So would they put that behind them and get back to the big time at the first time of asking?
Poor preseason results where we lost 1-2, 0-2, 0-1, and 1-8 to then division 2 Chesterfield, Northern Premier League (NPL) Gainsborough Trinity, NPL Emley, NPL Divison One Matlock Town and NPL Worksop Town and a 7-1 away defeat to Central Midland League Supreme outfit Shirebrook Townvgave rise to the fact that the answer would be an emphatic… no. which was further emphasised by then press officer Steve Durcan at the end of his report in that Shirebrook game…
“Flint scored Shirebrooks seventh as the whole experience became an embarrassment for Staveley and left their league preparations in tatters. I fear more of the same to come from some of the First division’s better teams this coming season.”
So how did it go?… well without wishing to spoil it too much it wasn’t as bad as its sounds.
August
Sat 18th v Winterton Rangers (A) The season started in typical fashion
when Steve Durcans train was cancelled
although that didn’t really dampen his day.. he was there at 12:20pm!
We started brightly when Dave Chambers found Matt Wildman
wide on the left shooting narrowly wide before Steve Pell got booked for a
reckless challenge on Wintertons Doyle. Then Paul Sharman shot wide on twenty
seven minutes following Dave Thomsons corner but that was as good as the half
got…Vickers wasted a host of chances for…the hosts miskicking in the box when
certain to score then rattling the post with a header before turning provider
for Richie who fired home on forty minutes.
The homes sides lead was doubled on fifty eight minutes with
Banks hitting a shot goalwards from the right, sparking Staveley back into life
with Pell forcing a save from ‘keeper Douglas and Gareth Bally hitting one just
over the bar, and Wildman reduced the arrears in the seventy seventh finishing
a counter attack after Brown missed a sitter to put the game to bed. Winterton
soon did that however with McDonald heading in at the near post and then
capitalising on a bad kick from Staveley ‘keeper Danny Cotterill whose attempted
back pass clearance went straight to Winterton striker. (4-1 L)
Sat 25th v Mickleover Sports (H) – Determined to avoid a then (and probably still) record 9th straight league defeat (carried over from last season) the lads went at it from the off and took the lead on eight minutes when Dave chambers received the ball from Dave Thomson beat two defenders before lobbing Wilson in the visitors goal. Staveley had to endure a bit of an onslaught from the visitors clearing Hudsons weak effort after he’d rounded Danny Cotterill in goal and Paul Mighty clipped the crossbar with a header but the lead stayed intact till half time…and was increased not long after the restart when man of the match Paul Smith latched onto a loose ball to stick it between the posts.
Unfortunately that’s as good as the game got for Staveley as 2-0 down Mickleover woke up, a close range Alderson shot reducing the deficit to one on fifty minutes and to none when Marsden tucked in the equaliser six minutes later, closely followed by an injury to staveley ‘keeper Danny Cotterill forcing him to leave the field to be replaced by number seven outfield player Dave Thomson, and yes you’ve guessed it the inevitable happened with twenty minutes left Hudson completed the come back and broke “gallant” Staveley hearts. (2-3 L)
September
Sat 1st v Stratford Town (H-FACP) – A break from the league proved to be just the tonic with Dave Chambers scoring the only goal of the game to finally get the season up and running (1-0 W)
Sat 8th v Pontefract Collieries (H) – A howling wind accompanied this basement battle but we used it to our advantage early on… Dave Chambers blasted one over the bar on ten minutes and really should’ve done better with his next opportunity moments later but after a square ball from Dave Thomson his shot was saved by visiting ‘keeper Newton and Jamie Bettney was unlucky to see his forty yard effort bounce narrowly wide. On twenty seven minutes Pontefract’s Mark Smith thought he’d scored but his challenge on our ‘keeper Graham Holland was judged a foul.
Just before halftime Julian Morris headed home Steve Pells cross to give us the advantage at the break which, was nearly doubled when Chambers hit the crossbar just as the referee blew for halftime.
The lead actually was doubled though three minutes into the half via Pal Smiths low drive and he almost added another on the hour but headed wide just two minutes before Dave Thomson’s persistence took him past two defenders before sticking into the bottom left hand corner!
On sixty five minutes the “unplayable” Thomsons cross was headed over by Jamie Bettney, then Thomson ran through the colls defence before seeing his shot saved at the near post and a twenty yard effort saved also. (3-0 W)
NB: The Win ended a run of nine of straight league defeats and saw us record two consecutive clean sheets for the first time in 122 matches a run going back to November 1998!.
