An Eventful Three Games For Eccleshall
Wed 29th September 2010 | Eccleshall | By Ian Templeman
A cracking win in the FA Vase against a team from a level above, a record league win and a record league defeat - the story of the last three games for Eccleshall has been nothing if not eventful
The Pershall Park side were flying, after a 5-3 win over Biddulph Victoria in the Vase was followed by a 6-0 win at Irlam last week. But they came down to earth with a bump last Saturday with a 7-0 home defeat at the hands of AFC Liverpool - a result that no one could have predicted after the previous two games.
Eccleshall manager Dave Dale is still trying to get his head around the events of the past ten days.
"I said after the Irlam game I felt a bit sorry for them at the end of that game, because we've been there before ourselves. And then we go and lose seven on Saturday.
"We did have to make four changes on Saturday from the Irlam game, and that meant nine positional changes overall, which is a lot to contend with. But I'm not making excuses, because we were embarrassingly bad as well.Â
"Not only that, soon after the final whistle we found out our reserves had won 7-0 in their Staffordshire Senior League game against Foley, so it was one extreme to the other."
Up to Saturday, Dave's side had been on a decent run, as the work he carried out in the close season to strengthen the squad appeared to paying dividends.
"I think what we have done is get a proper squad of players this season. I think this league requires that and we've not really had a settled squad of players for two or three years. So what we've done is keep the lads we had last year, and brought a few more in so we now have a squad of 17-18 players
"That better strength in depth has paid off for us, as was proved at Irlam. We had a number of injuries, a suspension and a lad unavailable through work commitments, so you need a depth to your squad and we proved we had that at Irlam. They are a good set of lads, they work hard and train hard, and the spirit is good."
As well as strengthening the playing squad, Dave made another important close season acquisition - a set of goalposts! He explained:
"We have got good training facilities, but for the past two years we've trained under lights without goals. This year we've got two full size goals that we can actually train with and that has enabled us to work on set pieces better, and creating opportunities around the box.Â
"It's made a massive difference to us because the lads weren't used to hitting the net, weren't getting regular practice in front of goal, and being confident in front of goal. Now it's instant, they do things a lot more quickly now and it's paying off. We scored five against Biddulph Victoria in the FA Vase and then six at Irlam so it seems that practice is paying off OK."
Looking ahead, Dave's medium term focus is on two areas - league points and adding to his backroom staff.
"I'm fairly happy with the squad I've got, and what we need to do now is bring in another coach, someone to work alongside me a bit more. We do have backroom staff, but I lost Gary Worthington last year who had been with me for a while. He's gone to Stoke City as kit man, so he's full time there now, and we need to bring in a couple more bodies to share the workload as it's hard work, as any manager at this level will tell you.Â
"The phone can ring at any time, it's constant all the time and you just need someone to take that pressure off a bit. I need to get a few more people around me, and I'm looking to do that as soon as I can, because my aim is to get out of this league.
"We are working hard to try and achieve that. We know that's not going to be easy, with a number of teams starting well.Â
"It's a league where just about any team can beat another, which is good. It's a tough league this, you can be playing a team at the bottom of the league and if you are not on your game you'll get done. Â
"We've made some useful money in the cups so far, so the Chairman is a happy bunny. We've managed to bank a couple of grand for him so far and hopefully he might give me some of it with a bit of luck. I've asked him and he says he will, but he forgets, so he needs a little reminder now and then!"
In the meantime, Eccleshall have another opportunity to swell the coffers with more prize money as they prepare to host a home tie against Bridgnorth Town in the FA Vase this weekend. Dave believes it's a game that has come along at the right time.
"We need to bounce back straight away, and having a break from league games may be no bad thing. We will have a couple of players missing with one match suspensions, although it means they will be available for the league game at Abbey Hey the following Tuesday night, so we will be using the squad again.
"The result against Biddulph in the last round was a strange one in a way. If you look at the Midland Alliance, the sides around the top, such as Coalville who beat us in the FA Cup, are good sides. When you look further down that league, they are really no different to the type of teams we play week in week out, and I would put Biddulph in that category.Â
"They might be at Step 5, one level above us, but I really don't think there is much difference between the bottom half of their league and Division One of our league, and I knew if we played well we'd have a good chance of beating Biddulph on the day and we did.
"As far as Bridgnorth Town is concerned, we will know about them by the time we come to play as we will have them watched, like we did with Biddulph and Coalville. We need to go for it on the day. It's great to be in the Vase, and sometimes a cup run can be good as it gives everyone a lift. Realistically we're not going to win the Vase, but we can have a good run in it.
"The chairman obviously wants us to keep winning in the Vase to generate some more money, but I wouldn't want to be too distracted by that. I want to focus on getting up the league and building on results such as the one we had at Irlam."Â
Note for fans of footballing trivia:
League statistician Paul Cowburn has checked the Eccleshall records since they joined our league in 2003, and he reports that they have previously conceded seven goals on two occasions - a 7-1 defeat at FC United on the 24th August 2005, and a 7-2 defeat at Nelson on the 12th May 2006.
They have scored five goals on a number of occasions, but had never scored six in a league game until last Tuesday at Irlam.
There can't be many instances anywhere of a team recording their record league win and record league defeat in successive games - but if anyone can tell us otherwise, please let us know.
