Shifnal Town Bench Talk
Tuesday 18 November 2003

A warn welcome to everyone connected with Shifnal Town who make their first visit to Tally Ho in three years following their relegation from the Midland Alliance last season. It is sad to see that a club with such an excellent pitch and facilities has suffered a similar demise to ourselves. It will be nice to see some of the 'old faces'.

I read with interest in the Non-League Paper this weekend that Shifnal Town stalwart John Powell has returned to the club to assist manager Ken Howells who has taken over the management reins for the fourth time in eighteen months. I am sure that these two working in tandem will soon have a positive effect upon the teams' results.

We have had two very disappointing cup results in the last 10 days. We went down by three goals to nil away to Northfield Town in the Smedley Crooke Cup where our performance can only be described as abject and whilst we may have had a weakened team out on the pitch that cannot be any excuse for the performance.

Last Wednesday saw us go down by one goal to nil to Leicestershire Police in the British Police Cup. We should have won the game in the first half as we failed to convert four good chances and restricted Leicestershire to one shot on target. We were by far the better side.

Unfortunately, we did not come out for the second period as Leicestershire out-battled us without every really threatening our goal. That was, until Ross Bate failed to hold a relatively 'straight forward' 25 yard shot and Leicestershire converted the chance as it came back of his chest. That was their only effort on target in the second period. It's the hazard of being the 'last line' of defence. Equally culpable for our defeat, was the failure of our forwards to take chances, the inability of the 'outfield players' to compete effectively in the second period and a lack of collective spirit.

We are all in it together. You win together and you lose together. It is now the time for players' and management to stand up and be counted, recognise our failings and put them right.

At the time of writing this article there are quite a few selection issues as I await the latest on injuries and player availability. We are hoping to see at least one 'new face' in the shape of Kevin Casson who was part of the championship winning Stourbridge squad last season. He joined the force two weeks ago and I am sure that he will be a valuable addition to our squad.

These next three games against opposition in the bottom half of the table are very important to us as we seek to get our season 'back on track'.

Enjoy the game and we hope to see you here on Saturday for the fixture against Alveston.

Jim Scott