Report: 2008/2009 Season Review

For their first time in the top flight everyone would have thought it would have been a season of consolidation but eight months later the team was disappointed it hadn’t done better than they had.
Pre-season and there was a flurry of new signings as Paul Stewart, Mike Rutter, Dave Ford, Stephen Greenfield, Mikey Kearney, Stewart McIvor, Stuart Travis and Joseph Knox all signed on alongside regulars Jamie, Dava, Nick,  Lee, Harper, Booey, Crozzer, Maggot, Pete and Machin. Machin moved to pastures new after only 2 games and Pete soon followed, Lee retired to spend time with his baby and they lost Travis who got a nasty leg injury not once but twice. However they soon recruited Anthony Morris, Danny Jones and that was the way it was for quite a while.
After 4 pre-season friendlies (3 wins and a draw) the Village kicked off their season in Sept in the Wirral Cup against the one of the two sides in their division that would soon fold. Despite only winning 3-2 the victory was more comfortable than it seemed especially as half a dozen players didn’t make the match for one reason or another. The other game in Sept saw them play and lose their first Div 1 league but this was a game they dominated, could only score one goal in the first half when well on top and paid the price by letting in two second half goals.
On to October after a three week break due to bad weather the Village played the first of 3 games, two of which were cup matches. Up first was another Wirral cup tie, this time against old foes Wirral Wanderers and the Village ran out easy winners. Next up was The Crown in the Regent Cup and the Village just edged it thanks to a last minute winner from Booey. These last two games would see the last of both Martin and Jason (both Village Hotel boys) as they played their last games for the side. The final match of the month was against potential league favourites Future and this would be the closest the Village would get to beating them as they gained a draw but should have won in the dying moments but Rutter miscued a golden chance.
November would turn out to the busiest month of the season as all five Saturday’s saw games played on them. 3 league matches which gave the side 2 wins and a first home defeat of the campaign. The 2 cup games saw the side lose their first quarter final as they lost to one of the Chester League teams in the only game where they would fail to score. The other cup game saw them overcome the eventual Div 2 Champions Sheridan’s on a pitch which resembled a mud bath. The two wins in the league saw the team register their biggest win in a game as they trounced Moreton 6-2 with Maggot bagging 4 goals and then beat arch rivals Corsair who fielded 2 ex Villages players in probably their best win of the campaign. The league defeat was also the match which was covered in controversy as they lost to Universal Windows but at least they saw the arrival of Danny Jones for his first game and the return of Stewy Morrell.
No games were played at all in December due to the bad weather and it was a full 7 weeks before they got back playing in mid January. However they managed 3 games but 2 of them would end in losses. The first game back saw them put in another decent performance as they beat another local rival side The Crown 3-1 that saw the return of Peter Byrne and a second debut albeit a few years on for Danny Beattie. Then in the return match with Corsair they let themselves down and lost but this game was decided on a penalty that was given and one a few minutes later that wasn’t. Final game of the month saw the Village in their second quarter final but they never really showed up on the day and were well beaten by Future. This would be Jay’s final game of the season as he broke his arm during the following week and it was something that the team never really recovered from as they would end up having four different keepers before the end of the season.
So to February and their most successful month as all 3 games ended in wins. Up first were Shaftesbury and the side just edged it thanks to goals from Maggot as they saw both Chris Brennan and Colin Williams make their long awaited debuts and Crozzer play his first game between the sticks for a very long time. Then came the comeback of the year as the team trailed 0-3 with less than 30 minutes left yet ended up winning 4-3. Andy Davies made his debut in goal and was the happiest of them all when they got a 94th minute winner from Mikey. Final game of the month would turn out to be their final win of the campaign. Against the bottom side the team on a difficult pitch ran out easy winners over Moreton with Spud getting a rare goal. Highlight of the match was a superb own goal from the home right back.
The reasons why there would be an end of season slump were probably all down to the first game in March as the side played the return match with Future. On a run of three straight wins the Village played their best football of the season in the first 45 as they led 1-0 at half time. They should have been ahead by more but then a couple of goalkeeping errors and a disputed penalty saw them lose a thriller 3-4. The only consolation was a wonder goal from Dava which would duly go on and win Goal of the Season. Next game was their third quarter final of the season this time in the Victory Cup against The Crown and once again they would miss out on reaching a semi final. This time the game went to extra time with the team’s level at 2-2 after 90 minutes but another error proved costly and a couple of decisions that went against them didn’t help. The following week saw the side play The Crown in a league game and once again it ended all square with Buntzy scoring a double. Final game of a disappointing month saw the side make another great comeback but they should never have been in that position in the first place. Trailing 1-3 they nicked a draw against Shaftesbury thanks to yet another Maggot hat-trick
April saw only two matches and both were against the eventual champions Claughton Hotel. Both were tight affairs and the Village were disappointed they were unable to take at least one point from them. This was especially true from the first encounter down at Claughton as they dominated the opening 45, were ahead by a Booey goal and should have led by more. Claughton came back well in the second half and just pipped the Village for the points. Two weeks later in the return that was played at Plymyards the Village had a poor first half and trailed by 2 goals, did much better in the second and cut the arrears but couldn’t get that equaliser.
Having had to wait for a couple of weeks the side ended up playing their final game in May and yet another point dropped as they drew again. A game where they created numerous chances, led 1-0 but then found themselves trailing and had to rely on another late-late goal to salvage some pride.
So to sum up, the side would have probably been happy to finish exactly half way and reach 3 quarter finals at the start of the campaign especially with the number of new arrivals but there was disappointment right through the club at the end that they hadn’t done better. No excuses but it did prove that when you have a reliable and ever present goalkeeper you have a good base to start with.