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Back: Steve Sedgwick, Mark Duce, Kevin Ferguson, Andy Merifield, Simon Banoub, Tom Kaye, Phil Ridsdale, Richard Horton, Simon Hinkins, Jon Vernon. Front: Lee Monaghan, Anthony Bell, Barry Armstrong, Sam Goodall, Alex Goodall, John Newsome, Woody.

  With great things expected during the summer of 2008, the disappointment of the ensuing autumn was hard to measure. Opening with a couple of indifferent draws, Horsforth then embarked on a sequence of six consecutive defeats, scoring only two goals in that run, which saw our hopes of building on our achievements of the previous season dashed.

  James Hunt had sadly called it a day, but Phil Ridsdale was a shoe-in as his replacement in goal, and rookie Tom Kaye arrived as his understudy. In defence, Barry Armstrong, Steve Sedgwick, Mark Duce and Simon Banoub were back for more, while Kevin Ferguson put together a run of games in the centre, Jon Vernon, son of HFFC legend Dave, joined at right-back, and Matt Smith added to our left-sided options. Nor was continuity an issue in the midfield, with Joel Graves, Lee Monaghan, Richard Horton and Simon Hinkins all resuming where they had left off, Sam Goodall again a force on the wings or up front, and Joel's brother Jordan an early contender for a regular place. Up front, Simon Parker had more or less retired, appearing only occasionally, and though young Anthony Bell, who inherited the no 9 shirt, was top scorer as had been hoped, there simply weren't enough goals from others to make up for the loss of such a prolific striker. John Newsome and Andy Merifield vied for a starting berth, as did newcomer Chris Riley and Sam's brother Alex, but the early season form suggested that changes were necessary.

  A win against Westfield did much to restore confidence, and the sensational comeback from 3-0 down against the Regent to win 4-3 is unlikely to be forgotten for a long while, Sam's winning goal in particular the stuff of which legends are made. The key factor in this mini-revival was the switch to using just one central striker, Alex Goodall, with (usually) Sam and Ant on the wings, and Ducey playing as one of five midfielders, his role in defence generally going to Fergy. The New Year found us having to replace Joel Graves, departed to the Channel Islands, but there were also some splendid new recruits in Dean Herron and Chris Jones, plus the awesome winger Jermaine Ranger, while Marc Rayner figured in many of the games in the latter part of the season.

  A run of sorts in the League Cup gave us something to aim for, though beating lower division clubs Milford, on penalties, and Commercial, with goals in the dying minutes, hardly forced the bookmakers to reduce the odds on our winning it. Some decent performances away from home in the league were cancelled out by our continued failure to make home advantage pay at Bedquilts. This was never more evident than during the shocking eight-goal demolition at the hands of newcomers Keighley's AC Victoria, though even that result was overshadowed by the ten we conceded at home to eventual champions Crossflatts on a Thursday evening. Again, we were forced to play a season-defining game less than three days after an unwanted midweek fixture, and, if we had gone into the Crossflatts game wanting to avoid injury for the upcoming League Cup Semi-Final against Rawdon, we had surely wanted even more to avoid the humiliation of losing by double figures for the first time since joining the Wharfedale Triangle.

  The Semi-Final ended in a narrow defeat, the performance on the day as hot and cold as the season as a whole, and we were left to scrap for minor places in the league. A smattering of wins, such as a dazzling performance away to Clothiers and a superb result from a more dour display at Westfield, helped us to scrape into the top half of the table, Jermaine especially shining in these fixtures, but overall it has to be admitted we had expected 2008-09 to be far more successful than it had turned out to be.

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Awards.

Goal of the Season -  

Top Goal Scorer - Anthony Bell (8).

Club Colours.

First choice - Green and black striped shirts, black shorts and socks .

Change - Yellow shirts, green shorts and socks,
worn in the away match with AC Victoria.

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