One more point......

For much of last night’s game it was like watching a team representing the ‘production line and maintenance’ playing ‘the Directors and management‘….with the support of a few guys from finance, research, HR and marketing. A game where one of the sides has so much to prove and the other probably regrets agreeing to the fixture in the first place.

Now who was it that came up with the bright idea to pay single time on bank holidays, to keep pace with the Chinese?…..and who in marketing secured the agreement with BMW or was it Porsche for senior management loan cars….and cutting hundreds of jobs resulted in what? Big fat bonuses for Directors …… yes, they were certainly well received by the maintenance crew, as they had to make do with last years spanners.

So as Droylsden ran out on to the pitch I sensed that they hardly needed to warm up. They had all put in a days work……but perhaps saving just a bit of energy for the evening encounter with the full timers from the south.

So it was always going to be difficult, despite an excellent playing surface that had been covered by snow only a few days before.

Talk on the Shots message board of an easy victory, against a team rooted to the bottom of the Blue Square Premier, was only ever going to fuel the passion of the ‘production line’, bring out the worst in the boys from maintenance and turn the heads of some of their opponents, the young wizz kids from marketing……

Two defensive errors led to Droylsden dreaming of a famous victory…..but a well taken goal by Mendes followed by an own goal was enough to secure a draw.

And as the season races to a finish, perhaps 2v2, against the ‘production line and maintenance’ was not so bad after all.

On reflection…..one less game to play….one point…..ignore the rest.

And now a short break….as I set off in search of the canals for a week, missing both Stafford and Salisbury.

Time to focus and forget the, ‘how many victories do we need?’.

Just one victory, on Saturday, will be fine……

Another game......

It was always going to be a difficult game. And one I was not really looking forward to.

It was the 1200hrs kick off that finally convinced me that perhaps the Somerset trip was indeed the best option.....with regular updates from my brother, who is now fully recovered from the traumas of the last two seasons, although he can't find a 'work' reason to get to Droylsden on Thursday.

And perhaps it's just Aldershot that Evans and Raynor...the Crawley management team....don't like.

Why do they always seem to get upset, and then go to sit in the stand.....I'm sure they are really nice people and simply misunderstood.

But how reassuring to reflect that if we continue to play with power and pace...win...three points...to the end of the season, we will escape their pathetic behaviour......well unless a Football League Club Chairman appoints the 'dream team'.

An avalanche of fixtures....

So little time to recover between games, as the season draws to a close in an avalanche of fixtures.

Altrincham today….and then three away games. Crawley on Monday, then Droylsden Thursday and Stafford Rangers on Saturday.


So many matches in so few days. It will require planning and economy of effort, of the highest order, to get through this tough period.

Well the first part was achieved with consummate ease. Blue sky, brilliant sunshine and an easy drive down to the Recreation Ground today…..only to be greeted by wintery showers.

Altrincham was always going to be a difficult fixture. And despite a few scares, Aldershot Town secured the three points thanks to yet another brilliant strike by Scott Davies.

Crawley on Monday….. I'm going to send my brother, as I will be in Somerset for a couple of days. Then some work in north Wales on Wednesday and Thursday, which will make Droylsden a home fixture.

And Stafford….well I have to admit that I will be there on Saturday, but not at the game! A week on the Canals with my wife, to secure the ‘credits’ necessary for all of my long distance supporting, will commence just as the game kicks off.

Planning…….mine is complete.

Gary and Martin will have done their planning too. It’s not four games in eight days…it’s one game in 90mins. Focus and application…..three points….one game less to play….ignore the rest.

Wembley......

Surprisingly the hottest tickets in town last weekend, were not to see Wales play France in the Six Nations decider.

No, try getting a Wembley Semi-Final ticket, for Barnsley v Cardiff City.

On March 20th, 1992, Ninian Park, Cardiff, was the setting for the last Football League match to be contested by Aldershot FC. The 2v0 defeat in front of 6006 spectators was followed by a generous ‘bucket collection’, to get the ‘boys’ home.

And then……the High Court Winding-Up Order on March 25th. The Shots were dead.

Well 16 years later Aldershot Town FC are alive and kicking, and sit proudly at the top of the Blue Square Premier, with a return to the Football League tantalisingly close.

