Eastwood Town: From The Bottom, To The Top

December
Eastwood Town 0 – 1 Kidderminster Harriers (HT: 0 – 0)
Mike Williams (Kidderminster)
Eastwood Town hosted Kidderminster hoping to end a run of several straight defeats. Harriers however, were in total control as the Badgers were brushed aside for another defeat.

Wrexham 1 – 0 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 0)
Stephen Tomassen (Wrexham)
Once again, the Badgers put in a poor performace away from home and went down to a one-nil defeat in Wrexham. Eastwood Town now are on a run of 4 straight league defeats and need to turn this around soon to stand any chance of promotion or playoffs.

Eastwood Town 2 – 1 Havant & Waterlooville (HT: 0 – 0) FA Trophy 1st Round
Steven Istead 63’
Jamil Adam 90+1’
Thomas Lyskov
With form poor in the league, Eastwood Town had the welcome distraction of the FA Trophy. Coronation Park hosted Blue Sqaure South leaders Havant & Waterlooville. After a goalless first-half, Steven Istead opened up the scoring for the home side after some good work on the wing, H & W equalised late on and the game looked to be heading for a replay before Jamil Adam delighted the fans with a late strike.

FA Trophy Draw – Eastwood Town will be away to Fleetwood Town

Eastwood Town 3 – 0 Barrow (HT: 2 – 0)
Luke Edwards 22’
Jonathan Lynch 34’
Ashley Cain 56’
Thomas Lyskov
After a moral boosting win the cup, Eastwood Town wanted to end a run of defeats with a victory over Barrow. With the television cameras watching, Eastwood Town put in an attractive performance and recorded a three-nil win over their opponents.

Eastwood Town 1 – 4 Gateshead (HT: 1 – 3)
Jonathan Lynch 13’
Elliot Chamberlain (Gateshead)
Eastwood Town had a boxing day game to forget as league-leaders Gateshead romped to a 4-1 victory. The Badgers took the lead through Jonathan Lynch, but the men from the north-east showed their class to record a big win.

Hereford United 1 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 0)
Jamil Adam 64’ 90+2’
Jamil Adam
Eastwood Town recorded a rather lucky win over Hereford at Edgar Street. Hereford took the lead early in the second half but the Badgers were more clinical, managing to record a win.

League Table:

Eastwood Town 5th with 45 points, 8 points off top

FA Cup: Lost in 1st Round (v Morecambe)
FA Trophy: Second Round - Vs Fleetwood (A)

January Transfers:
In:
Tresor Kandol (ST) – Free. Most famous for his time at Leeds; Kandol now dons the black and white stripes of the Badgers as he partners young striking ace Jamil Adam.

Greg McDermott (MC) – Free. After a youth career at Newcastle United, McDermott signs for Eastwood hoping to make a name for himself.

Mansour Assoumani (DC) – Free. With a long career in French and lower-league English football; Assoumani joins the Badgers to solve some of their defensive problems.

Out:
None

January:
Eastwood Town 4 – 0 Stockport County (HT: 2 – 0)
Steven Istead 2’
Tresor Kandol 24’
Jamil Adam 65’ 69’
Tresor Kandol
Eastwood Town kicked off 2013 with a thumping home win against Stockport. On a chilly new year’s day, Tresor Kandol and Greg McDermott made their debuts and did not disappoint. Tresor Kandol opened his account midway through the first-half and put in a man of the match performance with two more assists for strike partner Jamil Adam.

Lincoln City 0 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 1)
Tresor Kandol 31’ 61’
Tresor Kandol
The Badgers travelled to Sincil Bank to take on a Lincoln City team underperforming in the league. Tresor Kandol continued his fine start with another man of the match performance, this time picking up two goals.

Eastwood Town 1 – 0 Salisbury City (HT: 0 – 0)
Tresor Kandol 86’
Kallum Keane
With the good feeling returning to Coronation Park, Eastwood Town eased past Salisbury City. New signing Tresor Kandol hit yet another goal as the home fans found a new hero, congratulating Craig Chaplin’s shrewd transfer moves in the process.

Fleetwood Town 1 – 3 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 2) FA Trophy Second Round
Jamil Adam 21’ 42’
Tresor Kandol 88’
Mitchell Hanson
Eastwood Town were handed a tough draw against Fleetwood in the FA Trophy, however Chaplin’s boys made the bookies look foolish and booked their place in the third round. Jamil Adam hit a brace in the first half and Tresor Kandol hit another goal to seal the win.

FA Trophy Draw – Eastwood Town will play Cambridge United away in the third round

Eastwood Town 1 - 0 Stalybridge Celtic (HT: 0 - 0)
Paul Lorraine 69’
Paul Lorraine
Eastwood Town hosted last season’s rivals Stalybridge at home on a horrible day at Coronation Park. With the team looking jaded, there were a few changes to the team from previous games. Defender Paul Lorraine scored a rare goal as the Badgers picked up all three points.

