training on our chance creation and conversion, things clicked into place against Creetown, A brace from Owen Bell, either side of Adam Main's fourth of the season was enough for us to claim what I think was a much needed three points. We didn't have things all our way, Creetown did equalize not long after halftime, however, we kept going and did enough to deserve our win.

    I was a little disappointed to go out of the Juniors Cup at the first hurdle to Belshill, we're now out of two of the three cups we're participating in this season, I'd been hoping for a run in one of them. Perhaps we will do better in the Southern Challenge Cup.

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    My pre-season objective was to record a top-half finish, and so far we look on track to achieve that. Hopefully, as the influx of new players settles and bonds, we will become more consistent and propel ourselves into the upper echelons of the table.

  3. July & August 2023

     I've had a mixed start at the beginning of my tenure at King Edwards Park. We have won, drawn, and lost one in the league. Before we come to that though, let's first take a look at the influx of new faces in Lockerbie;

    Strengthening in some positions has been a challenge due to the rule of only signing players who hail from within thirty miles of me in Cumberland, there is not a big talent pool in this largely rural part of the country, so I haven't been able to bring in as many players as I might have liked. That being said, I still have ten additions who will form the core of my squad this season.

     

    Name

    Position

    Age

    Place of Birth

    Previous Club

    Adam Main

    CM or ST

    31

    Whitehaven

    Penrith

    Daniel Harvey

    CD

    23

    Carlisle

    Carlisle City

    Lewis Rooks

    CM

    20

    Carlisle

    Crook Town

    Charlie Birch

    LB

    21

    Carlisle

    Workington

    Ross Hay

    RW

    20

    Dumfries

    Arthurlie

    Adam Walton

    RB or CM

    20

    Carlisle

    Kendal Town

    Ethan Notman

    CM

    19

    Dumfries

    Queen of the South

    Steven Black

    CB

    31

    Dumfries

    Dalbeattie Star

    Owen Bell

    CM

    24

    Dumfries

    Cumnock

    Sam Henderson

    GK

    24

    Dumfries

    Queen of the South

     

    Onto the business of results; The first two friendlies were before I took charge of the Mids, so I can't comment on them, however, the three games I was in the dugout for were all good performances. We held Cowdenbeath to a goalless draw which was impressive given they are a club of considerably larger stature than us. We were unfortunate not to get anything from the game against Northern Premier League Workington, we looked on course for a credible draw but were denied six minutes from time when Reds midfielder Bobby Carroll caught us out with a long-range strike.

    Pre-season did at least end with a win as we overcame Vale of Leithen thanks to a 73rd-minute finish by winger Scott Munro.

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    I couldn't have wished for a better start to our season than putting Wigtown & Bladnoch to the sword, 3-0, in a convincing show. Wingback Charlie Birch was on fire, making a constant nuisance of himself down the left flank, scoring the first goal, and supplying chances for his teammates. Striker Adam Main also didn't delay in bagging what will hopefully be the first of many goals for Mid-Annandale when he was on hand to tap home a loose ball in the six-yard box before winger Ryan Muirhead made it three. We could have won by considerably more had our finishing been a little sharper.

    A stoppage-time equalizer stopped us from progressing in the League Cup against Abbey Vale, it looked as if substitute Michael Craig had won the tie in the 83rd minute when he headed home from a corner, however, we failed to hold on and conceded deep into stoppage time to force extra-time.  Neither side managed to win in extra time so we went down to penalties, with Vale running off 5-4 winners.

    We lost the lead twice at home to Newton Stewart, with Adam Main scoring a brace, frustratingly we couldn't see the game out again and had to settle for a point. The game against Dalbeattie was a disaster from the start, they were two up within ten minutes and added a third early in the second half. There was some home when Star had a man sent off with fifteen minutes to go, we went all out and earned a penalty quickly after, unfortunately Adam Main struck the post and the momentum that had been building was destroyed.

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    So, a mixed start for me with the Mids, there is plenty to work on and put right, but also plenty to be encouraged by. Hopefully, we can find some more consistency in September;

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