Tue 11th v Yorkshire Amateur (A-NCLC1) – a game played on a day we’ll all remember for all the wrong reasons began with an impeccably observed minutes silence for those lost in the attack on the Wold Trade Centre in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington DC and those of flight 93.
Despite there being numerous chances for Thomson and Webb for us and Jowett and Wales for them the first half remained goalless. Jamie Bettney,Chambers and Sharman again went close for us as did Jowett who hit the far post for the ammas early in the second half.
The scoreboard flew into life in the 54th minute when a close range Smith shot following some decent play from Thomson and Chambers put us into the lead and Smith saw a shot tipped over the bar by Missett (😁 )on the hour. Ten minutes later however Jowett headed home the hosts equaliser then with five minutes remaining he looked to have secured passage into the next round for his side with another headed goal but… with just seconds left East found Smith on the left and his drilled shot found its way into the bottom corner to send the tie into extra time!
Typically both sides had chances Barnes shot wide and had an effort saved for the hosts whilst East lobbed over for us then just like the first 90 minutes the drama was saved for the last minute of the extra period when Thomsons corner found Bally in the box whose turn and shot put us back into the lead which still required an excellent Andy Hone save pushing a shot over the bar to ensure we prevailed. (2-2 D 2-3 aet W)
Sat 15th Halesowen Town (FAC1Q) Before the game against the then Southern League Division One West and eventual champions side Match reporter Steve Durcan marvelled at being in an actual “press box” and wondered if someone could knock one up for him at Inkersall Road, before going on to state that “we’re only a NCEL side so what should we expect?” – Sure he’d absolutely love it here now we’ve actually got a pressbox aka the tower complete with sofa balcony and heater!
Back to the game however where it was an as expected backs to the wall defensive display from Staveley which after 12 minutes Leroy May breached finishing off a route one goal kick by lobbing our own goal keeper Andy Hone who was the busiest player on the pitch. Our best maybe only chance of the half fell to Thompson right on the whistle for halftime shooting wide from 20 yards.
We rallied somewhat in the second half and were unlucky not to equalise just before the hour Chambers rolling an effort inches wide from the edge of the area, but after that it was pretty much as you were with Hone performing heroics in goal and man of the match Steve Pell clearing off his own goal line more than once. We gave it everything but in the end the class of higher leaged opposition shone through and they secured their passage into the next round with an overhead kick from Giddings in the 83rd minute.
It’s worth noting that after taking in the delights that the press box offered Steves half time report didn’t actually go through – pampered for nothing.
Sat 22nd v Wolverhampton Casuals (Fav2Q) – as is so often the case with this non league malarkey the cup games just kept coming and this third one in a row would be the second of the trilogy that would go to extra time.
Thomson shot following Chambers through ball on eleven minutes almost gave us the lead but deflected off both defender and keeper to go wide then, East shot wide from a tight angle before Bettney ran through the defence rounded the keeper but also put his shot wide and Sharman saw his effort tipped over the bar.
The first half ended goalless thanks to Andy hone who got up high to thwart Carless on 32 minutes then produced a fantastic double save to firstly keep out a Brown freekick and then saving well from Miller from the rebound.
The second half also ended goalless and the report make the game sound every bit as dull as the scoreline suggest although predictably there were some opportunities to score the best of which came in the 90th minute falling to Brown who couldn’t beat Andy Hone who dived to his right keeping it out wit a superb save earning himself the man of the match.
So into extra tie is went and typically after a not very interesting 90 minutes it took just 2 more minutes for some goal mouth action which resulted in the hosts taking the lead through Miller, but not to worry as Kevin Newton beat a defender then the goal keeper to equalise and set up a replay. (0-0 D 1-1 D aet)
Tue 25th v Wolverhampton Casuals (Fav2Qr) - that replay however was never played presumably because Casuals couldn’t get a team together giving us a walkover into the next round! (p-p Home Walkover)
Sat 29th v Yorkshire Amateur (A) – it was just over three weeks since our last visit to Roxholme Road the scene of an epic-ish encounter that went all the way to extra time and saw us on the right end of a five goal thriller… this one wasn’t nearly as exciting though..
We started well..with home ‘keeper Kaye tipping over Bradburys header in the eleventh minute and Jon Webb curled one wide five minutes later and just before the break Kaye foiled Bradbury once more. The home ide had been limited to long range efforts that didn’t rouble Andy Hone in our goal but it would be a different matter altogether in the second half as we didn’t create one single clear cut chance as the “ammers” laid siege to Andy Hones goal.
