Stevenage embark on another FA Cup journey this weekend as they travel up to Stoke to face League 2 side Port Vale. This time last year we were preparing for another trip up the M1, that time it was to Leicester, who comfortably beat us 3-0 at the Walkers Stadium. Now though, Boro are a much improved and experienced team. A year ago Westley was still trying to find his best side and had major problems at the back. That isn’t the case now. Boro are unbeaten since August when Blue Square Premier leaders Oxford beat them 2-1 at the Kassam Stadium. Port Vale are also in good form and it should be interesting to find out what kind of gap there is between the Conference and League 2.
As the Comet reported today, Boro are still without Andy Drury, Lee Boylan and Darren Murphy. None of these being unavailable for the game are big surprises so I imagine it will be a similar line up as to what faced Kettering last Saturday. The only change I can see GW making is bringing in Mitchell Cole for Chris Beardsley. Cole always seems to find extra motivation for the bigger games, while Beardsley didn’t set the world alight last weekend against his former club.
Port Vale received a boost this week after finding out that in form loanee Lewis Haldane has been granted permission to play in this weekend’s fixture. Haldane is on loan at Vale Park from Bristol Rovers and is well known to Boro supporters as he had a loan spell at BSP rivals Oxford last season. On the down side, defender Sam Stockley has been forced to retire from the game due to injury. Manager Micky Adams has been shortlisted for the League 2 manager of the month after an unbeaten record and his Vale side are now safe in mid-table after a poor start to the campaign.
Boro’s opponents this weekend have already had some good experiences in the cup competitions so far this season. Vale beat both Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday in the Carling Cup before being knocked out by Scunthorpe United. They’ve also reached the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Northern Section Quarter Final against Bradford City after beating Stockport 3-1 in early October. Stevenage have only played the one cup game this season and that was in the last round against Chelmsford, which we won 2-1.
It’s quite a difficult game to call. Both sides have some form behind them and are tough teams to beat. Stevenage haven’t lost in over 2 months and will not just be looking for the draw and a replay. Boro will go there to win. However, Micky Adams has got Vale going now and his side are unbeaten in 7. They nearly beat high-flying Dagenham last time out, but for a late Josh Scott equaliser.
Obviously the league 2 side are the favourites for the game, but I wouldn’t rule us out. In my opinion, I think our better performances have come away from home so far this season. Mansfield and Luton come to mind. We’re getting better at going to the ‘big’ clubs and getting a result and I wouldn’t be surprised to see us pull this one out of the bag either.
Stevenage Squad
Ashley Bayes, Chris Day, Scott Laird, Ronnie Henry, Jon Ashton, Mark Roberts, Mark Albrighton, Eddie Odhiambo, Michael Bostwick, Stacy Long, David Bridges, Joel Byrom, Mitchell Cole, Yemi Odubade, Charlie Griffin, Chris Beardsley, Peter Vincenti
Stevenage have ended their interest in Michael Brough, for now. Graham Westley told the Comet that the two clubs have failed to agree a new loan deal and that any deal is a long way off. Westley stated that he wanted to keep the multi-functional player, but with the clubs not being able to agree a deal, the Boro boss may have to look elsewhere for enforcements to his squad.
Fortunately the return of David Bridges from a long term injury has softened the blow of losing Brough. Bridges returned to the Boro squad in the FA Cup Qualifying game at Chelmsford and then made his first start of the season on Saturday against Kettering, maintaining his unbeaten record as a Stevenage player. However, Stevenage do miss Brough’s versatility. Brough played in a variety of different positions while back at Broadhall Way and impressed in each. His stand-out performance for me was when he covered for Ronnie Henry at right back against Luton. He kept their left winger out of the game and was exceptional going forward too.
I think we do need someone in the squad like that. We have Vincenti who can play in midfield as well as up front and we have a few players who can play varying positions, but Brough was someone you could stick in any position and be confident he would do a job for you. The only other player I can think of in our current squad that has the same versatile qualities as Brough is Eddie Odhiambo who I think has improved massively this season. His attitude has been first class and he gives Westley a few more options.
Away from Stevenage and news filtered through this evening that ex Boro striker Anthony Elding has joined Kettering on a 2 month loan deal. Elding previously played for the Poppies for a short while after leaving Boro in 2006. His stay at Rockingham Road was short lived though and he moved back to Boston United the following summer. I think Mark Cooper has signed a quality player and if he can handle Elding’s ‘attitude’ then Kettering could be a force to be reckoned with in the coming months. I wasn’t that impressed with them on Saturday, but with one of their key players in Andre Boucaud coming back from injury and Elding being joined by Simon Heslop as well, then I think Cooper’s side are going to improve ahead of the Christmas schedule.