But for Cardiff it has been nearly 81 years since a Ferguson goal, in the 74th minute, was enough to beat Arsenal in the 1927 FA Cup Final at Wembley. A victory that gave Fred Keenor the responsibility to obtain the only export licence for the Cup, since the inception of the competition in 1871/2.

No doubt if Cardiff City go on to win the Cup in May, the club will expect to be entered for European competition, as every FA Cup winner has been since Wolves in 1960. Perhaps a reasonable position to take up, since Cardiff have always been considered an honorary English club, along with Swansea City, Wrexham, Newport County and Colwyn Bay.

But Cardiff should beware. Their history is littered with occasions when they have sought to distance themselves from England and the English.


For many years they were happy to be controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), giving them opportunity to enter the Welsh Cup and, more often than not, being rewarded with an easy ticket to Europe.

Then in 2002/03 the club reached the second division play-offs final, against QPR at the Millennium Stadium. Suffice to say the National Anthem was replaced by Men of Harlech, and for QPR…..Papa’s Got a Brand New Pigbag!

And this burning desire to represent England in Europe would certainly inspire a quizzical look from those visiting Ninian Park in January 2002, when Leeds United played an FA Cup tie.

The genuine support for Cardiff was, for many, whipped up into a nationalistic fervour that has no place in football.

The FA launched a joint investigation with the FAW….but as time drifted on it was left to the FAW to hand down a punishment that amounted to a pretty paltry £20,000 fine. The club claiming that the FAW acted under pressure from London.

And a statement from the club after the event read, ‘The events of January 6 will only serve to bring together the club and the Welsh people as they strive to take Welsh football forward’.

But now as the European ticket has been withdrawn by the FAW in favour of clubs playing in Wales, the FA Cup final may represent a great opportunity for the Bluebirds…….but wait.

How will the FAW respond to Cardiff representing England in Europe?

Well not too impressed I would think, given the row that is developing over the British Olympic Association’s (BOA) determination to field men’s and women’s teams at the 2012 London Olympics.

‘We will field a team’, BOA chief Simon Clegg proclaimed.

However, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Ireland Associations have all opposed the idea.

‘Wales will not take part in such a team. We will not do anything that will jeopardise Wales’ status as an independent nation within Uefa and Fifa’, David Collins, Secretary General of the FAW responded, in a manner befitting his Savile Row tailored job title.

But David shouldn’t worry, as the time will surely come when Wales and Scotland are independent states within Europe. A situation delivered not by the SNP in Holyrood or Plaid in Cardiff Bay.

No, absolute devolution will be delivered by the awakening of middle England to the fact that there are a lot of Raith Rovers supporters in the Westminster government.

And this season's FA Trophy Final will be between Torquay United and Ebbsfleet United.

Aldershot Town drew 1v1 in the second leg of the Semi-Final, last Saturday, losing 4v2 on aggregate and missing out on a trip to Wembley……best wishes to both teams and sets of supporters. The experience will be brilliant.

So it’s back to league action on Saturday, and the visit of Altrincham. A team desperate for points, as they once again attempt to avoid relegation.

Aldershot Town are now left with a simple focus…..each game in turn…three points.

And at the end of 90mins, one less game to play…….ignore the rest.

Stability

The build up to the big day had been pretty ‘low key’. So I suppose it came as no surprise when Alistair rose to his feet on Wednesday, with the tank of expectation showing empty, only to prove that grey is indeed the new grey.

Yes, Alistair Darling set out ’his’ first Budget in a manner befitting a man with a record of stability concealed only by a grey cloak of expressed stability.

‘How did it go darling? I missed most of it. The sink was blocked and I tried to get someone round from next door. But Gordon was out. So I had a problem. Anyway are we still stable? Is the future going to be stable? Can we be sure of worldwide stability? I do hope so. We must have stability because I just love all of the big cars and other perks….the free food…the John Lewis list….’

Well if the defeat at Ebbsfleet was the expected downturn after the emotional high of winning at Plainmoor, then beating Histon on Tuesday evening was a welcome return to the world of stability. Plenty of pace going forward when needed, and despite a few errors at the back….three points secured.

And the game tomorrow….an opportunity to throw everything at Ebbsfleet in an attempt to overcome the 3v1 reverse from the first leg.

