2007-2008 season

Season 2007/2008 started with the Under 15s manager Kevin Manson taking over the role of Chairman as Rovers longest serving official Greg Roney retired.

Keith Shrigley took over as manager of the U17’s, but unfortunately it became increasingly difficult to raise a full squad each week and they disbanded in January.

This was the clubs first season under its new name of Congleton Rovers. Two new mini-soccer teams were formed, the U9’s managed by Steve Conlon and U10’s managed by Chris Stockell.

At the end of the season chairman and U15’s manager Kevin Manson and Treasurer Joanne Wayne both retired.

Kevin had been particularly influencial in the clubs growth in that his earlier (and equally significant) endeavours in establishing and maintaining Congleton Hawks proved to be the ‘source’ and training camp for many of the boys and officials that went on to form 11-a-side Rovers teams.

Joanne for her part became the clubs first Treasurer at a critical stage of the clubs development. As finances and subscriptions threatened to get out of control, she organised standing orders and financial controls that left the club with a healthy balance sheet and well positioned to continue growing.

Our first season at eleven a side saw us being drawn in a very strong preliminary group along with Egerton, Middlewich and Holmes Chapel. The latter two ending the season finishing third and fourth respectively in Division One. Our first game saw us away to Middlewich and even though we more than matched them we came off losing the game 2-0. Further indifferent performances saw us finish the group in fourth and qualify for league Division 2.

Sandbach Utd and Egerton were in our division and rightly favourites for promotion with both teams questioning how they had ended up in very tough preliminary groups when there was obviously two weaker groups. The leagues �seeding� system appeared to have flaws as these teams felt that they should have been in division one. This all meant for us though that Division two was going to be a tough league with some quality teams to play.

Two successive cup matches were then played with Rovers beating Tarvin 1-0 to go into round two of the league cup. The second round saw us at home against Frodsham Park and Rovers crashed out going down 2-0 in a game that they had dominated. Indeed some of the excellent passing football shown in this game gave us a glimpse of what the team is capable of and was a pleasure to watch. The team adopted this flowing passing style all season and must have been one of the best to watch in the division.

We started our division two campaign strongly with good victories over Kingsmead, Weaverham and a thriller against Cuddington. There were many highlights of the season, Tytherington away, Grappenhall at home, Cuddington away with 10 men, Egerton at home, however the game against unbeaten Sandbach has to be right up there. The boys came within minutes of defeating promoted Sandbach on their own patch with a committed and mature performance that should give us confidence for the future.

We finished the season well with a great win against Weaverham and ended up in fifth place missingout on promotion by just one place, which is a tremendous achievement and a credit to the lads. Especially when you consider we have only been together for two years unlike most other teams that have been running from U7�s. We have a team spirit second to none and play the game in the right way always letting our football do the talking . We had no problem in scoring goals throughout the season, some of them absolute screamers aswell. If we can improve on the goals conceded tally then next season should see us go from strength to strength.

Well done�.

*Player Awards 2007-08*

Player of the Year – Zak Roberts
Player’s Player – Matt Lakin
Supporter’s Player – Olly Long
Clubman of the Year – Matt Edge
Most Improved Player – Alex Jackson
Golden Boot – Tom Key

Squad Stats 2007-08
Player Appearances: Goals/Clean sheets () for gk & defenders

Max Rogers 24: (1)
Olly Long 23: 3
Mark Joyce 24: 2 + (1)
Tristan Cumberland 15:
Will Percival 23: 1+ (1)
Lee Tayler 24: 1 +(1)
Joey Griffiths 11: 4
Tom Leese 24: 7
Matt Edge 25: 5
Tom Key 22: 15
Kyle Jones 12: 1
Zak Roberts 23: (1)
Alex Jackson 22: 2
Tom Summerfield 24: 5
Matt Lakin 24: 11
Shaun Watson 21:

