Eastwood Town: From The Bottom, To The Top

March:
Eastwood Town 0 – 0 Bishop’s Stortford (HT: 0 – 0)
Mitchell Hanson
After heartbreak in the cup, Eastwood hosted Bishop’s Stortford but just couldn’t get going. Looking jaded from the last game, Eastwood limped home with a draw.

Gloucester 2 – 1 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 1)
Ross Gardner 45’
Darren Edwards (Gloucester)
An away game in the league provided a blip in the Eastwood title challenge. The Badgers thought they had done enough to win the game but conceded 2 late goals from the same set-piece to go home with nothing.

FC Halifax 2 – 5 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 2)
Jamil Adam 4’ 47’ 73’
Trevor Benjamin 39’
Simon Eastwood OG 67’
Jamil Adam
Eastwood got back to winning ways with a thumping win over FC Halifax. Jamil Adam cementing his place as the league’s top scorer with a superb hat-trick. With the end of season in sight, Eastwood need to kick on and win the league.

Eastwood Town 0 – 1 Corby (HT: 0 – 0)
Paul Mayo (Corby)
Eastwood suffered a shock defeat at home to Corby. The Badgers just could not convert the chances they made and ended up giving away a penalty that proved to be the winning goal. The next game is away to second-placed Stalybridge and it is now looking like a title decider.

Stalybridge Celtic 2 – 0 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 0)
Stephen Brogan (Stalybridge)
What was billed as a title decider ended being a one sided affair as Stalybridge outclassed Eastwood to go top of the league with 5 games remaining.

League Table:

Eastwood Town 2nd by 1 point with 5 games remaining - I really hope this blip does not cost me the league.

FA Cup: Lost in 1st Round (v Tranmere)
FA Trophy: Lost in Qtr Final (v Kidderminster)

April:
Eastwood Town 1 – 0 Guiseley (HT: 0 – 0)
Jamil Adam 89’
Mitchell Hanson
With it all to do in the league, the Badgers put in a good performance against Guiseley. Jamil Adam scoring a late goal to send the Eastwood supporters home with a nice win.

Droylsden 1 – 3 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 1)
Ben Townsend pen 15’
Paul Phillips OG 62’
Jamil Adam 76’
Jamil Adam
Eastwood Town travelled to Droylsden to play a match in which the bookies offered odds of 10-1 for a Badgers victory and any fans who decided to take a punt were not disappointed. A very close game ended with a 3 – 1 victory for Eastwood and a second straight victory. The Badgers were now top by a point and in pole-position for automatic promotion.

Eastwood Town 1 – 1 Colwyn Bay (HT: 0 – 1)
Lee Morris 49’
Lee Morris
Eastwood Town fought back from a goal down to salvage a point against the men from wales. Lee Morris used his league pedigree to put in a good performance and couple with a loss for Stalybridge; it means that Eastwood Town are top by 2 points with 2 games to play.

Eastwood Town 3 – 1 Harrogate Town (HT: 2 – 0)
Danny Pitham 12’
Jamil Adam 45+1’ 67’
Jamil Adam
The final home game of the season saw Eastwood run out winners against relegated Harrogate. With the fans in a party mood, the Badgers put on a vintage display; Jamil Adam grabbing yet another brace. Eastwood are now 2 points clear at the top with only the last game to play and due to better goal difference, they know that a point against Nuneaton will be enough.

Eastwood Town 1 – 0 Nuneaton Town (HT: 1 – 0)
Jamil Adam 1’
Thomas Lyskov
What a season, with promotion coming down to the last game, Jamil Adam scored an amazing goal in the first minute to settle any nerves. Eastwood had plenty of chances to add to their lead and if not for the Nuneaton keeper it would have been 4 or 5. At the final whistle, the party really began, with the Eastwood players hoisting the manager Craig Chaplin in the air in the style of Pep Guardiola. The real work begins next season, but for now, the players deserve a party and there will be sore heads in Nottingham tomorrow morning.

Final League Table:

EASTWOOD TOWN ARE THE CHAMPIONS BY 2 POINTS!

FA Cup: Lost in 1st Round (v Tranmere)
FA Trophy: Lost in Qtr Final (v Kidderminster)

Final Season Summary
Competitions:

Blue Square North – 1st Position (Champions)
Well, its safe to say I am very happy with the league, I thought we had ruined our chances with that blip in March but the lads came back well to clinch promotion. Its been a weird season, but we are promoted!
Blue Square North – Top Scorer – Jamil Adam (Eastwood) – 29 Goals
Blue Square North – Highest Average Rating – Jamil Adam (Eastwood) – 7.39
Blue Square North – Most MOM Awards – Jamil Adam (Eastwood) – 9
Blue Square North – Most Assists – Daniel Sparkes (Histon) – 17

Blue Square North Manager of the Season – Craig Chaplin (Eastwood)
Blue Square North Player of the Season – Jamil Adam (Eastwood)
Signing of the Season – Jamil Adam (Eastwood) - Free

FA Cup – Lost in the 1st round against Tranmere (A)
Some good performances, smashing locals rivals on the way.