Lastly, Stevenage Borough U18’s actually won a game, beating Boreham Wood 2-1. It makes a change from the reserves being stuffed, which featured a lot of the youth players in.
Reports over the weekend linked former Boro favourite and now Peterborough forward George Boyd with a £6m move to Tottenham. Boyd has been arguably the Posh’s best player in their first season in the Championship so far and his recent form is thought to have alerted Premier League clubs to making an offer. Peterborough’s director of football, Barry Fry has since cooled the rumours by stating he has received no offers for either Boyd or Craig Mackail-Smith, but it’s unlikely that will be enough to stop the rumours if Boyd continues his superb form.
“I have had no contact from Harry Redknapp about Boyd or Gordon Strachan about Mackail-Smith so there is nothing in those reports.” Fry on reports linking Boyd with Tottenham
Of course if Boyd does go onto make a multi-million pound move to the top flight then it’s thought that Stevenage are entitled to 40% of whatever the fee is. With the money that is being suggested at the moment, it could mean Boro receiving a seven figure sum for a player they got for nothing after he was released as a youngster from Charlton Athletic. Boyd moved to the EFCO scheme at Broadhall Way and was given his chance in the first team by Graham Westley.
Although Boyd was an emerging talent back then, it wasn’t really until the 2006/2007 season when his career started to gather pace. Mark Stimson saw his potential and moved him from the left wing to an attacking midfield position partnering Steve Morison in Boro’s attack and Boyd excelled in the more central role. He was involved in all of Boro’s attacks, linking well with Dobson, Morison and the experienced Steve Guppy. His superb form that season earned him a move into League 2 with Peterborough who paid a record £260,000 for his services plus the well known 40% sell-on clause if he ever got his ‘big’ move into the Premier League.
However, there are now some questionmarks over whether Boro will actually receive the windfall they’re expecting to. Rumours are gathering that if a Premier League club do end up making an offer for Boyd, then it’s likely that Fry will negotiate an increased ‘loan’ fee and sell off Boyd for a smaller sum, allowing Posh to keep the ‘increased’ loan fee and just give Stevenage 40% of the lower transfer fee. It sounds like a typical Barry Fry business deal to me.
Hopefully Phil Wallace and Boro thought of this when they agreed to sell him to Peterborough back in 2007 because it will be gutting if Boro lose out on £2m +. In some ways it shouldn’t be allowed to happen. There should be something in the rules that protects the smaller clubs when it comes to transfer deals like this. Fry will go down in my estimations if this ends up being the case as it wasn’t that long ago that his club nearly went out of business and were begging for money to stay afloat. Sky’s ‘You’re the Manager’ comes to mind!
Whatever happens, January could be an interesting month if the ‘White Pele’ carries on the way he’s playing and earns himself a big move to the top flight.
Stevenage will get home this evening and wonder how they didn’t end up taking all 3 points after a dominant second half performance. Although Kettering had a couple of opportunities in added time, the second half was mostly at the other end as a host of Boro players missed chances to give the Hertfordshire side the victory. Westley opted to use a 4-3-3 formation with Chris Beardsley coming in to face his old club. Eddie Odhiambo was dropped to the bench. Andy Drury also missed out due to injury and was replaced by David Bridges who made his first start of the season.
The game couldn’t of started better. Boro were awarded a free-kick about 25 yards out and a weak Joel Byrom effort ended in the back of the net after a huge error by Poppies goalkeeper Lee Harper. The former Arsenal and Northampton stopper allowed the ball to somehow go under his big frame and into the goal. It was the perfect start for Westley’s side. Stevenage continued to attack after the goal. Yemi Odubade’s pace was a threat in behind the Kettering defence and Scott Laird and Ronnie Henry were bursting forward at every opportunity.
After a dominating opening spell, Kettering began to get a foothold back in the game. Moses Ashikodi was becoming a growing threat to the Boro backline and along with the aerial presence of Damian Spencer, you felt Boro wouldn’t be able to just settle for the 1 goal. That proved to be the case as a mix up in defence between Ashton and Day allowed ex Watford striker Ashikodi to get the ball and slot it into an empty net. It was a soft goal to concede.
