BRIEF RUN-DOWN OF THE 1st HALF OF OUR CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON.

It is hard to believe after the way the season ended but Scarborough Athletic's championship winning season actually got off to a sluggish start back in August 2008.

THE DIVISION 1 CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY


DAVE THOMPSON, SCORER OF BOTH GOALS IN BORO'S OPENING LEAGUE FIXTURE AGAINST ASKERN VILLA.

454 fans were present at Queensgate on August 9th as the NCEL Division 1 season got under way, our first opponents were Askern Villa and in spite of 2 early Dave Thompson goals within 18 minutes of the kick off we had to be content with just the 1 point as Villa themselves scored twice enabling them to share the points with the 'Boro'.


A WELL PROTECTED ARRON REID IN THE BORO GOAL IN THE OPENING FIXTURE.

The following Tuesday night we travelled to Nottinghamshire to face the team which would eventually gain promotion along with ourselves to the Premier division of the NCEL for the season 2009-10, I am referring of course to Rainworth MW. A physical or should I say 'dirty' performance by the Nottinghamshire team earnt them the points as they kicked, pushed and fouled their way to an undeserved victory helped by an utterly useless official who had very little control of the game. He was just one of many idiots with whistles we would come across as the season progressed.
Welfare ended up 1-0 winners on the night thanks to a lucky break in the 88th minute of the game which allowed Danny Naylor to score for the home side in front of 215 fans. Scarborough Athletic were the only team playing good football and it was a mystery how they managed to lose after showing their superiority over Welfare in all departments.
7 days later we had our first victory of the new season, it was not a league game but the 1st Round of the League Cup our opponents were Leeds Carnegie and we were 2-1 winners thanks to goals from Dave Kemp and Ryan Blott.
Saturday 23rd August saw us achieve a 5-0 victory over Grimsby Borough, Scott Phillips grabbed himself a brace of goals, one from the penalty spot.
2 days later it was off to the West Riding via the M62 to play Brighouse Town and we were worthy 4-1 winners, 2 of the goals were Scott Phillips penalties.
The following Saturday we welcomed Emley to Queensgate where a Graham Botham hat trick helped the team to a 4-0 victory and also go to the top of the league in front of 450 jubilent fans.
Next came a mid-week Wilkinson Cup 1st Round tie away to Askern Villa and with goals from Ryan Blott and Richard Medcalf we progressed to the next round with a 2-1 victory, this did not exactly make up for the 2 points lost in the seasons opener with Villa but it was a nice feeling to turn them over anyhow.
Back to league action next and the visit to Queensgate of Hemsworth MW. 389 fans were present at this game and witnessed an entertaining 2-2 draw.
Next came another Division 1 away day, this time to Stavely MW, where we ran out comfortable 4-0 winners, Craig Hogg grabbed himself a couple of goals.
3 days later we were on our way to basement club Glasshoughton and in front of 231 fans Ryan Blott and Scott Phillips scored the goals in a 2-0 victory.
The 2nd qualifying round of the FA Vase was next and we looked forward to the journey up to Washington FC's ground to face Birtley Town of the Northern League, and in a hard fought game we emerged 3-2 winners, in a game which attracted 240 fans.
7 days later we were on our travels again, this time a fairly short journey across the Humber Bridge to Bottesford Town, where 2 Scott Phillips goals and a Dave Thompson effort secured the 3 points in a 3-1 victory.



BORO FANS ENJOYING A HALF TIME BURGER AT BOTTESFORD.

Next was the 1st Round proper of the FA Vase and another long journey to face yet another Northern league outfit, this time the destination was County Durham and our opponents 'Esh Winning'. Esh took the lead and it took an own goal to pull us level in the 74th minute of the game and later substitute Danny Gray scored the winning goal for us, which was also his first for the club with just 8 minutes remaining. Thoughts of Wembley were firmly on the minds of the supporters after this thrilling game.

STUCK IN THE MUD AT 'ESH WINNING'


THE 'ESH' FANS CHECKING OUT THE TRAVELLING 'BORO' FANS.

THE TEAM CONGRATULATE DANNY GRAY AFTER HE SCORED WHAT TURNED OUT TO BE THE WINNING GOAL AT 'ESH WINNING'.



EVEN THE BORO PLAYERS TRIED TO MOVE THE COACH BUT IT WOULD BE ALMOST 9.00 pm BEFORE IT WAS FREED.

It turned into a long day as the supporters coach was stuck in mud and it would be almost 9.00pm before the coach was finally freed from the mud by a recovery truck.

