After the great win against Faversham we need 1 point to be safe against
They are currently on place 17 in the table.They played 45 games, won 14, drew 10 and lost 21. Scored 57 and conceded 74 goals.
The Swans secured another season in the Division South League by beating Hythe Town away last Saturday with 2-3.
We lost our home game on Nov. 15th with 1-2 against them.
The Swans play at: Sports Ground, Stompond Lane, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey
And we? We have to play against a team which is also performing well ;the last 4 games they got 7 points and we did a splendid job with 9 points. Our game against Faversham for a crowd of 900 showed how much commitment and passion can bring you ( and of course some decent football too) .
Can add nothing special to the last lines on our match report of the Faversham game: An ultimately hard fought and deserved victory left Nigel Kane's men two points clear of East Grinstead Town, and level with Ramsgate, with just one match remaining this term, but they retain a far superior goal difference over both of their relegation rivals, and if Kane can coax one more performance out of his troops, a disappointing campaign will at least end on an upbeat note.
Maybe i can add something : If Nigel Kane succeeds then i am the first to congratulate him because i had a lot of doubts of him, especially after watching the game against Horsham.
And also to congratulate all those supporters who stand behind the team in a season that we maybe have to forget very soon. But please: get a result first !
Come on you U'sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!
Very quiet on here this week !!! Still work to do before we are assured safety ! So good luck to Nigel and the boys . We an do this but please don't rely on other results ,,,,believe and we will survive ! What sort of line up could we hope to see this week .Isn't Ade and Rose back this week ? maybe a little selection problem for Nigel ? Let's do this and happy St George's day !!!
Yes, it is very quiet. We have done very well over the last four games but we still need the final point to be certain of staying up. I agree, John, there is a bit of a problem for NK re. selection (for once, who to start with that is!). My inclination would be to leave things as they are with Ade on the bench and start with the team which did so well last week. Of course, if we're a goal down with half an hour to go it will be everyone forward and I would want a fresh Ade to be there in that situation.
Dave O & Co can start to build for next season now, exciting times ahead!
Please don't forget though that there is a huge charity game tonight at the Pilot Field ( K.O 8pm ) with JohnW's supporters team ( including myself and several other forum members ) taking on Medway Rovers from Gillingham
Just donations for entry, please come down, have a beer and let's put this season to bed finally!
Big well done to NK, Stapes and the boys. Really couldn't see us doing it a month ago but an excellent response from all to some pretty fierce criticism. Don't want to talk about this season any more and it should be buried in the archives for good. Roll on August!!
ps. ha ha Peacehaven relegated, couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.
Finally a close to a pitiful season, nothing to celebrate in staying in this awful division, lets hope we are never in a similar position again. Think the game today was spoiled by what was an appaling pitch. Now for the excitement of what happens next.
My overarching feeling is simply one of relief.
Yes, in many respects the season has been very, very poor but I think we can allow ourselves just a brief period of celebration, simply because we won't have to face the new season as a County League team....which would surely make us one of the biggest underachievers based on the town's population. So, I suggest, a brief period to enjoy our preserved status for the new board and then some serious thought as to how we can become a force within the Ryman league again.
As for the match...... well the pitch was absolutely awful and the ball spent most of the match 30 feet in the air. Frustratingly we should have been out of sight before Walton had their first decent goal attempt but 'finishing' was always going to be hard on such a lively surface.
We all knew Walton couldn't be quite so awful after the break and when we got our second it was certainly against the run of play. However, our thoughts of a relaxing end to the season didn't last too long and there were a few seriously anxious moments when East Grinstead took the lead and Ramsgate pulled level.
Agree with John, let's mark this season down as a bad experience and move on.
Yes I'm the idiot for not celebrating failure, our goal at the start of the season was promotion not avoiding relegation. A lot of us have forked out a lot of money watching dross this year, and its only the last month that has given us hope for the future. Perhaps doeboy you enjoy celebrating failure but I certainly don't.
We survived. The County League would have been an unmitigated disaster There could have been no presumption that we would have bounced back any time soon. We looked dead but ten points from the last five games turned that round. So surely Mick has struck the right note - we are entitled to a brief period of celebration.
Then the tough stuff must begin. How to we avoid ever getting into this scrape again and how do we get out of this league?
Nine months ago a good friend of mine got sick.
He had been planning an exciting year but these plans had to be put on hold as his condition worsened.
He tried various cures but, despite brief periods of remission, his condition continued to worsen.
A couple of months ago it appeared his illness was terminal and we all prepared for the worst.
Suddenly and unexpectedly, just when it appeared there was no hope, he started to improve.
Yesterday, we were delighted to hear that he had been given the all clear.
He still needs to get his strength back but he's now completely out of danger.
Next week he's planning a huge party and today told us "I'm just celebrating being alive...today that's all that matters."
Sometimes life's priorities change.