An Eventful Three Games For Eccleshall
Wed 29th September 2010 | Eccleshall
By Ian Templeman
A cracking win in the FA Vase against a team from a level above, a record league win and a record league defeat - the story of the last three games for Eccleshall has been nothing if not eventful
The Pershall Park side were flying, after a 5-3 win over Biddulph Victoria in the Vase was followed by a 6-0 win at Irlam last week. But they came down to earth with a bump last Saturday with a 7-0 home defeat at the hands of AFC Liverpool - a result that no one could have predicted after the previous two games.
Eccleshall manager Dave Dale is still trying to get his head around the events of the past ten days.
"I said after the Irlam game I felt a bit sorry for them at the end of that game, because we've been there before ourselves. And then we go and lose seven on Saturday.
"We did have to make four changes on Saturday from the Irlam game, and that meant nine positional changes overall, which is a lot to contend with. But I'm not making excuses, because we were embarrassingly bad as well.Â
"Not only that, soon after the final whistle we found out our reserves had won 7-0 in their Staffordshire Senior League game against Foley, so it was one extreme to the other."
Up to Saturday, Dave's side had been on a decent run, as the work he carried out in the close season to strengthen the squad appeared to paying dividends.
"I think what we have done is get a proper squad of players this season. I think this league requires that and we've not really had a settled squad of players for two or three years. So what we've done is keep the lads we had last year, and brought a few more in so we now have a squad of 17-18 players
"That better strength in depth has paid off for us, as was proved at Irlam. We had a number of injuries, a suspension and a lad unavailable through work commitments, so you need a depth to your squad and we proved we had that at Irlam. They are a good set of lads, they work hard and train hard, and the spirit is good."
As well as strengthening the playing squad, Dave made another important close season acquisition - a set of goalposts! He explained:
"We have got good training facilities, but for the past two years we've trained under lights without goals. This year we've got two full size goals that we can actually train with and that has enabled us to work on set pieces better, and creating opportunities around the box.Â
"It's made a massive difference to us because the lads weren't used to hitting the net, weren't getting regular practice in front of goal, and being confident in front of goal. Now it's instant, they do things a lot more quickly now and it's paying off. We scored five against Biddulph Victoria in the FA Vase and then six at Irlam so it seems that practice is paying off OK."
Looking ahead, Dave's medium term focus is on two areas - league points and adding to his backroom staff.
"I'm fairly happy with the squad I've got, and what we need to do now is bring in another coach, someone to work alongside me a bit more. We do have backroom staff, but I lost Gary Worthington last year who had been with me for a while. He's gone to Stoke City as kit man, so he's full time there now, and we need to bring in a couple more bodies to share the workload as it's hard work, as any manager at this level will tell you.Â
"The phone can ring at any time, it's constant all the time and you just need someone to take that pressure off a bit. I need to get a few more people around me, and I'm looking to do that as soon as I can, because my aim is to get out of this league.
"We are working hard to try and achieve that. We know that's not going to be easy, with a number of teams starting well.Â
"It's a league where just about any team can beat another, which is good. It's a tough league this, you can be playing a team at the bottom of the league and if you are not on your game you'll get done. Â
"We've made some useful money in the cups so far, so the Chairman is a happy bunny. We've managed to bank a couple of grand for him so far and hopefully he might give me some of it with a bit of luck. I've asked him and he says he will, but he forgets, so he needs a little reminder now and then!"
In the meantime, Eccleshall have another opportunity to swell the coffers with more prize money as they prepare to host a home tie against Bridgnorth Town in the FA Vase this weekend. Dave believes it's a game that has come along at the right time.
"We need to bounce back straight away, and having a break from league games may be no bad thing. We will have a couple of players missing with one match suspensions, although it means they will be available for the league game at Abbey Hey the following Tuesday night, so we will be using the squad again.
"The result against Biddulph in the last round was a strange one in a way. If you look at the Midland Alliance, the sides around the top, such as Coalville who beat us in the FA Cup, are good sides. When you look further down that league, they are really no different to the type of teams we play week in week out, and I would put Biddulph in that category.Â
"They might be at Step 5, one level above us, but I really don't think there is much difference between the bottom half of their league and Division One of our league, and I knew if we played well we'd have a good chance of beating Biddulph on the day and we did.
"As far as Bridgnorth Town is concerned, we will know about them by the time we come to play as we will have them watched, like we did with Biddulph and Coalville. We need to go for it on the day. It's great to be in the Vase, and sometimes a cup run can be good as it gives everyone a lift. Realistically we're not going to win the Vase, but we can have a good run in it.
"The chairman obviously wants us to keep winning in the Vase to generate some more money, but I wouldn't want to be too distracted by that. I want to focus on getting up the league and building on results such as the one we had at Irlam."Â
Note for fans of footballing trivia:
League statistician Paul Cowburn has checked the Eccleshall records since they joined our league in 2003, and he reports that they have previously conceded seven goals on two occasions - a 7-1 defeat at FC United on the 24th August 2005, and a 7-2 defeat at Nelson on the 12th May 2006.
They have scored five goals on a number of occasions, but had never scored six in a league game until last Tuesday at Irlam.
There can't be many instances anywhere of a team recording their record league win and record league defeat in successive games - but if anyone can tell us otherwise, please let us know.