League Table:

Eastwood Town 3rd - 5 points behind leaders Aldershot with a game in hand

FA Cup: Lost in 1st Round (v Morecambe)
FA Trophy: Third Round - Vs Cambridge United (A)

February
Tamworth 1 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 1)
Tresor Kandol 13’
Thomas Lyskov 75’
Steve McNulty (Tamworth)
Eastwood Town started February with an away trip to Tamworth. They managed to pick up another three points through goals from Tresor Kandol and Thomas Lyskov.

Newport County 2 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 2 – 0)
Tresor Kandol 65’
Jamil Adam 71’
Jamil Adam
Eastwood Town travelled to Wales to face Newport with a chance to beat their record for consecutive wins. The Exiles had different plans and were 2 up at half-time. The Badgers rallied in the second half and Eastwood’s two strikers both found the net to rescue a point.

Cambridge United 0 – 1 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 1) FA Trophy Third Round
Tresor Kandol 10’
Jamil Adam
Chaplin’s boys continued their fine form in the FA Trophy with a good away win against Cambridge. Tresor Kandol score yet another goal as the Badgers recorded a deserved win.

FA Trophy Draw – Eastwood Town will be away to York City

York City 1 – 0 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 0)
David McGurk (York)
Back in the league, the Badgers faced a tough trip to promotion rivals York. Despite a very even game, York managed to score a massive victory. Eastwood Town should be proud of the performance though, when these teams meet in the cup, Eastwood definitely have the talent to set the score straight.

Eastwood Town 2 – 1 Hayes & Yeading (HT: 2 – 0)
Ashley Eastham OG 3’
Kieran Charnock OG 33’
Paul Lorraine
Eastwood Town hoped to return to good form when they faced Hayes & Yeading at home. After an even game, the Badgers needed a bit of luck with two own goals to give them another three points.

Eastwood Town 2 – 0 Welling United
Jonathan Lynch 29’
Greg McDermott 82’
Greg McDermott
The Badgers recorded a second straight victory with a vintage performance against Welling. Eastwood’s two centre midfielders scored long range efforts to see the Badgers home.

Braintree Town 1 – 0 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 0)
Mark McCammon (Braintree)
Eastwood Town suffered another defeat away from home, this time to Braintree. The Iron put in a controlling performance and deserved all three points. With the Badgers side tired from a congested fixture list, Eastwood will be looking to the next round of fixtures to continue picking up points.

League Table:

Eastwood Town on 67 points, 4 points behind leaders Aldershot.

FA Cup: Lost in first round (V Morecambe)
FA Trophy: Fourth Round - Vs York (A)

March
York City 2 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 0) FA Trophy Fourth Round
Tresor Kandol 58’ 74’
Ashley Chambers (York)
The FA Trophy draw handed fans with a tie with promotion rivals York City. Despite losing at this ground a few weeks ago, Eastwood Town were now fully fit and looking for revenge. Losing at half-time, the Badgers rallied in the second and a brace from goal-machine Tresor Kandol put Eastwood on the verge of a semi-final before York scored a late equaliser to force a replay at Coronation Park.

Eastwood Town 2 – 1 York City (HT: 1 – 0) FA Trophy Fourth Round Replay
Paul Lorraine 31’
Tresor Kandol 60’
Paul Lorraine
Coronation Park gave York City an intimidating welcome as Craig Chaplin whipped the home fans up to fever-pitch before the game. Eastwood Town dominated the game and York just did not put in the performance expected from them. The home fans never let the away players rest and Tresor Kandol scored another goal in this competition to send the Badgers into the semi-final.

FA Trophy Draw – Eastwood Town will play Nuneaton Town in the semi-final, the first-leg played at home

Fleetwood Town 2 – 1 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 0)
Lee Morris pen 56’
Jamie Vardy (Fleetwood)
After a draining FA Trophy game, a much-changed Eastwood Town side travelled to Fleetwood. Despite battling hard at Highbury, the Badgers were unable to stop Fleetwood winning 2 – 1.

Bath City 1 – 3 Eastwood Town (HT: 1 – 2)
Jamil Adam 9’ 44’
Thomas Ryan OG 77’
Jamil Adam
Eastwood Town returned to winning ways with a deserved victory over Bath City. The game was notable for the number of fouls committed by Bath City and they ended up with 6 yellow cards. Jamil Adam scored a brace in the first half before an own goal settled any nerves from the Badgers.

Eastwood Town 1 – 0 Nuneaton (HT: 0 – 0) FA Trophy Semi-Final First Leg
Greg McDermott 49’
Paul Lorraine 56’
Mitchell Hanson
Coronation Park hosted Blue Square North leaders Nuneaton, who emulated Chaplin’s Eastwood side last season by getting to the latter stages. With the fans creating a lot of noise, Eastwood recorded a win despite captain Paul Lorraine being sent off. The Badgers now hold a slim advantage in the tie.

