Salford (Disgustingly Rich) Lads' Club - Conference National 2018/19

[Sits]

Won't miss them if so.

[E10 Rifle]

Maidenhead impressed me when they beat us last month; they weren't very pretty but they did a proper stifling job on us, and look well placed for fifth-tier respectability for a while.

Meanwhile, big win for Salford at Harrogate last night: they're coming again and I wouldn't rule them out as champions at all.

[Sits]

Lovely post. Maidenhead feels a bit like that; this is definitely nosebleed territory.

[Simon G]

I remember promotion to the Conference in 1997 and on the opening day we lost 3-0 away at Dover Athletic. I turned to my uncle and asked if he thought we'd have a good season. He said probably, but I had to remember that the Conference was our Premier League and wherever we finish will be deemed as a good season.

He passed away in 2015 (fuck cancer) and we were relegated 3 months later. Really made me appreciate what we had witnessed the club achieve in the previous 17/18 years.

[Capybara]

My first trip to the old Wembley was the FA Trophy Final in 1998. We'd just come off our best league season ever, finishing a distant second behind Halifax in the Conference and 18,000 Cheltonians (by far the most to watch a Cheltenham game and nearly double what our opponents Southport took) made their way down the A40 to witness our first big trophy win. The game was the most boring game I've ever watched, and Southport were by far the better team, but the win confirmed to me that this team were onto something special. The next year, we beat cash-rich Rushden to the Football League.

There's no point to this story - I just love the memories that came flooding back of that trip.

I was at that game. Cheltenham were a sort of 'second' club as I'd lived in the town for about fifteen years until three years earlier. I'd watched them plenty of times while living there and they were never anything more than an average non-league club. Even when I left, if you'd told any of the supporters they would be a league club ever, let alone by the end of the decade, they would not have believed you.

[Ray de Galles]

Bit gutted Fylde won that. Orient also in the Trophy final, with an added bonus that Super Kevin Lisbie will be on the Wembley double bill with Cray Valley PM in the Vase.

CVPM's chairman walked in to the SECL game I was at last night and was treated like a conquering hero, with good reason I suppose. Over 600 there for their leg of the semi and in their centenary year too. I just hope Chertsey Town join them and I may be tempted along to Wembley myself.

[Simon G]

There was trouble at Telford too. One Orient fan reportedly knocked unconscious and attempts to attack fans on the way back to the station (some of our knuckleheads retaliated too).

But just a thing of unalloyed, implication-free joy to be at Wembley again. This time it won't be our most important game of the season, and the league is now ours to fuck up in usual heartbreaking fashion now. Imagine such a thing …

My first trip to the old Wembley was the FA Trophy Final in 1998. We'd just come off our best league season ever, finishing a distant second behind Halifax in the Conference and 18,000 Cheltonians (by far the most to watch a Cheltenham game and nearly double what our opponents Southport took) made their way down the A40 to witness our first big trophy win. The game was the most boring game I've ever watched, and Southport were by far the better team, but the win confirmed to me that this team were onto something special. The next year, we beat cash-rich Rushden to the Football League.

There's no point to this story - I just love the memories that came flooding back of that trip.

[E10 Rifle]

Last night's win over Fylde was as satisfying an Orient win as any recently. Two early goals – admittedly a soft far-post header and soft penalty – rewarding some fine attacking football early on, before we kept a good passing side at arm's length after the break, largely nullifying the best striker in the division (Danny Rowe). While Solihull dropped points. I still think Salford will come on strong again, and there's always the risk of a fuck-up or two, but damnit, I likes this O's side.

[Satchmo Distel]

Stockport attendance 6,064 (538 away).

[E10 Rifle]

There was trouble at Telford too. One Orient fan reportedly knocked unconscious and attempts to attack fans on the way back to the station (some of our knuckleheads retaliated too).