Stevenage had another few chances before half-time including a long range effort that just went wide of Harper’s post. Both sides went in at half-time level although the away side would be the more happier with their performance.
The second half was mostly dominated by Stevenage, but they couldn’t turn that possession into goals as the team again missed big chances to go back in front. Chris Beardsley never looked capable of scoring today and he missed a golden opportunity late on after being put clean through. You can tell now why his goal record isn’t anything to shout about at his previous clubs. Today he just seemed off the pace. He was quite slow and his first touch was poor. He’ll need to show a lot more in training next week if he is to start at Port Vale on Saturday.
Charlie Griffin also missed another simple chance in the air, while Bostwick and Bridges also went close. Without Boylan, Boro don’t seem to have a natural finisher in the side at the moment. I’m confident that if he’d been fit to play today then we may have won the game. Kettering were there for the taking and unfortunately we weren’t clinical enough to take all 3 points. Francis Green had a big chance late on which brought the best out of Chris Day at his near post, but that would have been harsh on Boro who didn’t deserve to lose.
In the end, a point isn’t a bad result away from home against one of the contenders for the play-offs at the end of the season, but I felt we played quite well today and were unlucky not to win the game. Next up for us is Port Vale in the FA Cup and they drew 1-1 today with Dagenham. They’re also 7 games unbeaten so it should be a good game.
Boro face arguably their biggest game of the season against 3rd place Kettering Town at Rockingham Road this weekend. Graham Westley’s side, who currently sit 2nd, are six points behind table toppers Oxford United while Kettering are a point further back of Boro, but have a game in hand. 3 points in Northamptonshire would give Boro a bit of breathing space as they challenge for top spot.
Last season’s visit to Kettering was not a pleasant one. Westley’s newly formed side were struggling to find their feet and were in the bottom half of the table, while Mark Cooper’s team, promoted the previous season from the Conference North, were flying high in the top half of the division. In what was a close game, Stevenage lost 1-0 thanks to a first half Chris Beardsley strike, although they dominated the game late on and were unlucky not to come home with a point. The reverse fixture at Broadhall Way was a much more memorable game. Boro were beginning to reach top gear in the second half of the campaign and beat their play-off rivals thanks to a late Peter Vincenti winner. Sound familiar?
Westley is expected to keep faith with the team that started the FA Cup game last weekend at Chelmsford. The only changes I can see happening could be Mitchell Cole coming in for Eddie Odhiambo and Chris Beardsley coming back into the starting 11 to face his former club. Kettering lost influential defender Guy Branston in the summer and attacker Craig Westcarr to Burton and Notts County respectively, but again Mark Cooper has bought wisely in the summer. Francis Green, Ian Roper and Moses Ashikodi are just some of the signings that have already impressed the Poppies faithful. Ashikodi has been injured recently, but is expected to face Boro on Saturday.
Kettering is of course one of Westley’s former club’s and there has always been a bit of a rivalry between the clubs down the years. I remember that there was even a bit of crowd trouble before one of the games about 10-12 years ago, which is unheard of at Broadhall Way. The importance of the fixture has ‘watered down’ in recent years mainly due to Kettering being relegated from the top tier of the Conference in the early millenium. However, with both clubs challenging at the top again, the game has added importance again.
In the many trips I’ve made up the A14 in the past, I’ve always rather enjoyed going to Rockingham Road, although the ground is a dump. As usual, the Boro fans will be ‘housed’ at the end near the main stand with no roof. We usually take a fair number up there though and I don’t see any reason why we can’t do the same on Saturday. Boro’s away form has been good this season, with just the one defeat so far at Oxford. If we can play as well as did against the likes of Mansfield and Luton then I think we will win the game. Boro worked extremely hard in both of those games and will need to do the same to get anything from Kettering.
Stevenage Squad
Ashley Bayes, Chris Day, Scott Laird, Ronnie Henry, Jon Ashton, Mark Roberts, Mark Albrighton, Eddie Odhiambo, Michael Bostwick, Stacy Long, David Bridges, Darren Murphy, Andy Drury, Joel Byrom, Mitchell Cole, Yemi Odubade, Lee Boylan, Charlie Griffin, Chris Beardsley, Peter Vincenti
Boro made hard work of it, but made it through safely to the 1st round proper of the FA Cup after beating Chelmsford City at Melbourne Park. Graham Westley named a strong side, knowing that the Blue Square South side would be no pushovers. Eddie Odhiambo came back into the side on the left wing while Yemi Odubade once again partnered the in form Charlie Griffin upfront. Chelmsford had some familiar faces in their line up with John Martin starting and Ollie Berquez and Danny Hockton on the bench.
