Sunday 4th May 2008:

  Premier Division League Cup Final: Rawdon 1, Crossflatts 1. Rawdon won 5-4 on penalties, the key moment coming when keeper Ollie saved from his opposite number Spencer Harrison.

Friday 2nd May 2008:

  Wharfedale FA Sunday Cup Final: Clothiers 1, Baildon Trinity Athletic 1. Clothiers won 4-3 on penalties.

Sunday 27th April 2008:

  Premier Division League Cup Semi-Final: Baildon New Inn 0, Rawdon 4. Final at Otley Town, 4th May.

Thursday 24th April 2008:

  Premier Division League Cup Semi-Final: Shipley Town 1, Crossflatts 4.

Tuesday 22nd April 2008 (Sunday District Cup Final):

Pudsey 2005 2	Horsforth Fairweather 0
after extra time.

Team: Hunt - Armstrong, Sedgwick, Duce, Banoub - Graves, Horton, Monaghan, Hinkins - Parker, A.Bell. Subs: Merifield, Newsome; unused subs: Bowler, S.Goodall. Cautioned: Merifield.

  For video links, click here and here.

  Much anticipated, Horsforth's first ever District Cup Final ended perhaps not in success, but beyond any reasonable doubt with the reputation of the club - and of its players - enhanced.

  With Richard back in central midfield, the team might have picked itself anyway, even if a handful of worthy contenders were not ineligible due to the (in my opinion) rather over-stringent qualification rules for District Semi-Finals and Finals. Joel and Hinky took up the wide positions in midfield. Opponents Pudsey 2005 were probably heavy favourites, as the leaders of Division One of the Combination, which had produced most of the serious contenders for this and other knock-out competitions this season.

  Everyone will have their own recollections of this titanic struggle, but for me the first half was a period of a great swing in fortune. Pudsey started off like a house on fire, and might have put the game beyond us very early. For the opening 20-30 minutes, our defence, superbly marshalled by Ducey and Sedge, came between us and an unassailable lead for our opponents. But as the contest developed, we gradually began to win some of those crucial headers in central midfield, and, by the time the ref blew the half-time whistle, we felt we were in the ascendant. From the lonely viewpoint in the dugout, I felt we had done superbly to fight back into the game and the mood of confidence during the break was both heart-warming and encouraging.

  Always likely to be a game of few chances, the second 45 minutes flew by too, with our own contributions to the entertainment certainly no less positive than our opponents'. Anthony Bell has regularly drawn praise in this medium for his contribution this season, but even he surpassed his own workrate as Horsforth's attack began to cause Pudsey to defend hurriedly and at time a bit desperately. As the clock ticked down to zero, the temptation to change the side was always there, but Your Author and Stand-In Stand-In Manager judged it our best option to keep the XI that had started the game on the field for 90 minutes. A gesture of confidence in the lads who had started or the actions of an apprentice manager overawed by the occasion? Everyone had their opinion, and to those who shared it with me, I am grateful, but if I had the same call to make again the day after the game I would have done the same thing, i.e. nothing, as I genuinely felt we would steal a goal before the end with what we already had on the pitch. Probably the last Big Decision I'll ever make as a football manager, and already the most keenly debated, but I'll stick by it, as it seemed to me our best chance of winning the game was in the latter stages of the 90 mins.

  By the onset of extra time, decisions were made for us, as Nooby was unable to continue, and John was added to the attack, with Parker asked to try his luck at finding the decisive moment from midfield and Hinky switched to left-back. A few minutes into the additional 30 mins, fatigue got to Joel too, and the last serious sub we had available, the worthy Mezzer, was his replacement. (To all those who demanded changes be made after 60-70 mins, I could perhaps ask a question at this point, but what the heck.) The first phase of extra time found Horsforth pretty much the dominant side, from my vantage point at least, but we didn't really ask enough questions while had the chance, and the game was decided in the final 15 minutes. It always looked likely that a single goal would be enough to settle the affair, and the powerful shot on the turn that gave Pudsey the lead was a moment worthy of deciding any game at this level, James struggling to read the flight of the ball from the moment it left scorer Dave Thornton's boot. Forced now to chase the game, we conceded another very soon after, as James did brilliantly to parry a first effort but the under-manned defence couldn't prevent the follow-up shot from Thornton, and that was Game Over. The last few minutes saw a lengthy hold-up as a Pudsey player charged into Richard, the Horsforth midfielder taking a long time to get back to his feet, though his assailant, even more severely injured, was sent off for his pains (for a second yellow card, the referee later confirmed). It was a rather inappropriate way for a game of this intensity to peter out, as from here on Pudsey all too easily ran down the clock in the corners, and the District Sunday Cup was theirs.