Total Goals: 58(1 og)
Clean Sheets: 1

Having finished 8th in Division 3 as Under 11�s in 2006-07 and lost their two Players of the Year to other teams, it was with some trepidation that Rovers U12�s started the 2007-08 season. There were also 5 new faces to the smaller squad of 14 and the manager was a little anxious as we set out on the long trip to Frodsham Park, who had come down from Division 2 the previous season. In truth Rovers were outplayed by a superior outfit and ended up losing 4-0, however the manager did see signs of promise and hoped the new squad would blend well.
A first win of the season followed in a close match against Davenham Rangers who had finished 3 points ahead of us the previous season. It was also nice for the manager to see his converted centre back Lomas getting amongst the goals.
Then on to the big one, the local derby against Vale Magpies. This was Rovers best performance of the season and they scored the goal of the season to go 1 nil up, a team effort from back to front using the wings and a nice one-two before a superb finish by Gravett. The second was a superb free kick by Lacey to get him off the mark, and Lomas got his second hat-trick in succession for Rovers to win 5-2.
A hard fought 2-1 win against new boys Winsford Junior Blues had the manager dreaming of promotion.
Then on to the League Cup where Rovers drew 1st Division opposition for the 3rd time in succession to play Hartford Boys. Rovers played really well and were on the wrong end of a couple of decisions which led to the half time score being 3-1, when 1 each would have been fairer. 1st Division class told in the end and a 6-1 defeat was probably a fair reflection on the game.
Black October had the manager questioning his players desire as well as the fans questioning the manager! Two defeats in succession in the league, first to the classy Northwich Victoria 4-0, but then a 7-2 slaughter to Egerton Lions who are a team of similar ability�..the less said about that, the better!
The FA Cup gave a chance for Rovers to avenge the opening day defeat to Frodsham Park and that�s just what they did. On a ridiculously foggy morning Rovers ran out 3-2 winners to progress to the second round of a cup competition for the first time, and again it was the new front partnership of Lomas and Lacey with the goals.
A comfortable win against bottom club Egerton Tigers followed and set us up for a clash we needed to win against top of the table Rudheath if we were to keep pace with the top 3 teams. Rovers were not outplayed and only a couple of mistakes and near misses led to a 2-0 defeat.
Another magical last minute win in the return match versus Vale Magpies again made us look towards the promotion places, however the Christmas break seemed to take it�s toll as we were hammered 8-0 in the cup to 1st Division Sandbach Eagles (not a bad result and a good battling performance) and then injuries and absence led to an 11-0 thrashing by the new league leaders Northwich Victoria.
Comfortable wins over Egerton Tigers and Witton Villa led us into a crunch game with Rudheath which we had to win to have any hope of challenging. When we took the lead through a great goal by Parker, and with Beasley again in fine form the manager was dreaming again. However a scrambled goal before half time and two screamers in the second half led to a 3-1 defeat. Another win against Witton Villa ( much more hard fought than the first) took us to the crunch game against Winsford Junior Blues who had been improving all season and were now just 6 points behind Rovers with a game in hand. Disaster struck with players arriving late and the heavens opening to leave Rovers totally outplayed and losing 5-0. A good recovery and late win at Davenham with a good goal from Hurst, some great goalkeeping and a tidy last minute winner from Gravett set us back on the winning track. Frodsham Park then brought their �A� game to Rovers to win 5-1 although the game was closer than the scoreline suggests.
So to the last game of the season on a day which saw the manger up at 7.30am desperately trying to clear 2 inches of snow from the pitch, which as it turned out he could have stayed in bed because it had all melted by kick off!
Rovers made hard work against the under strength Egerton Lions, but ran out 3-0 winners to cement 4th place and 30 points. A big improvement on 8th place and 13 points from the previous season.
Thanks to all you lads for all your hard work and efforts during the year, and thanks to the parents for your support. Roll on next season.
Statistics
Name Apps Goals (Clean sheet for GK)
Gravett 21 15
Beasley(GK) 21 3
Kruze 19 1
Parker 19 11
Hurst 19 4
Farrall 19 4
Weatherby 17 1
Cameron 20 0
Thomason 21 0
Lomas 16 16
Roberts 19 5
Lacey 21 9
Needham 21 0
Hulme 15 4

Having been squeezed into 3rd place last season by Witton Villa & Northwich Vics our ambitions for promotion into Division 2 were dashed. Our target at the start of this season was to make sure of it, by nothing less than winning the league!

What should have been an easy start proved to be anything but when Egerton Lions opened the scoring in the 1st game of the season. We eventually won the game but it wasn’t pretty! But we started to get it together against Goostrey winning 5-1 with one of our new signings Joe Copeland shining at Centre Back.