I have high expectations for the Trophy game….but for Altrincham in a week's time…..a bit more stability will do just fine.

Life can be tough......

Isn’t it strange how a trip to Northfleet always delivers the same result.

Despite having lived in Wales for nearly 16 years, the feeling that we should return ‘home’, has always been just 'below the surface'.

So it was with thoughts turning to a ‘return flight’, that I headed east last Saturday.

Ebbsfleet International car park, no more than a five minute walk from the Stonebridge Road ground, was both convenient and depressing.

The trackside sign showing ‘100’, a stark reminder for anyone heading to Europe, that they would only have to shut their eyes for a couple of minutes, to avoid the barren townscape of Northfleet.

And I have no doubt that the twin chimneys towering over the Ebbsfleet ground would have raised the heartbeat of Fred Dibner, but for me they were no more than an affirmation of the misery of the place.

Yes, Northfleet had indeed delivered the same result…..a vivid reminder of why we had left London and the south east far behind in the first place.

When we moved to Wales in 1992 our first home was set in orchards and woodland, high up above the Wye Valley. Nesting buzzards, garden birds of many species, badgers, foxes, dormice, deer……and from early in each new year the garden was an Impressionists dream…..a wall-to-wall carpet of wild flowers.

And just about the first thing we did after moving in was to put up a nesting box. Looking back it was a pretty pointless thing to do, given that the high canopy of the broadleaf woodland was home to nesting buzzards. But then what did we know about nature, coming from the land of ‘gridlock’….the M3/M25.

But my son was genuinely excited , when in our first year the nesting box was taken over by a pair of Blue Tits.

And by the end of May, after weeks of frantic feeding the incredible efforts of two hardworking parents paid off. Ten healthy youngsters took to the wing for the first time.

The morning had started, I guess, pretty early with the ‘dad’ bringing a mealworm to the entrance. ‘Mum’ disappeared inside the nest to undertake her usual bout of housekeeping at the bottom of the box. And this was then followed by visit after visit with food. The chicks gathered around the entrance and most feeds took place without the adults entering the box.

As the moment of flight approached, the anticipation in the nesting box was overwhelming, and any chick perching in the opening for more than a few seconds was brushed to one side by the excitement of the others.

Then the moment came. A call of the parents from a nearby coppice of hazel could be heard outside, the bustling and jostling in the box seemed to stop, as one by one they made their departure.

The innocence of youth overtaken by the frantic first flight……only 20m, but so dangerous.

Disaster struck…..the first five chicks were taken out by a predatory Jay, who like us had been watching the ‘departure lounge’.

The parents' call so much more plaintive……but the last five survived the early test and quickly grew to understand that controlled flapping of the wings was of primary importance…..that an awareness of danger was probably something good to comprehend….a plan to overcome danger was a useful survival tool….and having a good sense of direction would always get them home after a late night!

On Saturday Aldershot Town left the safety of the Changing Rooms and immediately forgot to flap their wings….and, as for the rest?

Well I guess Gary and Martin will take time to remind their fledgelings that life can be tough.

Functional elegance......

I guess for most people of my age who were born within touching distance of the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, childhood family memories will always be mixed with images of the annual Air Display…..the Fairey Rotodyne, Handley-Page 115 and the incomparable Lightning.

And fifty years on, my body still recalls the seismic aftershock of the Avro Vulcan passing within what seemed to be no more than an arms length of our house.

But for just one summer, in 1963, my fascination turned to trains. The mainline from London to the ‘exotic’ south coast passed through Farnborough. And like so many kids before, and no doubt many after, I made it my mission to collect locomotive numbers.

On looking back I guess the time spent alongside the railway embankment was pretty pointless. A few numbers written down on a scrap of paper……ten down, twelve thousand five hundred to go.

But the distant rumble. The ever increasing noise. The sense of power…..and then the thick blanket of smoke. Choking. Wiping the tears from my eyes….and it was gone. To where I had no idea.

However at the time it seemed such a good idea to write down the number……34026.

34026 - Yes Tor was a massive brute of a steam locomotive and a favourite of mine. A functional elegance driven forward by a body of power well beyond the comprehension of a small boy.

34026 took its name from the second highest point on Dartmoor. And at 619m Yes Tor is classed as a mountain.

