Southern League 2017/18

[#Beebot]

Has anyone here come across Chesham's Ravi Shamsi? 19/20 year old right winger, was with Banbury earlier in the season and Kidlington last season, previously in the academy at Fulham.

I only asked because he absolutely destroyed us in the Berks and Bucks cup tonight, best player I've seen at York Road all season. Extremely quick, ball sticks to his feet like glue, great passing - looks way, way above Southern League level and I'd be surprised if he doesn't move up soon given his age.

 

[Jemfy]

Diamonds update - 9 match winning run ended on Saturday with a 0-0 draw at home to Marlow. A little disappointing but it had to end at some point, still 10 feels like a milestone we failed to reach. I guess we can think about the unbeaten run from now on. Or to be more specific the unbeaten run in the league. We've got a few difficult games coming up, and despite this great run we're only 3 points clear at the top of the table.

There was a small distraction on Tuesday for the league cup, where we lost out on penalties to Hitchin. Both teams played reasonably strong teams and the final score after 90 mins was 0-0.

The top 3 in the south-east division seem to be pulling away from the rest:
1. AFC Rushden & Diamonds p23 +38 51pts
2. AFC Dunstable p25 +27 48pts
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3. Beaconsfield Town p23 +20 48pts
4. Cambridge City p23 +26 43pts
5. Moneyfields p23 +18 42pts
6. Hayes & Yeading p23 +17 42pts
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7. Ashford Town (Middlesex) p23 +18 36pts
8. Hartley Wintney p20 +15 36pts
9. Thame United p22 +7 36pts
10. Chalfont St Peter p23 +3 36pts

So in the year when 2 go up automatically it's 3 teams pulling away from the rest, although AFC Dunstable have played a couple extra (n.b. 3rd has a chance at automatic promotion, which would give 7th a playoff spot). Moneyfields' form dropped off a cliff as their poor disciplinary record started to catch up with them more, dropping them from top spot a couple of mother ago, coincidentally the manager changed his tune from wearing it as a badge of pride...! Hartley Wintney have dropped off somewhat too, but if they win their 3 games in hand on most they can be right back in there.

The good news is coming in at the moment for Diamonds too, as long term absentees Jack Ashton and Ross Oulton are both returning to fitness, which will help the team get even stronger. Current 3rd choice striker, the appropriately named Ben Diamond, has signed a contract to the end of the season. This is particularly good news as he is only being kept out of the team on form currently, so it means he won't be leaving to one of our promotion rivals out of frustration of not playing/starting regularly.

The bad news is that Richard Bunting has decided to leave. While I wasn't his biggest fan on the pitch (as I felt other players did as good a job if not better and were kept out of the team by him due to seniority rather than form), Bunts appeared to be a good influence on the team off of the pitch, he is well known for interacting with fans well, and had some stellar performances in big games including some very important goals. I think he will both be missed, and the timing was more or less right for him to go at the same time, he could have held on for the end of the season, and I hope he is dual registered as he has gone to Wisbech in the UCL. Then he would be available in the event of an injury crisis and possibly eligible for receiving a medal should we win the division - something he deserves as a person since he gave his UCL winners medal to a fan!

 

[Jemfy]

Since the last update Diamonds have gone on to get two 4-0 wins away, at Fleet Town on Saturday then at Aylsebury FC on Tuesday night.

No distance from the chasing teams though as it's been wins all around. Dusntable didn't have a midweek game this week as many of the rest played catch-up, so in that sense we took a bit of a step ahead of them, but Beaconsfield marched right on with us, taking their win on Monday night to briefly be level on points.

Both games have been done with Ryan Robbins out injured, and Ben Diamond has justified the decision to award him a contract for the rest of the season by stepping up. With Jack Ashton fit and Ross Oulton on his way to fitness we're starting to look a strong team. Hopefully we won't have too many more issues with squad rotation and players unhappy about not playing as we go in to the run in, otherwise we're going to be very dependant on staying injury free. As it is we seem to have a strong squad with some real depth in most positions.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Someone make take a chance on Sam Argent from Basingstoke. Score 5 as Basingstoke thrashed Tiverton 6-2 yesterday. Broke the 50 goal mark in each of the last two seasons for Hartley Whitney too.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Sad to see Hereford's 56? Game unbeaten away run dating back over 2 years came to an end after they conceded a 92nd minute winner in a 3-2 defeat to Kings Lynn

 

[Jemfy]

Huge game for Diamonds and the shape of the South East division tomorrow, as AFCR&D host 3rd placed AFC Dunstable.