  Analysis is called for at this point, I suppose. If some of the younger squad players had been available as subs (say, Fergy, Jamie Martin, Marc Rayner, Matty and Bedders), this might easily have been our game. Had we even been able to muster just one more fit and eligible sub who was not an out-and-out striker (say, Sam), we might still have pulled it off, at least so I thought. But still the result of the game was very, very marginal, and in any case, these lads will hopefully all be available next season. The availability problems were, in the last analysis, our own problems not anyone else's, and, if we made mistakes in this area earlier in the season, it is our task now to learn from them.

  Pudsey 2005 are a splendid football team as well as decent set of lads, who played this game in the right spirit and were honest and sporting winners, and we must take this opportunity to congratulate them on their success, as well as wishing them good luck in their quest for further silverware, this season and in the future. We were honoured to be measured against a side of this calibre, and are proud indeed to record that we only very marginally came up short. There will be other days, for both clubs, of that I am certain. For ourselves, we need to look back on 2007-08 as a season of considerable improvement, albeit as one in which we didn't quite do justice to our early-season promise. Of course, availability problems with several key players did blight the second half of the campaign (the informed reader will of course be aware I have only touched on such problems in these reports), but there was more than enough evidence to give me cause to promise that the future looks brighter now than it did a year ago. Progress, but still work to do.

Sunday 20th April 2008 (Wharfedale Triangle League Premier Division):

Horsforth Rangers 3

Horsforth Fairweather 2

Team: Hunt - Armstrong, Sedgwick, Duce, Banoub - Graves, Martin, Monaghan, Rayner - Parker, A.Bell. Subs: Hinkins, Merifield, Newsome; unused subs: S.Goodall, M.Ridsdale. Scorers: A.Bell, Newsome. Cautioned: Duce, Parker.

  Faced with the difficult task of topping last week's hideously disappointing result, Fairweather once again exceeded expectations.

  You can't blame this one on too many team changes: James was back in goal, Joel restored at last to his midfield berth, and Sedge recalled to the defence, all sound enough switches in my opinion. And indeed, the opening half hour or so saw Fairweather forge ahead, in spite of the injury to Jamie that allowed an early recall for Hinky in midfield. After 33 minutes, Parker's challenge on a hesitant keeper resulted in the ball dropping to Ant, who swept it in from rather a tight angle, and it seemed the game was going our way. But the wheel of fortune quickly turned against us. The replacement of Ant by Mezzer after 37 minutes was the sort of precautionary step you take two days ahead of a Cup Final, and really should not have affected the outcome that much had we kept focussed on our attacking game, but in the 40th minute the referee gave the most controversial penalty of the season against Sedge when it seemed to me (being as unbiased as I can be) that the foul was the other way and the striker's fall to ground an embarrassment rather than a serious shout for a spot-kick. Nevertheless, if the ref points to the spot it's a penalty, and we were back to equality.

  We needed half-time, and it came at a good time for us, but somehow all the words of wisdom were wasted as, ten minutes afterwards, Rangers were in front when a pretty simple ball over the top presented a striker with a simple chance as the ball bounced between defenders and keeper. That might, on another day, have been the final provocation that brought about an HFFC revival, but today there was but little invention in our attacks, and though we had a few sporadic raids on the home goal in the ensuing minutes, it came as little surprise when on 25 minutes a corner was headed in, so low it could have been sidefooted home, and we had twenty minutes left to salvage a game we at one stage had looked to be winning easily. The arrival of John Newsome as sub is usually a move that pays dividends, and the fact that the veteran striker replaced a defender, Sedge, signalled Fairweather's intentions of not letting this game go just because of the importance of the game we would be playing in just 56 hours time. The latter stages of the game belonged to our side, territorially at least, and John it was who lobbed the late consolation goal over the Rangers goalkeeper, following determined approach play from Lee Mon and Mezzer, but by then there was only injury time left to play, and it would have taken something very special indeed to salvage a point from the game at this stage.

