Premiership A team
A good set of results was required to keep Stamford's season alive and with a number of key players on foreign duty this was going to be a tough set of fixtures.
First up Long Bennington, in a similar league position at the start of play this was never going to be a push over. Stamford dominated for much of the game and deserved a 1-0 victory with a nice goal from the excellent Alan Cook. Stamford 1 Long Bennington 0.
Next up, and promising to be a more difficult task were Grimsby Corinthians. Grimsby took the lead putting Stamford on the back foot, a position which we can find difficult to recover from. However too much running by the Grimsby players allowed Stamford to equalise through a well taken Colin Barrett penalty. Now back in control the winning goal was scored by Paul Humphries with a low shot under the keeper. A really excellent result. Stamford 2 Grimsby 1.
The final fixture of the day against Boston was highly competitive with both teams allowing meagre opportunities to their opponents. Appropriately the match was drawn. Stamford 0 Boston 0.
These results leave Stamford with a chance of league glory. Every member of the squad played and contributed in a positive, constructive manner and deserved to be successful.
Squad:
Alan Cook
Colin Barrett
Dave Moore
Iain Ross
Paul Archer
Paul Humphries
Phil Hall
Championship B team
The B team squad was somewhat more experimental that would normally be the case, with a number of players on foreign duty.
The first match was against Lincoln Invictus. Each team had roughly equal share of the play but Stamford snatched a winning goal when Peter Beyer popped up on the right with a good finish high inside the goalkeepers near post. Stamford 1 Lincoln 0, the Bs first win of the season.
The next fixture was against Grimsby Ancient Mariners. Stamford had a reasonable amount of possession but did not convert this into goals, unfortunately Grimsby did, three times. Stamford's David Hampson scored a good goal but this was a little too late to influence the result. Stamford 1 Grimsby 3.
The final fixture was against Skegness, a strong team. Stamford were feeling the pace a little bit and the marking was getting a little haphazard. The first half was more competitive than the second and Skegness had scored four goals before Iain Ross walked past the entire Skegness team, toe punting the ball under the keeper for Stamford's only goal. Again too late to influence the outcome! Stamford 1 Skegness 4.
Everyone in the squad got to contribute and were positive in their approach. Although Stamford conceded goals they did produce their first win of the season, well done to everyone in the squad.
Squad:
Carl Richards
Dave Forth
Dave Hampson
Dave Moore
Iain Ross
Mike Kirkham
Peter Beyer
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