Maynard and Wales went close before Hone tipped over a thirty yard drive from the latter midway through the half, Dimbylow then headed a freekick against the post, before Maynard and Ball shot wide. however despite the incessant pressure they could not breach our defence and after Hone had once again denied the home sides Jowett and then blocked Ibbertson from the rebound the ref blew the whistle and we went away with a very hard won point! (0-0 D) “not the most entertaining of games” “not one for the connoisseur” “at least we didn’t lose” were all phrase used by Steve in his report.
Northern Counties East League Division One
at 29/9/2001
| P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Hatfield Main | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 10 |
| 2 | Bridlington Town | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 9 |
| 3 | Winterton Rangers | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| 4 | Lincoln Moorlands | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 9 |
| 5 | Worsborough Bridge | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | Louth | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Hall Road Rangers | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 6 |
| 8 | Gedling | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 6 |
| 9 | Mickleover Sports | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 | Yorkshire Amateur | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 11 | -7 | 4 |
| 11 | Parkgate | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 3 |
| 12 | Staveley MW | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 3 |
| 13 | Tadcaster Albion | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -5 | 3 |
| 14 | Rossington | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 2 |
| 15 | Maltby Main | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -4 | 0 |
| 16 | Pontefract Collieries | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 16 | -15 | 0 |
October
Fri 5th v Worsborough Bridge –the visitors got off to the perfect start, taking the lead through Phil Taylor heading in a corner after just six minutes, despite trying through Bray and Taylor several times more including a mazy dribble past a few of our defenders and a shot against the post more they couldn’t add to that lead before the break…but they did add to it afterwards with firstly Bray turning in a rebound after Needhams shot fell kindly to him after hitting the post, and secondly with a Taylor Tap in following a great save from Andy Hone…to put the briggers top.
So a Friday night to forget which would’ve been even worse if the game been played on Saturday. Why? youd’ve missed David Beckhams famous freekick against Greece at old Trafford had the game not been moved because of it!
Sat 13th v Maltby Main (A) the game flew into life in the first fifteen minutes when Maltys Mchale shot wide following a cross from the right hand side and Ian Smith who beat Schofield to the ball but headed well wide. at the other end Chambers saw an effort cleared off the line by Motyka but th half ended goalless thanks to block on his near post by Hone from a Haythorne chance for the home side and for us Smith blazed over the crossbar after being found by Chambers.
Eley drilled wide for the hosts early in the second half but just past the hour a defensive error in their ranks allowed Paul Brodie to latch onto the ball and tuck it to the keepers right to claim all three points for us! (0-1 W)
Tue 16th v Hatfield Main (H) (WST1) back to cup action and an extremely unhelpful draw v the leagues high fliers, which started pretty well with us taking the lead after just five minutes through Parsons’ shot from the right and snowballed from there on in… we continued to press with Bradbury forcing a save from Murray and Chris Bettneys 25 yard freekick sailing just wide then just before the half hour mark a route one punt upfield from Andy Hone was headed to Thomson by a defender and he duly ran towards goal before let go from the edge of the area to double the lead. It couldve been more but that’s how it stayed until the fifty fifth munite when Thomson found Chris Bettney on the left of the penalty area where he neatly chipped the keeper for a three goal cushion.
That woke the vistors up and they created three good chances in quick succession but wasted them all, firstly when Ian Dring, who was lucky to still be on the field after a bit of a shall we say a first hald foul mouthed rant headed Downing cross wide, then Gardiner shot wide with Hone unsighted and just past the hour Groome ran the full length of the pitch nearly but shot wide in the end. Staveley looked rattled for the first time in the game but composed themselves enough to wrap the tie up with twenty minutes still to play with the fourth and final goal thanks to Chambers who headed in Bettneys cross from close range. (4-0 W)
“A thoroughly entertaining Staveley performance and one to savour. Even though Bettney was voted man of the match, it was a superb team effort and everyone gelled together well and most players played their best game of the season. It was nice to see a lot of neat passing movements and a lot of play on the ground. Well played lads.
Sat 20th v Blackstone (A)(FAV1) a scrappy first half saw the hosts have the lion’s share of possession but not do much with it save for claiming a penalty that wasn’t given following a challenge from behind. We on the other had did nothing, not one shot on target!
The second half was a bit better with Webster saving Chambers shot, Sharman blasting well over and a curled effort from Paul Smith which wen “agonisingly” wide, we were still rubbish however but for their park Blackstone weren’t much better but they boked passage into the next round with a bizarre –ish goal eight minutes from time when Mitchell’s shot from the right hit the inside of the post rolled across goal to Nicolay who passed it back to Mitchell for a tap in. (0-1 L)
Sat 27th v Gedling (a) not much info currently (2019) about for this one but probably for the best as were soundly beaten (4-1 L) some slight confusion as to who scored our goal however so I’ll leave that for now until its clear.
