| April 2004 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
That was the season that was... Season 2003-2004 What a great start beating Hednesford and Tiverton both at home without conceding a goal, going top of the table in the process. Then brought back down to earth with consecutive defeats to Weymouth, Nuneaton and Worcester. Then a run of 13 games with only two defeats saw us rise back up to second in the table. Those 13 games included a memorable 4-0 victory over Dr Marten Premier Champions Crawley Town, which was probably was the peak of our season. The new year saw things go a bit pear shape. Losing games to the relegation fighting teams (at the time) such as Chelmsford, Merthyr, Bath, Havant and Chippenham saw us drop down to 10th and nearly dragged into the 13th place battle. Then a run of unbeaten league games saw us rise back to 6th and almost certain of Conference North football, which was guaranteed last Saturday in an awesome performance away at Champions Crawley Town. In the cups it was a case of sweet and sour. Fairly short, but sweet was the FA Cup, which saw our standard away from home cup run that took us from Moor Green to Wakefield then finally to Scarborough, who despatched us from the competition and then went on themselves to a great cup run eventually finished by Chelsea. Very sour was the FA Trophy. The only highlight of which was at Rugby when Tommy Whittle made his application to join 'Fight Club' and got himself sent off, Justin Jenkins saving the resultant penalty as he took up the responsibility of going into goal. Bizarrely that leaves Justin as the only player to play in goal for Hinckley this season and keep a clean sheet! The next round away at Gresley is best forgotten. You know and I know so I'm not going to drag it up again. The local cups give us an end of the season to look forward to though with Finals to come at Holmes Park against Barrow Town in the Rolleston Cup and the Leicester City Walkers Stadium against Oadby Town in the Leicestershire Challenge Cup. What about players? Well Jamie Lenton passed the 200 appearance mark for Hinckley during this season. Other milestones were Neil Cartwright, Dave Sadler and Stuart Storer all passing the 150 appearance mark and Andy Penny also passing 100 appearances for the club. Also what about Justin Jenkins seizing his chance for first team football and proving himself not just as a bit part member of the squad but heading the goal scoring for the club, and looking destined to win this years golden boot (even though he will miss the rest of the season after injuries received away from football). Unfortunately there is also a tragic side to my look back at players this season. Dave Crowley suffered a severe broken leg and announced his retirement from the game. He will be sorely missed, not just by us, but also by non league football as a whole. I would like to finish this on a plus note though so I'll write about my player of the season. Not only the most improved player, but one of the main reasons why we are so high up the league. Tommy Whittle has been an inspiration this season. 17 clean sheets so far this season compared with 8 from the whole of last season. When he first came to us, he had been made redundant by Oldham and whatever age you're at that is still a blow (as many of us who worked in textiles in Hinckley are only too aware), but for a young lad having your dream of professional football quashed must by a huge disappointment. Last season many were ready to write him off, but this year he has come back with a vengeance. He has done what was necessary to get himself physically and mentally adapted to non-league football and we have reaped the benefits. His attitude is spot on and his ability to keep goal has shone through this season. 'Fight Club' or no 'Fight Club' (you know what I mean), clean sheets are just as important as goals scored, and he is my Player of the Season. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Well forget Grantham what mattered was acheived. We wobbled there a bit at the start of the month but what a way to finally qualify for Conference North. 0-3 at Crawley, in front of their own fans seeing them recieve the Championship Trophy. Only one word for that, brilliant. A late, late burst of Dave Sadler form saw his goal spree springboard Hinckley into the new Conference North. But there was better to come. What better? Yes, if ever there was the best 0-0 draw it was this one against Chippenham. They had to win to avoid relegation, and they didn't. Good. Even better were the circumstances, Dean Thomas quite clearly palming the ball away on the goal line then dropping to his knees clutching his face, only to walk in the bar later with a bandaged arm! Penalty? No way! It wouldn't have mattered though, as when the Bluebirds did finally get a penalty with only minutes on the clock, that would have kept them up, Tommy only went and saved it didn't he. Have I said he's the player of the year, I'll say it again then. Our customary round up of local silverware wrapped up our most successful season ever, thank you very much. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coming next Season: M6 North here we come, need I say anymore. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| return to top | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||