We'll be without suspended Luke Fairlamb, but otherwise a the healthiest squad we've had for a while. Jack Ashton seems to be back to full fitness, and will make his 100th appearance if selected tomorrow (apparently). Ross Oulton will probably still be out playing with Daventry getting minutes and building up fitness, but other than that I can't think of any players missing.... So no excuses when we mess it up and end up losing something like 3-0!

A win would be huge if we could get it, it would put us 8 ahead of 3rd, one game shy of 2/3 through the league season. It would take spectacular results to knock us off top spot tomorrow with a massive GD advantage and being 3 points ahead of 2nd placed Beaconsfield (who are at home to Thame, which I expect them to win). A loss would make things very tight between the top 3. I'd take a draw!

Of course Diamonds' 15 games unbeaten in the league adds an extra dimension, not that AFC Dunstanble should need more incentive to beat us. That and the local paper running a story on our success being built from the back. All points to conceding a few and losing!

 

[beautifulgame2015]

 

[DarkSithLord]

Hereford lead the Southern League Premier for the first time this season. Cant see yielding top spot from here

 

[DarkSithLord]

Ex-Tamworth and Wrexham boss Andy Morrell is back scoring at Redditch United. The 43-year-old former Wrexham and Coventry City man bagged a goal on his debut in the Reds' 4-2 win over Gosport last night.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

I went to Hitchin Vs Tiverton this afternoon. Hitchin lost 2-1 but the game was really all about a biting incident, where a Tiverton player bit the Hitchin striker Donnelly.

Think he was going to be sent off anyway for an elbow then doubled down and bit the bloke! Sparked a brawl resulting in the bitten party being sent off. Ridiculous and the biter should get a very long ban. Cant deny it was decent entertainment though!

Didnt realise Matt spring was at Hitchin now, still capable of spraying a decent pass about.

 

[Darlo On Tour]

Hereford lead the Southern League Premier for the first time this season. Cant see yielding top spot from here

Still leading the Southern League Premier Hereford by 1 point with 92 points from Kings Lynn on 91 points. Hereford currently have 2 games in hand. Gonna be close both teams are in good form.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Went off to Hitchin as we were away again.

Hitchin were comfortable 5-1 winners against Frome, who i assume have some sort of financial troubles as they only named 1 substitute, who also seemed to be their manager. Was only 1-0 at half time as Hitchin wasted some goal mouth scramble opportunities. Second half started with an own goal and was all down hill from there for poor old Frome. Good play from the Hitchin get the 3rd goal, the 4th was dreadful goalkeeping error as he let the ball go straight through him from a fairly innocuous shot and the 5th really weak defending but I guess good tenacity from the Hitchin substitute. Was another red card at the end of this one which seemed very harsh, a second yellow for "deliberate" handball.

I think if Hitchin had a decent striker they might have been able to push on this season, but behind Donnelly who is getting up there in years I dont really rate any of the other options. They have good wide players in Charles and Tshikala who lively, and I think Charlie Smith our ex youth player is a good attacking midfield player.

Frome were a bit odd, looking at the table they are around mid table like Hitchin are but seemed far below their level, and like I say only named the 1 sub. Didn't look interested for the most part. They had 1 useful looking winger who scored their consolation goal but he seemed to have a bit of an attitude issue and didnt look particularly interested at times.. Probably frustrated at being surrounded by such a poor side.

I see Hitchin have the league leaders in Hereford on Monday night (bit of a strange night for football!) so might try and get to that if I can.

 

[Jemfy]

Not been on here for a while, since I've been gone we had a good run of form, we looked more or less odds on to win the league, and now we're in free fall and look like we are due to lose top spot, and maybe even fall out of the automatic and down in to the playoffs. It's very tight at the top of the Southern League East, and we are very far from the form team right now!

We've made squad and formation changes due to the drop off in form, however these appear to be hurting rather than helping from most accounts. We narrowly avoided defeat to Beaconsfield or we'd already be off the top spot and looking nervously down the table. Games left to play is getting hectic for most at the top, well except Hayes, so there is hope if we can regain our form then others may be more badly affected by fixture pileup, but I doubt it.

Please don't let us fall in to the playoffs again, especially not in bad form...

 

[Aberstone]

Dunstable vs. Gosport on Tuesday night, 23rd vs. 24th with the pair amassing 24 points between them this season. Free flowing football is a certainty.

 

[Aberstone]

Went off to Hitchin as we were away again.