4 days later it was back to Bottesford Town, this time for a Presidents Cup tie and we were once again just too good for the Town team, this time we were 7-1 winners. How they must hate playing us.

3 days later and once again we had to travel, Doncaster based Rossington Main were our opponents and a Ryan Blott hat trick helped us to a 4-1 victory. I thought about donating a couple of footballs to the club as they seemed to be short of spare balls as they only had one extra ball available and so there was a delay in play every time the ball was booted out of the ground by the home defence, their manager when ribbed by the Boro fans insisted that only 2 balls were needed, it was a tactic to try to frustrate the Boro players but it did not work as once again we were easy winners.

14th October and a rare home game, after 7 successive away games we welcomed Tadcaster Albion to Queensgate and in front of 442 fans we again scored 7 goals in a 7-0 victory.

4 days later we entertaned Stavely MW in front of the best attendance of the season so far, a crowd of 522 were present but we could only manage a 2-2 draw.

Next came a journey to Leeds to play Yorkshire Amateur in the Wilkinson Sword Trophy and we faced a rare defeat, going down 2-0, I was not too concerned as we were facing a lot of games in various cup competitions and this was not one of the major trophies to aim for.

Next, back to league action and a trip to Barnsley based Worsbrough Bridge, a dark and dismal looking ground but with goals from Ryan Blott, Rob Ellis and Danny Gray the day brightened up for the numerous travelling Boro fans as we won the game 3-0, I remember it as a bit of a bad tempered game as the Bridge players were really bad losers and they had no discipline, this is one ground I will not miss going to in the future.

We followed that excellent 3-0 victory with a 6-0 home victory over Teversal and the crowd of 544 became the best to date.
Ryan Blott scored 5 goals in the next game which was a 6-1 victory away at Yorkshire Amateur, a Scott Phillips penalty made the Boro score 6.

RYAN BLOTT SCORED 5 GOALS AWAY TO 'YORKSHIRE AMATEUR'.

We faced Askern Villa away next in the League Cup 2nd Round and achieved a 2-1 victory after extra time in front of just 76 fans.


THE F.A VASE ON DISPLAY AT THE 'SUNDERLAND NISSAN' GAME.

The long awaited FA Vase 2nd Round tie at home to Sunderland Nissan was next. A new record crowd was set (664) and a fantastic game which went into extra time with the scores level at 2-2 was eventually won by Scarborough Athletic as Craig Hogg netted the winner in the 95th minute of the game, Richard Medcalf had scored both of our earlier goals, the first in the in the 3rd minute and his second in the 69th minute of the game. A terrific game played in the right spirit by both sides.

'BORO' OPEN THE SCORING AGAINST 'SUNDERLAND NISSAN'.


CRAIG HOGG, SCORER OF THE WINNING GOAL IN EXTRA TIME AGINST 'SUNDERLAND NISSAN'.

A North Riding Senior Cup tie was up next and the game ended in a 4-3 defeat at the hands of Stokesley.

Just 3 days later normal service was resumed as we travelled to Emley for the away league fixture and returned home with 3 ponts following a resounding 6-1 victory. The FA Vase came next and we were drawn at home to Blackstones FC, 583 fans were present for this 3rd round encounter and thanks to not only a Ryan Blott hat trick but also a Danny Gray hat trick we progressed to the next round with another terrific 6-1 scoreline, unbelievably 3 days later on December 9th we again won a game by the scoreline of 6-1, this time it was Appleby Frodingham's turn face the might of the Boro attack.

'DANNY GRAY' HAT TRICK HERO ALONG WITH 'RYAN BLOTT' IN THE BLACKSTONES GAME.

Another home game followed and our opponents Pontefract Collieries were beaten 2-0, then 4 days later we welcomed Barton Town Old Boys to Queensgate in our 4th cosecutive home fixture and can you guess what the score was ?... Yes, 6-1 and there were 560 fans inside Queensgate, including a number of Town fans.

Finally the last game of 2008 was upon us. We had to face what could have been a difficult trip to Askern Villa once again, but a Ryan Blott double along with a Scott Phillips penalty gave us all the points in a resounding 3-0 victory.

The next game will be the start of the next post as I will cover the whole of the 2ndhalf of the 2008-09 season beginning with the home league game against Rainworth MW which was played on January 3rd. No fewer than 21 games were played by Scarborough Athletic between 3rd Jan' and their end of the season culminating in the 2nd leg of the final of the Presidents cup which was played on April 25th.