Eastwood Town 2 – 2 Alfreton Town (HT: 1 – 0)
Mansour Assoumani 2’ 74’
Mansour Assoumani
For their second televised match of the season, Eastwood Town hosted local rivals Alfreton in a heated match. Defender Mansour Assoumani opened his account for the club with 2 goals from corners. With the match looking won, Thomas Lyskov put the ball in his own goal 5 minutes from time to give Alfreton a point.

Nuneaton Town 0 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 1) FA Trophy Semi-Final Second Leg
Thomas Lyskov 17’
Tresor Kandol 75’
Thomas Lyskov
With the weight of expectation on their shoulders, some punters put their money on an upset happening. However, the Badgers put in a good performance and booked their place at Wembley. Despite the dirty tactics of their opponents, Eastwood managed to escape the game with no injuries. Eastwood will be in a party mood when they make their first appearance at Wembley, but will they be a Football League club by then?

FA Trophy Draw - Eastwood Town will play Gateshead in the Final!

Eastwood Town 4 – 2 Mansfield Town (HT: 3 – 1)
Jamil Adam 4’
Tresor Kandol 26’ pen 31’ 90+3’
Jamie Vincent 78’
Tresor Kandol
With the FA Trophy run put on hold until after the end of the season, Eastwood Town could concentrate fully on the league. Under-performing Mansfield Town were the opponents and once again the Badgers smashed their local rivals. Tresor Kandol scored a great hat-trick to cement his place as signing of the season and could even afford to miss a penalty! The highlight of the game came from the Stags however, as Matt Green scored from inside his own half to lob James Gilpin.

Aldershot Town 0 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 1)
Steven Istead 24’
Ben Herd OG 90+1’
Ben Townsend 74’
Steven Istead
The Badgers travelled to Aldershot knowing a win would put them right back in the title-race. With an efficient performance, Eastwood Town got the win they wanted. Despite fielding a much-changed side from fatigue, Steven Istead scored a goal to put Eastwood in the league. An own goal settled affairs and really put the cat amongst the pigeons in the title race.

League Table:

Eastwood Town on 77 points, 6 behind leader Aldershot but with a game in hand.

FA Cup: Lost in 1st round (v Morecambe)
FA Trophy: Final - Vs Gateshead

April
Eastwood Town 7 – 4 AFC Telford (HT: 4 – 1)
Jamil Adam 3’ 17’
Shane Killock OG 32’
Ashley Cain 35’ 73’
Tresor Kandol 56’
Jamie Stuart 60’
Tresor Kandol
Coronation Park upheld its reputation as the most entertaining ground in the league with another high-scoring affair. With a makeshift defence, the Badgers decided attacking was the best policy and despite conceding 4 goals, managed to knock 7 past AFC Telford. Coupled with results elsewhere, Eastwood Town were now 4 points off the top with a game in hand.

Eastwood Town 2 – 0 Forest Green Rovers (HT: 2 – 0)
Sam Russell OG 30’
Eddie Oshodi OG 37’
Thomas Lyskov
With things tight at the top of the league, Eastwood Town needed to keep momentum going with a win. Despite the win coming in the form of own goals, Eastwood Town got all three points to move 1 point off the top and still with a game in hand.

Cambridge United 2 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 1)
Tresor Kandol 9’
Jamil Adam 80’
Tresor Kandol
Eastwood Town traveled to Cambridge to play their game in hand knowing a win would take them top. Things got off to a good start with goal-machine Tresor Kandol grabbing an early goal. After the break, Cambridge fought back and got an equaliser before Jamil Adam scored what looked like the winner. With time running out, Cambridge grabbed a dramatic late equaliser to leave the top 3 teams in the league on the same points.

League Table update: Top three teams have 82 points with 3 games left to play

Kidderminster Harriers 0 – 1 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 0)
Tresor Kandol 67’
Thomas Lyskov
With the end of season in sight, Eastwood travelled to Kidderminster needing a win to keep pace with their title rivals. Despite dominating the game, Kidderminster conceded a lucky goal and went down one-nil.

League Table update: All teams won and the top 3 teams are still level on points with 2 to play

Eastwood Town 4 – 2 Wrexham (HT: 1 – 1)
Tresor Kandol 30’ pen 58’ 83’
Luke Edwards 63’
Tresor Kandol
Coronation Park was in a party mood for the final home game of the season, with the fans opting to wear badger costumes for fancy dress. With a new chant devised for their main man Tresor Kandol, he put in a stellar performance scoring a hat-trick. The Badgers won all three points to take things down to the last day of the season.