Hitchin were comfortable 5-1 winners against Frome, who i assume have some sort of financial troubles as they only named 1 substitute, who also seemed to be their manager. Was only 1-0 at half time as Hitchin wasted some goal mouth scramble opportunities. Second half started with an own goal and was all down hill from there for poor old Frome. Good play from the Hitchin get the 3rd goal, the 4th was dreadful goalkeeping error as he let the ball go straight through him from a fairly innocuous shot and the 5th really weak defending but I guess good tenacity from the Hitchin substitute. Was another red card at the end of this one which seemed very harsh, a second yellow for "deliberate" handball.

I think if Hitchin had a decent striker they might have been able to push on this season, but behind Donnelly who is getting up there in years I dont really rate any of the other options. They have good wide players in Charles and Tshikala who lively, and I think Charlie Smith our ex youth player is a good attacking midfield player.

Frome were a bit odd, looking at the table they are around mid table like Hitchin are but seemed far below their level, and like I say only named the 1 sub. Didn't look interested for the most part. They had 1 useful looking winger who scored their consolation goal but he seemed to have a bit of an attitude issue and didnt look particularly interested at times.. Probably frustrated at being surrounded by such a poor side.

I see Hitchin have the league leaders in Hereford on Monday night (bit of a strange night for football!) so might try and get to that if I can.

If Hitchin played on Tuesdays then the floating fan is less likely to attend due to Luton/Stevenage playing at the same time or the Champions League being on the TV. I'm surprised more non-league clubs don't opt for Monday night football.

 

[E10rifle]

Dunstable vs. Gosport on Tuesday night, 23rd vs. 24th with the pair amassing 24 points between them this season. Free flowing football is a certainty.

Maybe the winners will be able to get their goal difference back below -100?

 

[Jemfy]

If Hitchin played on Tuesdays then the floating fan is less likely to attend due to Luton/Stevenage playing at the same time or the Champions League being on the TV. I'm surprised more non-league clubs don't opt for Monday night football.

It's a hassle in a number of ways though. It's closer to the weekend, which isn't great, there is a less even spread for training through the week, which isn't great, fans have just come off of the weekend and traditionally I would assume people are less willing to spend money to go out on a Monday.

On top of all this of course players then need to have the flexibility to go to games on both the Mondays and the Tuesdays (away) regularly. It could even put players off signing for you if you switched home games to Monday nights.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Also not sure if the floating fan argument holds water. If the Town are playing Tuesday night im certainly not spending 2 nights of my week watching football and definitely not back to back nights! Given the numbers going to watch them its probably at most a handful of extra people added to the gate if any at all, and with what Jemfy says above about whether it might impact what players you can bring in, might not be worth it.

Still, at least they are trying to do something different and see if it works. Looking at their site, their attendances on Tuesday nights are still significantly lower.

Game was postponed BTW which was a bit of a shame as i wont be able to go on the new date (this Thursday).

 

[ForeverUnited]

It was a fantastic day yesterday. A brilliant win against a brilliant side, a huge crowd and we lifted the trophy.
Also our club legend Rob Purdie announced his retirement at the end of the season this week and he had one hell of an ovation when he left the pitch.

Onto the National League South or North.

 

[DarkSithLord]

It was a fantastic day yesterday. A brilliant win against a brilliant side, a huge crowd and we lifted the trophy.
Also our club legend Rob Purdie announced his retirement at the end of the season this week and he had one hell of an ovation when he left the pitch.

Onto the National League South or North.

Fingers crossed its the North. Which would be prefer? North to play some bigger clubs or South and a higher chance of promotion?

 

[Jemfy]

It was a fantastic day yesterday. A brilliant win against a brilliant side, a huge crowd and we lifted the trophy.
Also our club legend Rob Purdie announced his retirement at the end of the season this week and he had one hell of an ovation when he left the pitch.

Onto the National League South or North.

A tad disappointed we'll miss you when we finally look like going up (2 games, need 4 points officially, however with a far better GD than teams around us, and two home games against teams with nothing to play for, we could be all but celebrating promotion on Tuesday night)

I also weirdly hope your opponents yesterday win the playoffs, don't want to be in the same division as them next season, both clubs would struggle with policing costs and ground segregation issues etc.

 

[ForeverUnited]

Fingers crossed its the North. Which would be prefer? North to play some bigger clubs or South and a higher chance of promotion?

I really do not mind, I'm happy with both. South it seems on paper to be "Easier" but Sutton, Boreham Wood, Dover and Bromley have all been promoted out of the south recently (I think) and have done okay. It would be nice to have some bigger clubs in our league as well but not overally fussed.