The first half was a funny affair. Boro had the majority of possession, but didn’t do anything with it. In fact, I don’t remember their goalkeeper having to make a save in the first 45 minutes. Chelmsford defended well, but to be honest, Stevenage lacked a killer touch in the final third to make their dominance pay off. Chelmsford were the ones though who took the lead against the run of play. Rob Edmans, who impressed in attack got the goal, rounding Chris day before slotting into an empty net.
To be fair, Boro never panicked and always looked capable of creating chances to get back into the game. Michael Bostwick was closing everything down in midfield while the pace of Yemi was always an outlet Boro could look to exploit. Westley’s side went in at half time 1-0 down, but not out of the tie by a long way.
Stevenage were by far the better side in the second half. Chelmsford were barely given a chance to extend their lead as the Blue Square Premier side tried to get back into the game. Although the team created chances, either the final ball was lacking or the finishing was not good enough. Boro went more direct in the second half with Griffin the aim, but he hardly won a ball in the air all afternoon. The former Salisbury man was also guilty of missing some chances, but got it right in the end when he guided a Joel Byrom cross into Ashley Harrison’s net. It was a simple goal that had been coming for a while.
Boro were back in the game and there only looked like one team that could go on and win it. Westley brought on Cole to try and inject some pace into the side, but he failed to make an impact on the game. Griffin then went from hero to zero when he missed a glaring open goal. The game looked like it was petering out to a draw and a replay as Boro were failing to make their chances count. GW threw on Peter Vincenti in the hope that the supersub would again save Boro. Yemi Odubade, who was becoming a growing threat to the tiring City backline worked his way down the right flank before his cross found Vincenti who stroked the ball home. It had come late, but it was good enough to put the Hertfordshire side into the 1st round proper and earn themselves a trip up to Port Vale in just under 2 weeks time.
Boro have a break from league action this Saturday as the FA Cup campaign starts against Chelmsford City. It was only a few months ago that Boro faced Chelmsford in a pre-season friendly where Charlie Griffin and Chris Beardsley both scored Boro won by 2-1.
Chelmsford find themselves in 11th place in Conference South despite winning 3 of their last 5 league games. In the cup they have certainly for pedigree for success by scoring 9 goals in their two FA Cup games this season albeit against lower opposition. Saturday will be a massive test for Chelmsford and potentially a big scalp but certainly will not be easy for Boro either as a big crowd is expected and huge optimism in the local area. Chelmsford have several well known players who have played against us and played for us in the past. Danny Hockton, John Martin and Ollie Berquez are all part of the setup and could face their former team. Former Daggers midfielder David Rainford and Histon forward Antonio Murray are other threats Chelmsford possess and are certainly a team capable to causing an upset. Chelmsford have a strange ground with a running track around the edge and one stand to speak of it does have plenty of space to stand and a few seats stuck to a wall opposite the main stand.
“I was lucky to be involved in a quarter-final match at Ipswich Town and it still holds its magic for everyone. The support of the fans on the day will be enormous and I’m not sure our supporters realise how important they are. When we have a big crowd who are fully behind the lads it gives them such a massive lift and when away sides come here and are up against that wall of sound it can have a deflating effect on them. The Claret Army are vital and they can be that twelfth man for us.” Chelmford veteran Steve Ward on his teams chances (CCFC Official site).
For Stevenage it’s another chance to cement a place in history in a competition that has brought some success in the past. We all remember the big games such as Newcastle, Birmingham and Leicester and I’m sure Graham Westley and his players would all love to get the opportunity to face a big team again and possibly make a name for themselves. Westley took Farnborough to Highbury to lose 5-1 to Arsenal before his controversial move to Broadhall Way in 2003. It’s a welcome break and a good opportunity to play some other players who haven’t played too many games this season such as Stacy Long and Peter Vincenti.
Team News
Boro have no new injury injury concerns after the goalless draw against Wrexham on Tuesday however Andy Drury is a doubt after picking up a knock against Salisbury. Michael Brough is unlikely to play after his loan spell finished this week and no new deal has been confirmed. Mitchell Cole managed 45 minutes against Wrexham could start and the FA Cup could invite some fringe players to get a rare start. David Bridges and Lawrie Wilson are out however Eddie Odhiambo could feature.