  An anti-climactic end then to a league season that promised so much: does anyone else recall the first game of 2008 - if we'd won that we'd have been top? Much of the progress we'd made in the autumn of 2007 has been offset by the problems we have had with the availability of key players in early 2008, but it still has to be devastating to get beaten in games like this. Before I go, a word for Horsforth Rangers, who had nothing to play for and yet gave it everything today, and got the result their attitude merited. I wouldn't go as far as to say they deserved to win - I think a draw would have been a fairer outcome and I wouldn't have been embarrassed had we won in spite of all our inadequacies - but they showed us what can achieved with a bit of determination and will-to-win, and we would do well to pay heed to today's lesson.

  PC Sports League Cup Final: Crossflatts 6, Shipley Town 0.

  Premier Division League Cup: Yeadon Westfield 0, Baildon New Inn 6. Semi-Finals (29th April): Rawdon v Baildon New Inn; Shipley Town v Crossflatts.

Sunday 13th April 2008 (Wharfedale Triangle League Premier Division):

Horsforth Fairweather 1

Baildon New Inn 2

Team: Graves - Armstrong, Ferguson, Duce, Banoub - Rayner, Martin, Monaghan, Hinkins - Parker, A.Bell. Subs: Merifield, Bednarek, Bowler; unused subs: S.Goodall, M.Ridsdale. Scorer: A.Bell.

  A grim and largely uninspiring game saw Horsforth go down at home somewhat unexpectedly to one of the league's lower-ranked sides.

  Marc Rayner and Jamie came into the side in midfield, and Kev had another start in defence. After waiting four months to get Joel back, we ended up having to play him in goal due to the absence of both regular keepers. Still, if there weren't at least four team changes every week, it wouldn't be HFFC...

  Our first half display was frankly awful. Off the pace, uninspired and lacking leadership, we lost our way in midfield, created little or nothing in attack, and were downright frightening in defence. The away team, who clearly know a thing or two about how to disrupt our normal passing game, stuck to their plan admirably, and were rewarded in the 12th minute as a misdirected defensive header gifted a chance to a striker who had time to take the ball round Joel and give his team the lead. A dreadful goal to concede, and symptomatic of a period in which we struggled horribly to get our game together.

  Half time, and the inevitable frank team-talk, came and went, but the second half initially found us no cleverer in our build-up play, and no better organised. We can of course always turn to the bench for hope, and the introduction of Mezzer and Bedders gave the side a visible lift. On 22 minutes, the move appeared to have paid off, as, from a corner, Baz's volley was going well wide, but the outstretched leg of Mezz knocked it back into the danger zone for the alert Ant to equalise. But it took Baildon only about a minute to get in front again, poor defending down the left allowing a cross which floated over far too many defenders before being hit home, and once more we were chasing the game. From here on, it would be unfair to say we didn't make chances, but they were few and the goal attempts all hurried and lacking in conviction. Nor were the Baildon lads content to sit on their narrow lead: in all honesty, they had the better chances as the game moved into its decisive stages, and only some adept goalkeeping by the worthy Joel prevented them from increasing the lead.

  It's always easy to analyse a game like this in terms of the (supposedly) higher-placed side's failures, but I think you have to also give due credit to a team like Baildon who, with nothing to play for, turned in a performance to be proud of - they have now of course done the double over us this season, and fair play to them they were in my opinion the better side today. From our own point of view, the lack of passion in the first half was more than a bit disappointing, but the fact that, having shaken ourselves out of our lethargy and decided to play some football after the break, we still couldn't seize the initiative, must serve as a reminder that this side of ours is still a long way short of the finished article.