League Table update: Aldershot lost, but Eastwood and Gateshead are level on 90 points with one game left to play. Gateshead have the advantage on goal difference however.

Barrow 0 – 2 Eastwood Town (HT: 0 – 1)
Ashley Cain 36’ 48’
Ashley Cain
So it all came down to this, the permutations were as so: If Eastwood Town could better Gateshead’s result and Fleetwood did not win, they would be champions. If Gateshead matched Eastwood’s result they would be champions. If Fleetwood Town beat Gateshead and Eastwood fail beat Barrow, they would be champions.

Eastwood Town knew that only a win would do, and they put in a great performance. Winger Ashley Cain scored two goals either side of half-time but the Badgers fans were anxiously listening to radios for news from other grounds. With Fleetwood Town 3-1 up at Gateshead, the fans knew that if they held on they would be champions. When the final whistle blew, the fans stormed the pitch and mobbed the unaware (Chaplin had purposefully kept the team in the dark about other results) players as their heroes had just made Eastwood Town a Football League club!

Final League Table:

EASTWOOD TOWN ARE CHAMPIONS BY 1 POINT! 4 points covered the top 5 ... unbelievable

FA Cup: Lost in 1st round (v Morecambe)
FA Trophy: Final - Vs Gateshead

fantastic story m8 good luck in league 2 have you thought what signings you gonna do yet ?

not yet, I've still got the cup final to go.
Alot of contracts are running out in the summer and I need to assess the squad first. Hopefully I can get some famousish names to boost shirt sales!

cool will be watching closely

May
Eastwood Town 2 – 2 Gateshead aet (FT: 1 – 1 HT: 0 – 0) FA Trophy Final
Gateshead win 5 – 3 on penalties
Jamil Adam 87’ 108’
Jamil Adam
Fresh from winning the league, Eastwood Town travelled to Wembley for their first appearance in the stadium. The Badgers fans never stopped singing all afternoon and were in good spirits since the early hours of the morning. The first half was a tense affair with few chances but Eastwood Town had the best of them. In the second half Gateshead went to an attacking mentality and managed to take the lead. Eastwood then threw everything at the Tynesiders and got their reward with a late equaliser through Jamil Adam. Gateshead had the better of the first half of extra time and took the lead just before the break, but Jamil Adam hit another equaliser to take it to penalties. The lottery of penalties was the only way to separate two teams who never gave up, Gateshead scored every attempt but Eastwood Town’s hero Jamil Adam missed a decisive spotkick to break the heart of the Badgers supporters.

Season Review
League – Well to win the league was an amazing achievement, especially with the group of players I had. I just managed to get the performances out of the players for winnable games, sure we lost to the promotion rivals a lot, but we picked up points elsewhere. Tresor Kandol was a game changer, his partnership with Jamil Adam propelled us into the football league.

FA Cup – Lost in the 1st round, didn’t expect much at all, glad to have some good performances.

FA Trophy – Lost in the final. Great cup run beating good teams in the process, really gutted to lose on penalties in the end.

Top Scorer – Jamil Adam (55 apps 30 goals)

Top Signing – Tresor Kandol (28 apps 21 goals)

Fan’s Player of the Year – Jamil Adam

Eastwood Town Season 3 – League 2
The third season with Eastwood was going to be my toughest ask yet; can I keep Eastwood in the league? The squad is very weak, and the board lack the funds to back me in either wages, or transfers.

Eastwood Town Announce Stadium Expansion Plans
The Eastwood Town board today announced plans to expand the stadium by 1350 seats to meet league requirements.

Season 3 target – AVOID RELEGATION
Transfer Budget - £0
Wage Budget - £7.06k per week
I think I am going to struggle in this league, with a small wage budget and reputation, I will find it tough to bring in quality players either permanently or on loan.

Transfers
In
Danny Coles (DC) – Free
Scott Garner (DC) – Free
Ben Sampayo (DRLC) – Free
Keith Briggs (MRC) – Free
Danny Naisbitt (GK) – Free
With my wage budget, I decided to spend my money on defenders mainly, the current set are far too poor for this league. I got another midfielder to bolster numbers there, and a reserve keeper.

Out
Trevor Benjamin – Retired
Lee Morris – Retired
Mansour Assoumani – Free
Ben Townsend – Free
Steven Istead – Free
Mitchell Hanson - Free

Preseason
Vauxhall Motors 1 – 1 Eastwood Town
Ashton Town 0 – 5 Eastwood Town
Eastwood Town 2 – 0 Coventry City
Eastwood Town 2 – 0 Queen of the South
Eastwood Town 2 – 2 Scunthorpe United
Eastwood Town 4 – 2 Reading Reserves

A decent pre-season, no major injuries and some good performances.

Congrats on the back to back promotions there mate, all the best for the next season.

1 question, what's Gilpin like atm? Is he getting better or will you be looking into replacing him?