The penultimate month of the season started with the sometimes-dreaded vote of confidence from the board who stated their delight with my general performance but concern about the recent results – a compliment complete with warning! In fairness to the board, since the 2nd of February we have only won three of the 11 matches suffering defeat six times.
With the season drawing to a close, the awards began to be handed out to the top performers in the division and I was delighted to see Marriott, Walker and Thorpe to be included in the Division Three Team of the Year.
Thankfully, we were back on track as we defeated Darlington 2-0 at home thanks to a Lee Thorpe double and we followed this up a week later winning 2-1 at Halifax with Thorpe joined on the scoresheet by the impressive Ben Sedgemore. Next up at Sincil Bank was York City who we owed after a disappointing result at their place earlier in the season. Thorpe (3), Walker and Battersby were in blistering form as we paid The Minstermen back for robbing us of two points at Bootham Crescent and dispatched them 5-1.
We were now within touching distance of the playoffs and we welcomed one of our largest crowds of the season, just over four and a half thousand, but we tried our best to blow it by getting beaten 3-2 by Cheltenham. A top-seven spot was confirmed, however, thanks to a victory in our next outing against Kidderminster at Aggborough thanks to goals from Battersby, Thorpe and Steve Holmes who had been thrust into first-team action.
Going into the final match of the season, that now had nothing riding on it for either side as Hull had already achieved promotion, I had a fit and healthy squad and I benched Joao Paiva and left Thorpe out completely to help them prepare for the playoff campaign. The regular season finished with a 1-0 defeat to Hull at Sincil Bank.
The Playoffs
Here we are then, the beginning of the playoffs at the end of the season where a brave battle against the drop would have sufficed. Macclesfield were our opponents in the semi-final and, having hammered them 4-0 twice already, the expectation was a frustrating defeat! The usual process in these two-legged matches is either to lose heavily in the first leg and kiss the tie goodbye or have a player red-carded and frustratingly lose the second leg.
The first leg was at Moss Rose and in-form Lee Glover gave Macc the lead before Jamie Victory equalised. At 3-1 down with just four minutes to go, Peter Gain grabbed a vital second goal to send us into the second leg 3-2 down. Part of my instructions was for Craig Stant to man-mark the 20-goal man Glover, my plan didn’t work as he netted twice!
Heading into the second leg, the squad was thin on the ground to say the least, particularly in defence with Morgan and Derry missing meaning it was time once again to call on Steve Holmes – a lovely man who I met on holiday once!
It was Holmes who was detailed with the task of man-marking Glover this time in a bid to stop him. Defensive midfielder Richard Logan was injured and forced off within 20 minutes, meaning that we had to reshuffle and move Ben Sedgemore to the holding role and Andrew Smith took his position. After 36 minutes, Justin Walker levelled the tie before Joao Paiva put us ahead two minutes later. Our path to the Millennium Stadium was secured when Craig Stant converted a penalty to seal a 5-3 aggregate win. Nearly there!
The Final
After the exhilaration of the semi-final victory, I had to bring myself back down to earth and get the matter of actual life out of the way before turning my focus back to the task of achieving an unlikely promotion. Carlisle United stood in our way and their prolific frontman Richie Foran, who already had over 20 goals for the season. His form called for action and once more Steve Holmes was to man-mark the opponent’s main man.
In front of 26,500 fans, it was fitting that the brilliantly consistent Walker scored the vital opening goal before that man Holmes, who had been out in the cold for much of the season, scored the goal that guaranteed promotion.
Cue jubilation in my front room, jubilation that was tinged with a little disappointment as I should have taken so many more screenshots! I doubt it’s a coincidence that this has been one of my favourite saves so far, not least because I haven’t had a struggling team and then been sacked.
There will be a lot to do to improve the squad ready to attack Division 2. During the off-season, the only signing we could get over the line was the deal that had been agreed earlier in the signing, that of Rory Allen. Of those going out, Justin Walker was by far the most high-profile name on the list. I had managed to hold off his suitors for the entire season but Hull came and met his release clause and their offer of over £6000 a week was impossible for him to turn down.