  Other league game: Crossflatts 0, Rawdon 1. Yes, that means Rawdon are champions again.

  Leeds FA Sunday District Cup Semi-Final: Pudsey 2005 3, Chapeltown Brazil 1.

Tuesday 8th April 2008 (Premier Division League Cup:):

  Crossflatts 6, Horsforth Rangers 1.

Sunday 6th April 2008 (LDFA Sunday District Cup Semi-Final):

Horsforth Fairweather 2	Hyde Park Power Athletic 2
after extra time; Horsforth won 5-4 on penalties.

Team: Hunt - Armstrong, Sedgwick, Duce, Banoub - S.Goodall, Monaghan, Hinkins, Hudson - Parker, A.Bell. Sub: Merifield. Scorers: Parker, A.Bell. Cautioned: Parker.

  Over the course of the 28 years that this club has been competing in Leeds & District Cup competitions (12 years in the Sunday Jubilee Cup and 16 years in the District Cup), this was our first Semi-Final. With both clubs struggling to put a team together due to the stringent qualification rules, it was inevitable some measure of anti-climax would ensue. We had James in goal again, Richard in midfield and Sedge at the back, and we needed all of them.

  The first half was a very enterprising contest, both teams keen to take and hold the initiative, though I thought overall we had far more of the play. However, on 31 minutes, a rash challenge from Steve Sedgwick was rather harshly penalised with the award of a penalty kick, and the away side were in front. Just two minutes later, Lee Monaghan's free-kick was knocked down by Simon Parker under pressure, and Anthony Bell scrambled the ball over the line.

  Feeling like we had been good value for a 1-1 half-time scoreline, Horsforth had much the better of the early period after the break, and nine minutes in took the lead when Lee Mon's through ball was miscontrolled by a defender, allowing the marauding Parker the chance to take the ball round the away keeper and put us in front. If we now enjoyed a decent spell of dominance, we rather failed to capitalise, and the visitors, to their credit, began to fight back. In the 33rd minute of the half, they equalised with a header at a long throw-in, one of several chances they had made from set pieces, and all the pretty football we'd played looked to count for naught. Andy Merifield was brought on to give us an even more adventurous look in midfield, the only serious sub either side had available, but the clock ran down with the game stalemated.

  Extra time at first saw another period of Horsforth domination, but the latter 15 minutes were more than a touch uncomfortable as Hyde Park, forced to end the game with the same eleven players they'd started with, put up a superb late rally, and could on a couple of occasions have finished us off.

  The penalty shoot-out has never been anyone's favourite method of settling a narrow cup tie, but Horsforth's first four takers, Lee Mon, Parker, Mezzer and Sedge, all kept their nerve to keep the pressure on the vistors, and when James saved the fifth spot-kick the scene was set for Hinky to become a hero, with a rather tame kick that was a bit lucky to find the net, but it was enough to send us into the Final.

  Before signing off, two things to say. First, this was maybe not the greatest game of football technically you'll ever see, but both teams gave it everything, and it was a shame someone had to lose a game played in such good spirit. So, a huge vote of appreciation to the Hyde Park lads who emerge from the match with immense credit. Second, given the immense problems our club had with injuries, unavailabilities and ineligibilities, it was truly heart-warning to witness the commitment shown by certain of our players who went through the pain barrier today, not least the veritably indestructible Sedge, who somehow got through 120 minutes in circumstances where no one would have blamed him had he retired before the first half was over. True heroism, and great to see it rewarded with a win.

  Leeds FA Sunday District Cup Round 4: Chapeltown Brazil 3, Leeds City Rovers 0. Pudsey 2005 play the winners in the Semi-Final, 13th April. Final now arranged for Tuesday 22nd April at Yorkshire Amateur FC.

  For more details, please click here and select 'Cup Competitions' then 'Sunday District Cup'.

  League games: Shipley Town 2, Rawdon 2; Yeadon Westfield 3, Crossflatts 4. These results mean Rawdon need to win at Crossflatts next Sunday, otherwise Flatts will be champions. We need four points from our remaining two games to finish third.

  This page last updated 04/05/2008.