Our first cup game of the year – away at 1st Division Rudheath – came as a shock as their enormous (6ft+) Centre Forward scored 3 quick goals in the opening 15 minutes of the game. A defensive readjustment to what was then to become the default back 4 of Hill, Copeland, Spooner and Hibbert stemmed the flow, but it was a long way back. Our other new signing and now resident Left-Winger, Luke Shields, opened his account for Rovers. But despite tremendous efforts by Goostrey, Ratcliffe and Wilson and a spectacular lob by Hill we exited the league cup in the first round.

The next game was key to our league ambitions. Barnton were our biggest threat this season and it was important that we win this away fixture. From the whistle Rovers were the better team with Hancock (Lankie) scoring 2 in the first 5 minutes and a hat-trick by half-time. The fixture was won and the scene set for the following games.

The strong defensive platform that this team was built on was now beginning to bear fruit. Crosby’s performance in goal was improving week-on-week. The back four of Hill, Copeland, Spooner and Hibbert began to look like a brick wall and with Goostrey and Ratcliffe dominant in Central midfield the scene was set to push for league success. The next 7 games up to the Christmas break saw Rovers concede only 2 goals!

At the other end of the pitch there were some equally remarkable statistics were being recorded. Carter�s new role joining Moss and Cooper as attacking midfielders was paying dividends. Wilson and Shields pace and passing on the wings combined with Hancock and David-Browns awesome goal-scoring abilities ensured that during the same period Rovers scored 43 goals!

Although we�d already staked a great claim to the league title there was still work to do and Barnton and Wilmslow gave us a scare around the time of the Christmas break. But it wasn�t long before normal service was resumed beating Daveham 9-0.

A favourable draw in the District Cup back in November allowed Rovers to sweep aside Egerton Lions 7-1 and then Macc Tigers 9-3 in round 2. But that�s when things got tricky – drawing last years Division 1 League champs Holmes Chapel in the 3rd round � quarter finals.

Rovers strong defence held Holmes Chapel whilst Wilson’s pace and Hancock’s clinical finishing put them ahead and when Hancock put Shields through to record Rovers second it was clear there was a distinct possibility of an upset. Holmes Chapel attacked during the 2nd half but awesome defending – including goal-line clearances by Wilson and Spooner meant Rovers had made the semi-finals. A remarkable achievement especially as Holmes Chapel went on to defend their league title and added to that by doing the ‘double’ lifting the League Cup. In a final twist to this tremendous day, we also won the League with 4 games still to play as our nearest rivals unexpectedly lost.

The semi-final a week later was a disappointment by contrast. With a key defender out injured and a 30mph gale blowing off the Mersey over Frodsham’s tiny Saltworks pitch, this was never going to be a good game. Rovers conceded 3 unusual goals in the last 5 minutes of the 1st half and failed to get their attack going in the 2nd half. And so exited theis cup in the penultimate round – a good experience nonetheless.

The final four league games saw a strong and confident Rovers concede only 1 goal and score 33! Finishing the season with a maximum 54 points – 18 games, 18 wins and 100 goals scored. Alex, the Cuddington manager awarded us with the trophy after the last game and we all celebrated at the Railway Inn with drinks, chips and butties!

A tremendously successful season and one everybody has enjoyed. Our thanks go out to the Mid-Cheshire Youth League, The FA, Louise Robinson (CHS), Paddy & The Cycle Store (sponsors), Liz & Joanne (Rovers admin), Dave, Daniel and Ben and Gerry Sweeney and all the referees this season, all the opposition managers and all the mums, dads and relatives for all their input in making this happen – and finally Sharon for all the Jaffa Cakes and oranges.

Division 2 here we come!!!!

Awards
——-
Players Player of the Year – Jack Spooner
Supporters Player of the Year – Jordan Ratcliffe
Sportsman of the Year – Chris Hibbert
Best All Rounder – Harley Cooper
Golden Boot – Andrew David-Brown

The season started well with new signing Matt Finch regulary finding the net. A very respectable top 4 position by October and a serious challenge in the League Cup against Egertons 1st team. But having missed out to a Golden Goal in extra time in what was possibly the pinnacle of the season the wheels seemed to develop a bit of a ‘wobble’.

The lads managed to recover from their 3 defeats on the bounce but in the run-in to the end of the season results slowly got worse. Teams we would normally beat were taking the points and we finished a sorry 4th from bottom.

The Railway Inn helped us drown our sorrows and put a smile back on our faces. We can go forward into next season determined to do better, bolstered by our new recruits.

A big thank you to Kevin and Carl for all their efforts this season.