National league North 2021-22

[Clem Fandango]

Dull as dishwater game yesterday but a header from Jordon Thompson, who seems to bag quite a few now from CB, won it for us. Hereford really provided little to no attacking threat at all and considering they needed a win to keep in the hunt for the play-offs really didn't look up for it. Great crowd of 2,826.

 

[Lucky Bobble]

Will the step to 24 clubs next year mean the end to part-time club promotion? Looking at the League there is an obvious advantage of being full time, but with another 4 matches to play midweek, doesn't that just mean the advantage is further multiplied? Seems odd that at the level of the 6th league down in the English system, you need to be full time to have a really good shot at things - don't think there would be another country in the world where anyone in the 6th tier would have any professional clubs...

 

[Darlo On Tour]

Monday 18 April 2022 National League North results

Att. 1,333 - AFC Fylde 3 Chester 1
Att. 1,070 - Alfreton Town 3 York City 0
Att. 1,103 - Brackley Town 0 Boston United 1
Att. 967 - Bradford (Park Avenue) 0 Guiseley 0
Att. 392 - Curzon Ashton 1 Chorley 0
Att. 665 - Farsley Celtic 2 Southport 0
Att. 2,332 - Gateshead 4 Darlington 2
Att. 2,826 - Gloucester City 1 Hereford 0
Att. 2,409 - Kidderminster Harriers 0 Kettering Town 0
Att. 1,408 - Spennymoor Town 3 Blyth Spartans 0

 

[Darlo On Tour]

That second half today earned Gateshead the title.

Looking sorted mostly at the top now apart from 7th spot which half of the league can still effectively get……going to be some very disappointed sides come end of season.

Gateshead were slightly fortunate in the first half they should have went 3-0 down.

Game changer for me was when we lost our class defender David Wheater! If he'd have stayed on we wouldn't have got beat 4-2. I'm not saying we would have won but we weren't in any serious trouble at that stage in the 57th minute.

 

[Darlo On Tour]

Gateshead's Macaulay Langstaff (26) is now just 1 goal off scoring the same amount as Guiseley (27) in the National League North this season.

 

[Chief Rocka]

Gateshead's Macaulay Langstaff (26) is now just 1 goal off scoring the same amount as Guiseley (27) in the National League North this season.

This lad must have some serious suitors for next season, really wish we'd of pushed the boat out in January for him, Marcus Carver just ain't up to it.

 

[JE93]

This lad must have some serious suitors for next season, really wish we'd of pushed the boat out in January for him, Marcus Carver just ain't up to it.

Think Gateshead will struggle to keep hold of Langstaff and Scott for next season. Got to think League 2 clubs will be thinking its worth a punt on both. Credit has to go to Mike Williamson he's brought them in for nothing and the front 3 system he plays them in gets the best out of them. Not many Defences in this league can deal with an attack that is that mobile for 90 minutes, they drag you all over the place.

Carlisle had a look at Scott last season and let him go. Wonder if they're thinking he might have been worth a punt now considering their fairly chronic lack of goals this season.

 

[Swedes]

This lad must have some serious suitors for next season, really wish we'd of pushed the boat out in January for him, Marcus Carver just ain't up to it.

We'll gladly have Carver back! We've completely gone to shit since he left us.

 

[Harrier94]

Can't understand Kettering's gameplan on Monday. Chasing playoffs and just sat 11 men behind the ball and timewasting from minute 1. Baffling decision considering other teams dropped points.

 

[Chief Rocka]

We'll gladly have Carver back! We've completely gone to shit since he left us.

He tries hard and has gave it 100% every time he’s played but I don’t think he has it in him at this level, it’s a decent jump going from part time to full so I might be being overly harsh on him, maybe with a full pre season under his belt he can show us what he’s about, we’ll see.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

Will the step to 24 clubs next year mean the end to part-time club promotion? Looking at the League there is an obvious advantage of being full time, but with another 4 matches to play midweek, doesn't that just mean the advantage is further multiplied? Seems odd that at the level of the 6th league down in the English system, you need to be full time to have a really good shot at things - don't think there would be another country in the world where anyone in the 6th tier would have any professional clubs...

Hard to say but there will always be a couple give it a good go.

I think the damage has been done more by how strong the conf north is now compared to years ago.

I’d assume go back 10 years your strong teams were maybe Barrow or Southport or Altrincham, with the odd money team there.

Now you have Chester, Darlington, Hereford, Kidderminster who should all be top conf national or L2 level sides. You have York which should really be a L2/L1 battling side.

Gateshead, Kettering, Southport, Boston, Chorley and Telford who could in effect be established conf national sides.

Add in the money at Fylde and Spennymoor and that is half the league all realistically better than conf north level.

Your adding Buxton another money side and probably South Shields who gate wise is a L2 club, soon may have Macclesfield and Bury…..I’d argue this league is bigger and stronger than the conference league i seen Carlisle in back in 2005!!

