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Early days but a great start to the season

The Bank Holiday draw at Witton Albion continues our good start to the season. With ten points from our three wins and a draw and the team unbeaten after four matches, that’s an excellent return at this early stage of the season.

At Witton we were a little indifferent and only showed glimpses of how good we can play. On the positive side, a game where we took the lead, saved a penalty and then faced an onslaught in the second half could easily have ended up as a defeat, so we have to be happy with the 1-1 scoreline, especially given the number of chances they had compared to us.

We shuffled the pack a bit for the game, bringing in Stephen Johnson and Nicky Platt for Carlos Roca and Matty Wolfenden, and I was delighted to see Johno and Platty combining for our goal. Three games in a week so early in the season can take it out on players, so the squad we’ve assembled does its job in that situation and I was pleased with the players that came in.

With the number of games that we play in this league, a strong squad will be vital and we have to be able to adapt and change our play as other players get their chance in the starting 11. We did that against Witton and gained a good point. We were under the cosh a bit in the second half but hung on. Not many teams will go there and take all three points so we’re happy with the draw. Fair play to Witton though. They were one of the best teams in the league below us last season and deservedly won promotion. I was impressed with them, especially in the second half.

Looking ahead to the weekend, we have a Sunday game against Hednesford at our "reserve" home ground at Stalybridge. After two games in three days it will be good to get a decent rest before then. We know we’ll face a hard game against Hednesford, who like us have started the season well.

It’s always a decent game at Stalybridge whenever we play over there, with goals practically guaranteed, so any fans that make the trip should get value for money. There’s always a terrific atmosphere at Bower Fold too so we’re looking forward to Sunday and to continuing our unbeaten run, hopefully with a win.

You can read Margy’s thoughts and other FC United news in this week’s North Manchester Advertiser.



First Posted ~ 10:51 Thu 30 Aug 2012
News ID ~ 4401
Last Updated ~ 02:08 Tue 16 Feb 2021