Millions of years ago magma created deep-seated dome batholiths which over time were revealed to the atmosphere and subjected to weathering. At nearly 350 sq miles Dartmoor represents one of the largest areas of exposed granite in the UK. Some of the more durable granite has survived to form the powerful rocky crowns of the Dartmoor tors.

The area comprising modern Torquay has been inhabited since Palaeolithic times but the name originates from the ‘quay’ of the ancient village of Torre. In turn Torre takes its name from the tor, the extensively quarried remains of which can be seen by the town’s Tor Hill Road.

So it was with a mind full of history that I sat down in the Ten Tors pub just outside of Torquay for lunch. With Dartmoor to the north, dusted with a fine covering of snow and to the south, Torbay shimmering under a canopy dressed in azure.

Monday evening football to satisfy the insatiable appetite of television is a modern invention. A nuisance that we have to live with. But not something that I will ever grow to love.

And as 2000hrs approached, on Monday 3rd March, my two brothers, niece and business associate, who managed to get away from Exeter in time, joined me, to make our away following five, for the first time this season.

As it turned out quite a few more people took friends and neighbours to Plainmoor last Monday, swelling the Shots support to around 1000.

The game was tense and frenetic. The crowd passionate but intense.

Aldershot scored early on…..Torquay equalised in the second half. Then Scott Davies hit a superb volley in the last minute of injury time, to win the game.

The explosion of emotion in the ‘away’ end powerful and beyond control.

The silence on two sides of the ground, a shroud for the combined pain felt by 3500 Torquay supporters.

Yes, Aldershot Town won the ‘six pointer’ and sit proudly on top of the Blue Square Premier.

And no need for any caffeine on the long journey back to Wales. The adrenaline was pumping around my body, creating a feeling that not even a case of Red Bull could replicate.

The Second Severn Crossing, and time to reflect on the events of the night. Television cameras. An early goal. Some great saves by Bully. A Torquay equaliser. A brilliant strike by Davies. The noise…..3 points.

Was it really so easy? Perhaps on reflection Torquay did have a lot of possession. Come to think of it the ball was constantly being played long and into the heart of our defence.

I turned into our lane at about 1.30am….with my mind as clear as the sky above my head. The answer to our victory was of course founded on the all-round effort of the team. The will to win overcoming anything that the older, wiser…more experienced Torquay could throw at them.

But at the heart of the team effort on Monday was a big lad who just might have grown into his body.

Dave Winfield was indeed a ‘functional elegance driven forward by a body of power’.

And now….time to calm down and focus on Ebbsfleet, and FA Trophy semi-final on Saturday. With still a quarter of the season to go it so important that the victory over Torquay is seen as no more than three points…….

Teamwork....

It’s funny how The Non-League Paper has suddenly woken up to the fact that Aldershot Town are top of the Blue Square Premier. ‘Young Shots have no fear’, Stuart Hammond proclaimed today, in a piece about the youthful exuberance of Aldershot Town. And he went on to acknowledge that seven of the starting line-up that destroyed Stevenage, a fortnight ago, were signed by previous manager Terry Brown.

So credit Terry for his signings, but how can one explain the difference in performance between this season and the last two….?

Kidderminster turned up on Saturday determined to go home with a point, after losing the previous three games…..and I guess 10 men across the last third of the pitch could be considered a pretty defensive set up.

A fluke early goal for Kidderminster was quickly balanced by a Danny Hilton tap-in. The rest of the game was then an exercise in patient build up and winning. Yes, the difference between today and previous seasons….Gary and Martin have the team thinking about how to win.

The ingredients are pretty simple…effort and control….pace and power….teamwork. It almost matters not who the players are on the pitch….witness the 6v2 demolition of Crawley earlier in the week (Setanta Shield).

And how refreshing it is to see players wanting to come onto the pitch, from the bench….and not hiding away, hoping they will never be asked to ‘strip off’.


On Saturday three substitutions ten minutes into the second half, saw the Shots look to improve on the effectiveness of the team performance. At this point Gary was not searching for better individual output. No, he was about to display a modified game plan, to achieve the winning outcome.


The team were more effective, and the Shots recorded their 24th league win of the season.

Torquay will be tough on Monday night. But Aldershot have come a long way since the naivety of the 0v3 defeat at the Rec in August.

Gary and Martin have taught the young team how to win games.