A tad disappointed we'll miss you when we finally look like going up (2 games, need 4 points officially, however with a far better GD than teams around us, and two home games against teams with nothing to play for, we could be all but celebrating promotion on Tuesday night)

I also weirdly hope your opponents yesterday win the playoffs, don't want to be in the same division as them next season, both clubs would struggle with policing costs and ground segregation issues etc.

I see that you are having a good season. It is a shame but maybe in a few years, since I have supported Hereford I have never seen them play Rushden so hoped we would meet in the Southern Prem but it wasn't too be.

They were poor and they lost again tonight, I doubt they will get promoted but they bought a good following Saturday, 180 which is very good.

 

[Jemfy]

Diamonds are officially promoted!

A 7-1 win in and of itself wasn't quite enough to do the business, although with a GD superiority increased to nearly 20 on anyone else in our league, it was all but enough. In the end it was Kempston beating Hartley Wintney in a game where kick off was delayed by 15 mins and therefore finished later that sealed promotion.

Beaconsfield also won, meaning they still have a higher maximum points total, but in order to stop us will likely need to do the business twice more in a week. That said they won 4-0 today against a playoff side, so maybe that won't be a problem. Either way at least we go in to the final day with a shot at winning the league too, which would be a nice bonus.

 

[ForeverUnited]

Congratulations!

 

[Jemfy]

I see that you are having a good season. It is a shame but maybe in a few years, since I have supported Hereford I have never seen them play Rushden so hoped we would meet in the Southern Prem but it wasn't too be.

They were poor and they lost again tonight, I doubt they will get promoted but they bought a good following Saturday, 180 which is very good.

Frankly we'd be happy for the away attendance you'd bring, next season is going to be interesting for us, no idea what the aims will be. We will stop being a big fish in a small pond at that level I suspect. We may be one of the better supported clubs there still but the fan-owned, can't really make a loss thing means we probably will end up with mid-table budgets. Hopefully our fans respond well after a few years of winning on a regular basis.

Lots of excuses from their side of having a lot of games in a few days, which may be a factor. Sometimes teams turn the form around when the playoff games start. They have a squad on paper more than capable (look at their forward line!)

 

[ForeverUnited]

Frankly we'd be happy for the away attendance you'd bring, next season is going to be interesting for us, no idea what the aims will be. We will stop being a big fish in a small pond at that level I suspect. We may be one of the better supported clubs there still but the fan-owned, can't really make a loss thing means we probably will end up with mid-table budgets. Hopefully our fans respond well after a few years of winning on a regular basis.

Lots of excuses from their side of having a lot of games in a few days, which may be a factor. Sometimes teams turn the form around when the playoff games start. They have a squad on paper more than capable (look at their forward line!)

It is a tough league, several have over 90 points this season.

Aaron O'Connor looked very very good on Saturday but Rene Howe looked passed it and was very ineffective.

 

[Paddy]

The mighty K's might be coming your way next year due to the big Step 3/4 shake up. Apparently what once was 100% Isthmian territory in South West London is now the border... it depends on the final ups & downs (& the NLS committee/FA not doing silly things like last year when Havant were in the Isthmian but Hayes were in the Southern).

Got to say I'd quite like a switch up. New grounds, trips to the west country & (As far as I am aware) no perennial annual shit or bust merchants buying the league like we've had in the Isthmian in recent years with the likes of Whitehawk, Margate & Billericay Town.

 

[Jemfy]

The mighty K's might be coming your way next year due to the big Step 3/4 shake up. Apparently what once was 100% Isthmian territory in South West London is now the border... it depends on the final ups & downs (& the NLS committee/FA not doing silly things like last year when Havant were in the Isthmian but Hayes were in the Southern).

Got to say I'd quite like a switch up. New grounds, trips to the west country & (As far as I am aware) no perennial annual shit or bust merchants buying the league like we've had in the Isthmian in recent years with the likes of Whitehawk, Margate & Billericay Town.

Not our way, we'll head in to the new central division it seems. It will actually put us somewhere near the centre of that division geographically which will be good for the club, we may even end up having lower travelling costs despite going in to a league with a bigger footprint due to being closer to the centre of it.

 

[Meadow]

Having never subscribed to the 'you let your club die' mantra, it's great to see so many reformed clubs doing well. Hereford, Rushden and Salisbury all promoted this season. Darlo, Halifax and Newport holding their own in their respective leagues. Good luck to you all.

 

[Silver Stone]

Having never subscribed to the 'you let your club die' mantra, it's great to see so many reformed clubs doing well. Hereford, Rushden and Salisbury all promoted this season. Darlo, Halifax and Newport holding their own in their respective leagues. Good luck to you all.

*cough cough*