FA Trophy – Lost in the quarter final against Kidderminster
This one was there for the taking, Kidderminster robbed me. I am glad they lost the final

Interesting story. Congrats on winning the league game and got promoted. Wishing you all the best and hopefully you can go far from here. Looking forward to your next season.

Eastwood Town Season 2 – Blue Square Premier
With the players back from holiday, I decided to have a long friendly campaign and hopefully bring some much needed income into the club.

Transfers
In
Jamie Vincent (DL)– Hayes and Yeading (Free) – He may be 37, but he has a long history of league experience, should provide a good head for the young players to look up to
Jonathan Lynch (MC) – Free – 18 year old youth product from Wigan, good team player, good passer.
Danny Mitcheley (ST) – Free – Good young striker to challenge Jamil Adam.
Paul Lorraine (DC) – Free – Lots of experience at this level
Lewis Whiteley (MC/MR) – Free – Young, with bags of potential
Ashley Cain (MR/AMR) – Free – Young and wanted by many league clubs, managed to convince him to come with first-team action
Troy Wallen (ST) – Free – Another young striker to provide competition for places, good finishing.

Out
Paul Riley – Free
Danny Pitham – Free
Peter Knox – Free
Aaron Carter – Free
Jason Bradley – Free
Richard Cooper – Free
These players just did not make the grade last season and will not cope with higher opposition.

Summary:
Overall, managed to get some decent signings to provide some depth to the main core of the squad that was there before. Ashley Cain is a great signing and many league clubs were after him.

Media Prediction: 24th
Craig’s Prediction: 7th – Tough season but will manage to be at the right end of the table, just missing out on playoffs.

Pre-Season:
Port Vale 1 – 2 Eastwood Town
Eastwood Town 0 – 2 Barnsley
Eastwood Town 3 – 0 Radcliffe Borough
Eastwood Town 0 – 1 Bradford City
Eastwood Town 0 – 0 Ilkeston
Eastwood Town 0 – 1 Chesterfield
Eastwood Town 2 – 2 Fleetwood Town
Eastwood Town 4 – 2 Redditch United
Eastwood Town 0 – 1 Falkirk
Eastwood Town 0 – 1 Dundee

Summary:
A decent pre-season, there were a lot of positives in the performances against stronger opposition. The club also gained some valuable income from these games.

Jamil Adam absolutely bossed that league by all accounts then! Did anyone show any interest in him over the summer?

Jamil Adam had an amazing season, and it was surprising noone showed any interest despite his contract running out. I extended it and made him my highest paid player.

Great story!!! Are you using the update or not???

I am using the steam version of FM12, and the update which gives me all the january transfers at the start.

August:
Gateshead 3 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 2)
Jamil Adam 31’
Danny Mitcheley 37’
Jon Shaw (Gateshead)
Eastwood Town’s debut in the Blue Square Premier Division was an away trip to Gateshead. After going behind early, the Badgers fought back to take the lead at half-time. Gateshead came racing out of the blocks in the second half and regained the lead, which they managed to keep at the full-time whistle. Eastwood will be happy with their performance, but the result shows it could be a long season for the newly-promoted side.

Eastwood Town 3 – 3 Hereford United (HT: 1 – 2)
Kallum Keane 6’
Troy Wallen 53’
Steven Istead 75’
Troy Wallen
Coronation Park welcomed relegated Hereford United for the first home game of the season. Young defender Kallum Keane put Eastwood Town ahead with a header from a corner, before Hereford showed their class to go in at the break ahead. After the break, Eastwood fought back and managed to snatch a deserved draw to register their first points of the season.

Stockport County 2 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 1)
Jonathan Lynch 3’
Teddy Nesbitt OG 79’
Jon Routledge (Stockport)
Eastwood Town travelled to Edgeley Park still looking for a first win. Jonathan Lynch got them off to the perfect start and an own goal put Eastwood two up with only 10 minutes to go. Stockport fought back however and managed to salvage a point. The Badgers manager needs to get the defence sorted, they just keep conceding goals.