Absolutely spot on Mick, situations like that just show football is just a game, granted a passionate game nevertheless it is just that. However you choose to enjoy yesterday's result and outcome to this campaign please, have some respect for others and the way they wish to deal with the situation.
think relief is best word. never went yesterday but good to see we got point but look like we make it difficult after 2 0 up even if pitch was apaling. what aawful season one to forget and hope that the people in charge at club can get success back at club
IMO, we should use the experience to drive us forward. The perception and reputation of the club has clearly been tarnished over recent months, and we now have exactly the right people at the top who are capable of moving us forward. I believe that without the changes made, which many people resisted, we would certainly have gone down with disastrous consequences. Instead, we survived, and move on with determination, realism and ambition. We clearly need to appoint the right manager and coaching staff, and start to build a squad that is hard-working, all on the same page, is capable of playing consistently well at this level, and understands what it means to wear the shirt. I hope that we can also see the demise of petty rivalries on this forum, because we all surely want the same thing - to play in a higher league. Calling names (idiot,for example), is inappropriate and achieves nothing. We have a Board that will work hard to get us back up the ladder stage by stage, and it will be a long process with some hiccups along the way. We need more than ever to be fighting to restore our pride and reputation, and we will only do this if we stand together - yes, there will be differences of opinion, but I hope that these differences,when they occur, will be resolved in a grown-up manner. So, yes, let's briefly celebrate survival, a change of approach,and show a singular determination to get out of this poor Division.
Just a few pictures from yesterdays game, I did not take my camera, I only had my phone. So not many pictures of the action. as it was too far away. But a few of the ground and supporters.
Found it hard to believe that Walton and Hersham charge £5.00 for children to enter. They will never get big crowds with that outlook.
Relieved to have stayed up after a poor season. Supporters will have different views on how a team which finished in the play-offs and with one of the best budgets in the league could perform so badly. My view is that too many of Terry's signings were past their best and together with other players clearly lacking fitness, we were often overrun by fitter more committed teams. Panic changes in management didn't help and the same could be said of the wholesale change in players. The change in ownership came just in time and Nigel Kane has done a good job in producing a balanced, much fitter team. What a change to have players like Tyrell and Sam who never stop running. Hope we managd to keep all our better players and bring in a few new faces for next seaon.
With all due respect Tim all of the management changes were brought about by managers leaving and not panic changes made by the club. I do agree that 3 managers in a season is not good for any club and with the budget we had that just compels how bad it's been this season. No one wanted us to go through what we have this season but we've got through it. I believe that a number of things were key in our recent bit of good form, JJ returning has been in my opinion the biggest plus, Marlon Pattersons addition and Fraser Logan's return from fitness could not of been timed better add to that Tyrell starting to find the goal have all played a massive part.
I've said for a while to a lot of people this season we needed to concentrate at finishing at least one place above the relegation spots and forget about this season. Let's concentrate now on putting together a decent settled squad for next season and not have to go through this again.
Very relieved to have stayed up. As Chris b says it wasn't what the aim was at the start of the season but I think we can allow ourselves a small degree of celebration as it looked like being a lot worse for a while. Would much rather we were trying to rebuild at this level than lower. Think Jj will be missed assuming he's going back to America?
I would like to congratulate Nigel and the rest of the coaching staff for doing what they said they would (even though it was a bit of a squeaky bum time !!) while trying to build a team that could do what they have, and all since January !!
As I recall, the last time NK was here he had the same task to perform, which he did, and then the following season steered the U's to promotion to the Ryman Prem.
Are we going to see the same again ??
Is Nigel going to be given the opportunity to take us up again ??
I for one certainly hope so.
Nigel does indeed deserve due praise for ensuring we stayed up, some excellent late signings really made the difference especially JJ and Patterson who both brought experience and class. Looking back we've actually brought some really good youth prospects into the squad and they should defiantly form part of next seasons plans and hopefully won't be involved in a relegation scrap again every game with no room for mistakes.
I disagree dead ball. Yes he's kept us up, but that is more to do with the trash below us rather than what he has done. He has had as much time as Terry, Maggs and Dom and his record is the poorest of the four. I felt his signings were very mixed with the best by far, being JJ, who I understand was not even his signing. His tactics were confused at times and his substitutions sometimes baffling, just speak to anyone at Walton on Saturday. When he joined we were actually only a couple of wins from mid table so I'm not so sure that 19th place and 3 points from safety can be called a successful job done. Yes we are safe, but it really shouldn't have gone to the last game of the season.
I have already congratulated Nigel on another thread but this is a new era and he was the previous chairmans choice. We now have a new owner, new directors and a new beginning, so personally I would like to see a new man appointed nice and early with Nigel moving back to his role of developing the youth teams, something he is clearly very good at. If this doesn't happen or isn't in the new chairmans plan then it would be nice to have an announcement that Nigel will remain in charge, nice and early, so he can start planning immediately for next season, and we can cease discussing the matter on here.
Well, although I genuinely respect their views , I disagree with John, Chris and Rev regarding the choice of manager for next season. I would stick with Nigel - assuming he wishes to stay. Persistently, we haven't given managers enough time - or in Dom's case, he chose not to give himself enough time. If we had changed manager six weeks ago - as some wanted - I believe we would be down. Nigel ran it to the line but he got there. I really do not like the suggestion that our success over recent weeks is wholly down to the failures of our rivals. Actually Ramsgate have performed well and EG have done better despite failing at the end. The obvious reality is that we have played so much better since Tyrell has been playing further forward, JJ rejoined, and Frazer returned and Marlon joined. Some, at least of this is down to Nigel. Please give him credit which is due.
i agree with john and chris, although nigel got there in the end it was to painful and i think we need a man with more experience and contacts. JJ was part luck that he back from states, fraser was dom signing i think and good time he came back from injury. marlon was ok so give nigel some credit for that but as john say some decision he made was strange
Well indeed Mick. I think the above are all simply differences of view between those of us who really long for a better season next year. The problem falls to Dave O to solve. It is his call; and it is not one which I envy.