Chelmsford have a couple of injury problems including former Boro man Ollie Berquez and defender Ben Martin who are almost certain to miss tomorrows game with a foot and hamstring injury respectively. Danny Hockton could be fit but will face a late fitness test.
In other news Stevenage reserves were thrashed 7-1 by Colchester on Wednesday night. A very young side was put out against what has to be said a fairly strong Colchester team which included Steven Gillespie, Alan Maybury, Matt Heath, Simon Hackney and Paul Reid. Two hammering defeats in a row leave Boro languishing at the bottom of the reserve league.
It was a frustrating night at the Lamex Stadium last night as Boro were held to a 0-0 draw by Wrexham. It wasn’t the best game you will ever see and with the rain just before the game the pitch was very slick which made it difficult to control for both sides. Boro made one change to Saturday with Chris Beardsley starting in place of Andy Drury who again seems to be struggling to keep fit this season. With Beardsley starting alongside Yemi Odubade and Charlie Griffin in a 3 man attack. Wrexham’s team included veteran’s Frank Sinclair and Gareth Taylor and former Boro man Ashley Westwood was on the bench.
The game started slowly and the fist half chance came to Wrexham as Marc Williams shot from distance straight to Chris Day. Boro went close from Charlie Griffin who found himself on the end of Scott Laird’s cross and after missing his first shot completely his second attempt was smartly saved by Maxwell in the Wrexham goal. Boro continued to press with little end product which told a story of the night from both teams really. Yemi continued to work hard up front but found the conditions difficult and the general feeling was in the first half we lacked width with Brough moving inside from the left most of the time.
Gareth Taylor was then ridiculed by Boro fans for elbowing Scott Laird half hour in. What most annoyed me however was the back chat between Laird and Taylor. As Boro kept pressing Wrexham were a bit more relaxed and seemed to be playing for the draw similar to Salisbury on Saturday. Griffin headed wide and Murphy also had an effort but failed to test Maxwell.
The second half saw Mitchell Cole introduced in place of Chris Beardsley who never really settled on the left. Cole certainly gave more width on the left however he only had a couple of chances to really run at Curtis Obeng however the right back’s pace also kept Cole fairly quiet. It seemed a shame that Cole or Yemi weren’t given a chance to run at Frank Sinclair who looked uncomfortable for most of the evening and when tested we seemed to get success. Plenty of direct balls into the box towards Griffin who was marked extremely well by Mansour Assoumani and dominated most aerial battles. When Cole came on, Brough moved to right wing and I thought did quite well however when Stacy Long is available on the bench and a lot more suited to that position, why does Westley seem to over look the former Ebbsfleet man. I think Long needs a chance of a run in one position instead of wasting time on the bench.
Controversy in the second half was experienced striker Gareth Taylor getting away with not getting a second yellow for blantantly kicking the ball away in frustration when he was flagged offside. Such a stupid thing to do when booked as Mark Roberts experienced not too long ago. Roberts was quick to make his point along with 1600 Boro fans however Taylor escaped any further punishment.
As time went on we continued to look to win the game however Wrexham also grew in confidence as substitute Adrian Cieslewicz tested Ronnie Henry more down the left when Peter Vincenti came onto replace Michael Brough on the right wing. Wrexham started to find more space in between the midfield and defence however never really took advantage of some sloppy play. The best chance of the whole game came to Joel Byrom who missed from 10 yards out on his favoured left foot after a peach of a cross from Yemi Odubade. With the keeper pretty much out of his goal Byrom steered the ball just wide.
Wrexham had a couple of half chances and corners that were defended well and in the end the game petered out into a draw. At the end I felt it was more two points dropped than one gained however we are still very well placed and as long as we can turn more draws into wins I’m still very confident we can challenge Oxford and push on.
Reports over the weekend linked former Boro favourite and now Peterborough forward George Boyd with a 
Stevenage will get home this evening and wonder how they didn’t end up taking all 3 points after a dominant second half performance. Although Kettering had a couple of opportunities in added time, the second half was mostly at the other end as a host of Boro players missed chances to give the Hertfordshire side the victory. Westley opted to use a 4-3-3 formation with Chris Beardsley coming in to face his old club. Eddie Odhiambo was dropped to the bench. Andy Drury also missed out due to injury and was replaced by David Bridges who made his first start of the season.
Boro face arguably their biggest game of the season against 3rd place 