Eastwood Town 2 – 0 Lincoln City (HT: 1 – 0)
Jamil Adam 26’
Danny Mitcheley 28’
Danny Mitcheley
Eastwood Town gained their first win of the season with a good home performance against Lincoln City. Jamil Adam opened the scoring and Danny Mitcheley added a second to confound the bookies and leave with the win.

Managers Note:
At this point, I decided to change my tactic. Although it worked in the previous league, we just shipped too many goals at the start of this season. I reverted to a 4-2-2-2 formation with two attacking wingers. I have used the tactic before on another save with a premier league team and it won me multiple titles. I will post the full tactic in a following post.

League Table:
I thought I printscreened this but turns out I didn't, but it doesn't show you much after 4 games though.

Eastwood Town New Tactics:
After shipping quite a few goals in the opening month, I decided to change my tactic to a more attacking one. I used a tactic called "Xenon's 4-2-4" but I can't remember where I found it. I have used this tactic before with a lower premier league team and a championship team; both gave me good results.



Individual Instructions:
GK: Short passing, always distribute to fullbacks
DR/DL: Defensive mentality, closing down often, run from deep often, hold up ball
DC: Normal mentality, closing down often, tight zonal marking
MCR: Defensive, short passing, hold up ball.
MCL: Normal, closing down often, a lot of creative freedom,
AMR/AML: Attacking, a lot of creative freedom, run from deep, cut inside
STL/STR: a lot of creative freedom, run from deep, run with ball, roam from position

Hopefully, this tactic will enable us to control the possession and score a lot of goals.

September:
Salisbury City 0 – 5 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 3)
Jamil Adam 14’
Luke Edwards 39’
Ashley Cain 45+1’
Kallum Keane 73’
Danny Mitcheley 80’
Ashley Cain
With the manager changing the tactics, the Badgers travelled down south to attempt to record a second straight win. Eastwood dominated from start to finish and were worth their 5 goal victory with lots names on the scoresheet.

Eastwood Town 2 – 2 Newport County (HT: 0 – 0)
Lee Morris 54’ pen 90+4’
Lee Morris
Eastwood Town welcomed Newport County to Coronation Park on a fine summer’s day. After an even first-half, the Badgers opened the scoring through Lee Morris. The Exiles hit back with two quick goals and it looked like they were going to take all three points before Lee Morris scored a penalty deep into injury time to save a point.

Stalybridge Celtic 0 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 2)
Jamil Adam 24’
Danny Mitcheley 34’
Thomas Lyskov
This was a battle between the two title rivals from last season. Although Eastwood won the league, Stalybridge had the edge on head-to-head encounters and outclassed them at home last season. This season, it was a different story, Eastwood controlled the game from start to finish and the Badgers carried on their good form with another victory.

Eastwood Town 2 – 0 Tamworth (HT: 0 – 0)
Jamil Adam 67’
Luke Edwards 77’
Jamil Adam
Eastwood Town continued their form with a good home victory against Tamworth. After a goalless first half, the Badgers scored the goals in the second half to get all three points. Eastwood had many shots on goal but just could not convert them into goals.

Hayes & Yeading United 3 – 3 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 3)
Jamil Adam 13’
Lee Morris 27’
Danny Mitcheley 45+2’
Jamil Adam
Attempting to pick up a third successive victory, the Badgers travelled to London. After a masterclass in the first-half where Eastwood scored 3, the Badgers let their guard down in the second and Hayes & Yeading managed to salvage a point.

Eastwood Town 2 – 1 York City (HT: 1 – 0)
Danny Mitcheley 9’
Jamil Adam 80’
Steven Istead
Coronation Park hosted an even affair as the Badgers entertained York City. Eastwood got off to the flyer when Danny Mitcheley scored a fine poachers effort. York missed a penalty in first half stoppage time so the teams went in with Eastwood being one up. In the second-half, Eastwood controlled the game and got a second through Jamil Adam, York managed to pull one back to set up a tense finale but the Badgers were not to be denied.

Welling United 0 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 1)
Ashley Cain 11’
Jamil Adam 76’
Ashley Cain
Blue Square North Champions Eastwood travelled to Blue Square South play-off winners Welling United hoping to extend their unbeaten run. Eastwood dominated the game and managed to restrict their opponents to zero shots on target. The Badgers walked out deserved winners and travelled home to Nottinghamshire with three points safely in the bag.

League Table:

Eastwood Town 3rd with 22 points, 6 points behind Gateshead in 1st

October:
Eastwood Town 1 – 0 Braintree Town (HT: 1 – 0)
Jamil Adam 35’
Jamil Adam
A dire game of football was on show at Coronation Park this afternoon as Eastwood Town played Braintree. Jamil Adam scored the decisive goal midway through the first-half and that was the only shot on target for the whole match, but Eastwood Town claim another three-points.