For some Reason northern clubs had a huge decline the last 15 years at steps 4 and 5 and now we have a north level 6 well beyond what it was.

Any small part time club battling the rest is doing very well.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

In fact just to compare here is the table look at that strength 10 years ago to now…

Alfreton, Telford, Boston, Eastwood, Guisley, Nuneaton, Solihull, droysden, Blyth, stalybridge, Workington, Harrogate, Corby, Gloucester, Hinckley, Worcester, Vauxhall, Gainsborough, Hyde, Stafford, redditch and Ilkeston.

I’d guess at only Barrow able to get gates close to best sides here now, even Curzon’s gates would not look horrendous there.

 

[Lucky Bobble]

In fact just to compare here is the table look at that strength 10 years ago to now…

Alfreton, Telford, Boston, Eastwood, Guisley, Nuneaton, Solihull, droysden, Blyth, stalybridge, Workington, Harrogate, Corby, Gloucester, Hinckley, Worcester, Vauxhall, Gainsborough, Hyde, Stafford, redditch and Ilkeston.

I’d guess at only Barrow able to get gates close to best sides here now, even Curzon’s gates would not look horrendous there.

I'd certainly fancy my chances against that line up over the current one.

 

[Darlo On Tour]

This lad must have some serious suitors for next season, really wish we'd of pushed the boat out in January for him, Marcus Carver just ain't up to it.

I wouldn't care Langstaff was only sat on the bench when they played us in December and once he came on he changed the game with two goals in the last 15 minutes.

I think that's when Stockport were showing a bit of interest in him as a back-up striker for Scott Quigley? I think it was 'Stocky' wanting a bit of feedback on Langstaff if he was decent or not.

 

[Darlo On Tour]

I'd certainly fancy my chances against that line up over the current one.

Totally agree that line up is way down the pecking order of today's standards in the NLN.

 

[Fyldefan]

If only we’d have brought Rowe in earlier. We look a different team. Teams I’m hoping to avoid in the playoffs. Brackley and Chorley. Other than them 2 I’m looking forward to it

 

[hardbutfair]

I`ll throw it out there, Gateshead`s title run in isn`t quite a gimme yet. Wilkin`s wonders manage to guts out another 3 poi ts as Williamson tries to justify why his side can`t play on the carpet that is Burton Latimer....

 

[Clem Fandango]

1-1 thanks to a last minute Dawson penalty, we finally got one this season! We more than held our own but then John-Lewis went tumbling over from a challenge from Harrison. Would like to see it again, certainly clumsy but appeared to win the ball first then leave a trailing leg. Straight red. We were then down to 10 men for 55 minutes.

York, as you'd expect with an extra man, had a lot of the ball but their final ball was often over hit or the end product was poor time and time again. Their goal also looked like a clear foul on our goalkeeper. A great point on the road however. Give Lee Mansell the job for crying out loud

 

[Swedes]

I`ll throw it out there, Gateshead`s title run in isn`t quite a gimme yet. Wilkin`s wonders manage to guts out another 3 poi ts as Williamson tries to justify why his side can`t play on the carpet that is Burton Latimer....

Don't be expecting us to put up much resistance to Gateshead next week. We've been running on empty for quite a while (11 games without a win now), and average footballing teams are capable of giving us the runaround.

Anyway... Southport 1-1 Spennymoor. Two teams who won't be making the play-offs and provided little entertainment today in a wind that was blowing straight down the pitch. "The Pride of County Durham" (really?!) took the lead on the stroke of half time, about 30 seconds after we hit the bar. We got a goal back in the second half with an unmarked header from a corner. Other than that not much happened.

We're playing with a dual reg player from Bootle at the moment, and he looks a better player than most of our others are. Is anyone else in this league suffering from such an indignity, or is it just us living off hand-outs from two leagues below?!

 

[Darlo On Tour]

Saturday 23 April 2022 National League North results

Att. 671 - Blyth Spartans 1 Kidderminster Harriers 1
Att. 1,877 - Boston United 1 AFC Fylde 3
Att. 1,564 - Chester 1 Farsley Celtic 0
Att. 986 - Chorley 1 AFC Telford United 0
Att. 1,298 - Darlington 0 Brackley Town 2
Att. n/a - Guiseley 2 Curzon Ashton 2
Att. 1,593 - Hereford 3 Bradford (Park Avenue) 2
Att. 915 - Kettering Town 1 Gateshead 1
Att. 532 - Leamington 1 Alfreton Town 2
Att. 874 - Southport 1 Spennymoor Town 1
Att. 3,695 - York City 1 Gloucester City 1

 

[Bluandwite]

Chester 1-0 Farsley

A poor and scrappy game, strange one as well because we were miles better than Farsley but we never quite killed it off. Should have finished it in the first half getting in to lots of good positions but quite shot shy and tried to walk the ball in. They had a bit of a spell in the second half but like us didn’t really trouble the keeper.