But just a thing of unalloyed, implication-free joy to be at Wembley again. This time it won't be our most important game of the season, and the league is now ours to fuck up in usual heartbreaking fashion now. Imagine such a thing …

[Tony C]

Read a couple of reports which suggest the crowd was over 6,000 again at Stockport which is great. The less wonderful news is that a couple of Fylde players were apparently attacked while leaving the pitch. Some people really know how to make a mess of goodwill.

[slackster]

Bit gutted Fylde won that. Orient also in the Trophy final, with an added bonus that Super Kevin Lisbie will be on the Wembley double bill with Cray Valley PM in the Vase.

Good day in the League for Orient too. Solihull & Wrexham lost, and Salford only managed a draw, leaving us in the driving seat. Big game Tuesday night v Fylde that could see O’s cement our lead and effectively knock out one of the other remaining contenders for top spot...or start panicking again.

[Tony C]

Not strictly a Conference post but would have liked to have been at the Stockport- Fylde FA Trophy semi final today. County got over 6,000 for a league game recently so must have got similar today.

[E10 Rifle]

Surprised by that yeah, though they're a pretty tough old side, Barrow. Gave us a scare last week. I think this is gonna go down to the final weekend.

[elguapo4]

Wrexham certainly helped you last night, what a time to lose to mid table shufflers like Barrow.

[E10 Rifle]

Yeah I can't think of any ground that has changed as little as Aldershot has. Decent atmosphere-generating away end though really, for our level.

I'm not going to moan about our current tendency to scratch out wins, given some of the really exhiliarating stuff we played earlier in the season. I won't permit myself to mention that there are echoes of our 2005-06 promotion campaign, which also featured sparkling football in its first half and a string of narrow toughed-out wins towards the end. But I'm literally not allowed to talk about that.

[slackster]

Shots 1 - Orient 2

A win’s a win, and I’ll happily accept more like this until the end of the season, but by God we didn’t really deserve the 3 points. If you didn’t know the league table you’d never guess which team was top and which deep in relegation bother. Two decent corners and two top-drawer saves was enough for us, as Shots fluffed their other chances to punish us in a game they controlled for the opening and closing thirds.

A few words on the Recreation Ground. My first visit back there since 1987, and little has changed. Delapidated charm is one thing, but Away fans have to make a roundabout walk, including a trek through a dark muggers paradise of a park, to reach their turnstiles. The view from the shared covered stand behind the goal, shared with the more vocal home fans, is ruined by numerous stanchions, and the portakabin loos and 1 burger van were woefully insufficient for our 800 fans. Luckily it stayed dry & they opened a small uncovered terrace along the side too: I guess that doesn’t happen too often judging by the amount of slippy moss covering it. I doubt they have any money to change it, despite an ongoing deal with Chelsea to use the place - less than 1200 home fans there last night and a probable drop to step 2 wont help that either. They keep a decent pitch, mind.

[Sits]

Bloody accountants. Can't trust 'em.

[elguapo4]

Ouch! No club at that level can afford that.

[Sean of the Shed]

Financial assistant at AFC Fylde blew £250k of the club's money on gifts for a webcam model.

[E10 Rifle]

What Slackster said (including the sense of foreboding about Tuesday night). Wrexham were the better team in the first half, but we stepped it up after the break, Edinburgh made good substitutions and we probably shaded it. A word, too, about our defence: it's rare that you come away from a match basking in an individual centre-half's display, especially after a game like that, but Dan Happe's performance was staggeringly good yesterday.

[Sits]

Alan Devonshire and his flat cap, Manager of the Month as the mighty Magpies put some space between themselves and the drop.

[3 Colours Red]

Just heard the result, should be annoyed really but I'd much rather lose to Orient than Class of '92 (TM) City or AFC Vanity Project 2022.

[slackster]

Good day for Orient. Beat Wrexham (again!) with a deflected shot in an ugly game to go back top. Solihull lost. Fylde drew.

Now watch us go to useless Aldershot on Tuesday and throw in a stinker...

[Tapiocahead]

I was at Halifax on Tuesday, they didn't have to work very hard for their win and Barnet didn't look a happy team.