Alfreton Town 1 – 1 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 0)
Danny Mitcheley 50’
Kallum Keane
The Town Ground hosted a heated match between two rival clubs which was marred by a spat between the two respective managers with Eastwood’s Craig Chaplin telling the Town manager that he “doesn’t think he is suited to football management”. Luckily, on the pitch, it remained a sportmanslike affair. Eastwood Town took the lead in the second half through Danny Mitcheley, Alfreton responded with an equalised and in the end, the points were shared.

Eastwood Town 2 – 0 Fleetwood Town (HT: 0 – 0)
Steven Istead 16’
Lee Morris 54’ 66’
Lee Morris
Eastwood Town entertained Fleetwood in a game which got off to a sour start, Badgers captain Steven Istead sent off for a dangerous lunge. Fleetwood failed to break down the Eastwood defence and at half time it was goalless. In the second-half, Eastwood taught Fleetwood a counter-attacking lesson as they weathered the storm, broke up the other end and grabbed two goals.

Eastwood Town 2 – 1 Bath City (HT: 1 – 1)
Gethin Jones OG 10’
Luke Edwards 75’
Ashley Cain
Bath City travelled to Coronation Park hoping to inflict the first league defeat on Eastwood since the first game of the season. Things didn’t get off to a good start for them as Gethin Jones scored an own goal. They managed to pull one back in the second half before Luke Edwards scored the winner for Eastwood.

Eastwood Town 2 – 0 Carshalton Athletic (HT: 1 – 0) FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round
Luke Edwards 8’
Troy Wallen 78’
Thomas Lyskov
The FA Cup campaign kicked off for Eastwood Town with a home tie against Londoners Carshalton Athletic. Left-winger Luke Edwards got the Badgers off to good start with an early goal. Troy Wallen settled all the nerves late in the second-half to put Eastwood Town through to the first round after an even game.

FA Cup 1st Round Draw – Eastwood Town will be away to Morecambe from League 2.

League Table:

Eastwood Town third with 32 points, level on points with 1st and 2nd.

FA Cup: 1st Round - Vs Morecambe (A)

November:
Mansfield Town 3 – 4 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 3)
Jamil Adam 18’ 25’
Matt Bell OG 28’
Danny Mitcheley 83’
Matt Green (Mansfield)
What was billed as a close game between local rivals, turned into an end to end performance with neither side concentrating on defending. Eastwood Town raced into a three-goal lead before the Stags pulled one back. The second-half was end to end, with Eastwood failing to score then Mansfield going and scoring at the other end. With time running out, it looked to be heading for a draw before Danny Mitcheley; in his first game at Field Mill since leaving, scored the winner to take all the points from his old club.

Eastwood Town 1 – 1 Cambridge United (HT: 1 – 0)
Jamil Adam 15’
Tom Shaw (Cambridge)
After the excitement of the previous game, Eastwood Town hosted Cambridge United. Jamil Adam put the hosts ahead to continue another goal scoring season. Cambridge fought back in the second-half and left Coronation Park with a good point.

AFC Telford 1 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 1)
Jamil Adam 20’ 87’
Jamil Adam
Eastwood Town travelled to Telford looking for another 3 points in their title challenge. Jamil Adam scored yet another goal to put the visitors ahead before the hosts hit back just before half-time. With time running out in the second, Jamil Adam scored a late goal to send the Badgers back to Nottinghamshire with three points.

Morecambe 2 – 0 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 0)
Nick Fenton (Morecambe)
In the FA Cup, Eastwood Town once again travelled away to a League 2 team; this time in the form of Morecambe. Despite battling hard, the Badgers went down two goals to nil to their opponents. Eastwood Town can take heart in the fact that they created some chances and gave a good account of themselves.

Eastwood Town 1 – 2 Aldershot Town (HT: 1 – 1)
Troy Wallen 42’
Anthony Straker (Aldershot)
Eastwood Town welcomed league-leaders Aldershot with a chance to go top if they won. However, recently-relegated Aldershot showed their class with a dominant performance. Troy Wallen managed to get a goal back before half-time, but this was against the run of play and Eastwood Town suffered only their second defeat of the season.

Forest Green Rovers 2 – 1 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 0)
Troy Wallen 90+2’
Reece Styche (Forest Green)
On the back of their first defeat for many matches, Eastwood Town travelled to Forest Green, however their form did not change as they went down to a second straight defeat in the league. Troy Wallen made sure they got on the scoresheet but they were just outplayed.

League Table:

Eastwood Town 3rd - 3 points behind the leaders.

FA Cup: Lost in 1st Round (v Morecambe)