We were experimenting for next season with a different formation so were a bit lopsided at times.

Farsley were poor but not the worst of the bunch, should be fine with that four point cushion.

Looks like Watson will sign a deal for next year in the coming week. I’m happy with that, not pulled up any trees but nobody seems against it after inheriting the B&J mess and we now look much better and capable than at any other point this season.

 

[Darlo On Tour]

I`ll throw it out there, Gateshead`s title run in isn`t quite a gimme yet. Wilkin`s wonders manage to guts out another 3 poi ts as Williamson tries to justify why his side can`t play on the carpet that is Burton Latimer....

I was beginning to think this game had 0-0 written all over it as the match was going a bit flat towards the end. Another slack bit of defending cost us once again, game over. It was a shame like we didn't really look in any trouble at that stage as both sides cancelled each other out, also both sides didn't really take their chances.

I think Brackley got stronger and abided their time as we gradually tired towards the end and came away with three valuable points. Job done!!

 

[High Peak Blue]

Farsley were very poor, and niggly, helped by a referee who seemed oblivious to every pull, kick and slap until the last ten minutes. The busiest people must have been those retrieving the ball from the car park. Also the first time I've seen a team hit the clock!
We were decent at times, without ever looking like we'd finish them off.

 

[Minstermen central]

1-1 thanks to a last minute Dawson penalty, we finally got one this season! We more than held our own but then John-Lewis went tumbling over from a challenge from Harrison. Would like to see it again, certainly clumsy but appeared to win the ball first then leave a trailing leg. Straight red. We were then down to 10 men for 55 minutes.

York, as you'd expect with an extra man, had a lot of the ball but their final ball was often over hit or the end product was poor time and time again. Their goal also looked like a clear foul on our goalkeeper. A great point on the road however. Give Lee Mansell the job for crying out loud

Thought the ref was poor all game.
I would of been very annoyed to be seen off for that.Ref fucked up and blew to early upon seeing Lewis score left him with no other choice.
Should of awarded the goal and you would of won with 11 players because we are shocking at the moment.
Didn’t see a lot wrong with our goal but any contact on a keeper normally means a foul.Kettering first goal last week against us was like that.

 

[Soup Ladle]

Think Gateshead will struggle to keep hold of Langstaff and Scott for next season. Got to think League 2 clubs will be thinking its worth a punt on both. Credit has to go to Mike Williamson he's brought them in for nothing and the front 3 system he plays them in gets the best out of them. Not many Defences in this league can deal with an attack that is that mobile for 90 minutes, they drag you all over the place.

Carlisle had a look at Scott last season and let him go. Wonder if they're thinking he might have been worth a punt now considering their fairly chronic lack of goals this season.

We'll gladly have Carver back! We've completely gone to shit since he left us.

It's obviously a big jump from NLN to L2 but I can't actually think of anything Carver can do. He's not quick, big or technical and he just doesn't get in goalscoring positions. Really poor signing but he does try. Danny Elliot who's now at Boston had more about him when we had him.

Remember Darlo raving about Charman. I don't think he's scored a goal for Dale since he moved.

No doubt we'll be monitoring the Gateshead lads but if that's the standard they came from I wouldn't expect much.

 

[David Curries Mullet]

To be fair to Charman, I think the Dale fans quite like him. Has made a couple of goals, and they are happy that with a full pre-season in him, he will do ok next season.

 

[Minstermen central]

1-1 thanks to a last minute Dawson penalty, we finally got one this season! We more than held our own but then John-Lewis went tumbling over from a challenge from Harrison. Would like to see it again, certainly clumsy but appeared to win the ball first then leave a trailing leg. Straight red. We were then down to 10 men for 55 minutes.

York, as you'd expect with an extra man, had a lot of the ball but their final ball was often over hit or the end product was poor time and time again. Their goal also looked like a clear foul on our goalkeeper. A great point on the road however. Give Lee Mansell the job for crying out loud

That was the hand ball for your penalty,both hands behind back maybe ref should make him get an amputation.
Even Liverpool would not get a VAR decision on that at Anfield.

 

[Clem Fandango]

This was the one given against us at Kettering 2 weeks ago. Hit Dawson in the face. So we'll take whatever we can get! First and probably last penalty we'll get given for us all season.

 

[Harrier94]

Has anybody seen any confirmed play off dates yet? Keep seeing different days

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

Massive game tonight, last chance saloon for Curzon. We don’t deserve play offs to be fair, we SHOULD be in them, but frankly flogging constant games vs Telford, Farsley, Guisley and Gloucester, bottom sides most of season had flogged us 18 easy points which would see us in the top 2-3 sides how we were performing large chunks of season.

Now win or bust, lose or draw this it is over, win we have a chance with good fixtures.

Alfreton know win today puts it in their hands so will also go all out, draw for them is ok, defeat may also knock them out of it.