DAN OUT OF LUCK AS HUCKNALL GO DOWN
 

2004 Season - Phase 2   PLD W D L F A PTS G D
Lancaster 12 11 0 1 145 69 22 + 76
Bristol 12 6 0 6 105 96 12 + 9
Rotherham 12 5 1 6 93 97 11 - 4
Cheltenham 12 5 1 6 102 118 11 - 16
Penguin 12 2 0 10 58 123 2 - 65

National League chairman Steve Monico presents the Dr John Howell Memorial Trophy to Lancaster.
 Left to right : Jamie McIlquham, Zac Sly, Dave Bush, Dougie Campbell, Andrew Squires, Chris Hartley (capt), Tom Curwen, Ritchie Davis, Jo Lawlor, Scott Carpenter, Ryan Pinnington and Rysz Detko.
2004 Season - Phase 2   PLD W D L F A PTS G D
Tyldesley 12 9 0 3 134 94 18 + 40
Manchester 12 6 0 6 112 91 12 + 21
Birkenhead 12 6 0 6 85 94 12 - 9
Polytechnic 12 6 0 6 73 88 7 - 15
Hucknall 12 3 0 9 64 103 6 - 37

Dan Siddons won't forget the final Division One weekend of the season at Millfield School, when his club Hucknall's brave attempt to retain a place in the top flight ended in disappointment and relegation.

The crunch match for Hucknall was against Polytechnic. Had Hucknall won, it would have left Poly to defeat Birkenhead - a match they later lost by a single goal - to avoid bottom place. The key period of the match occurred in the final quarter when a superb long shot by Siddons cut Poly's lead to a tenuous 6-5. With two minutes left, Hucknall attacked again and Siddons tried a close range, angled lob which deceived goalkeeper Paul Annegarn -  but failed to cross the line after hitting the inside of the post.

That wasn't the end for Siddons. With a minute left, he was excluded, leaving danger man Stefan Pollman to notch his sixth goal of the game and ensure a 7-5 Poly victory.

Birkenhead made certain of avoiding the relegation shake-up with two wins. Lee Cadwallader scored five and Frank Lunney four in an 11-7 defeat of a seven-man Manchester team. Cadwallader and Andy Fowler claimed two apiece in the 6-5 success against Polytechnic.

Lancaster's 100 per cent record came to an end when they went down 8-7 to Rotherham, although of course they were already assured a seventh title in nine years. Lancaster took a 4-2 lead early in the second period when Ritchie Davis scored. But a hat-trick by Sotiris Thomakos transformed the game, putting Rotherham 5-4 ahead at the halfway stage. It was 6-6 after the third and 7-7 when Davis was excluded, prompting a Rotherham time-out. Richard Leighton notched the winner with just 18 seconds remaining.

Bristol beat Cheltenham 11-7 and Penguin 10-7 to ensure runners-up spot. Remarkable feature of the Cheltenham match was that four of their players - Arocha, Figes, Thresher and Sissons - failed to last the game. Hutchings scored four for Bristol and Parsonage four for Cheltenham.

Tyldesley's best-ever National League season ended with a 10-6 defeat of Hucknall and a 16-5 demolition of Manchester. Mike Cowburn made sure of finishing the division's top goal scorer by adding six against Hucknall and seven in the Manchester game - a grand haul of 74 for the year.

Leading Goal Scorers    

Club Goals Games
1 M Cowburn Tyldesley 74 17
2 D Taylor    Cheltenham     51 17
3 C Figes Bristol 46 16
4 C Burgess Lancaster 45 15
5 T Curwin Lancaster 42 14
6 A Parsonage Cheltenham 37 14
7 J Hutchins Bristol 35 17
8 N Bowers Lancaster 28 14
9 S Badaway Manchester 25 9
10 W Cowdon Polytechnic 23 8

 

Exclusion Offences    

Total
Birkenhead 158
Bristol 170
Cheltenham 150
Hucknall 117
Lancaster 134
Manchester 159
Penguin 116
Polytechnic 79
Rotherham 105
Tyldesley 108


POLY OUTGUN GALLANT WANDERERS

Polytechnic’s extra experience – plus sharp-shooting from six-goal Stephan Pullman – clinched their 13-8 victory over Second Division runners-up Welsh Wanderers in an exciting play-off tussle at Walsall.

The game was much closer than the score suggests. Wanderers led 5-4 midway through the second quarter and it was 6-6 in the third before the London club began to take control.

Even then, a goal by Chris Taylor brought the Wanderers up to 7-8 when the final period began – and it was 8-9 when Ceri Fenner scored for the challengers with five minutes remaining.

After that, however, three goals in the space of a minute and a half – by Gary Symons, Ivan Drinkwater and Pollman – took Poly clear. Poly goals: Pollman (6), Symons (2), Richard Hime, Zhukovsky, Adrian Cicino, Richard Hime, Miguel Andid. Wanderers: Taylor (3), Andy Holt (2), Mike Davies, Ceri Fenner, Rob Hopkins.

Wanderers: Marshall, Hopkins, Taylor, Holt, Mike Davies, Griffiths, Nigel Davies, Fenner, Tonks, Crayford, Murch, Newcombe, Joe Davies. Polytechnic: Grunwald, Hopcroft, Quigley, Hime, Pullman, Drinkwater, Symons, Zhukovsky, Cicino, Spies, Cooke, Andid, Bowden.

MILLFIELD                
    White     Blue    
Sat:  Dec:  4 16.00   Hucknall 6   Tyldesley 10  
17.00   Rotherham 8   Lancaster 7  
18.00   Manchester 7   Birkenhead 11  
19.00   Cheltenham 7   Bristol 11  
20.00   Polytechnic 7   Hucknall 5  
21.00   Penguin 9   Rotherham 12  
Sun:  Dec:  5 10.00   Polytechnic 5   Birkenhead 6  
11.00   Penguin 7   Bristol 10  
12.00   Manchester 5   Tyldesley 16  
13.00   Cheltenham 5   Lancaster 10  
LOUGHBOROUGH              
    White     Blue    
Sat:  Nov:  20 14.15   Penguin 4   Lancaster 11  
15.15   Polytechnic 11   Tyldesley 9  
16.15   Bristol 10   Rotherham 7  
17.15   Birkenhead 4   Hucknall 5  
18.15   Penguin 5   Cheltenham 8  
19.15   Polytechnic 7   Manchester 6  
Sun:  Nov:  21 13.15   Rotherham 6   Cheltenham 6  
14.15   Hucknall 5   Manchester 12  
15.15   Bristol 8   Lancaster 10  
16.15   Birkenhead 11   Tyldesley 9  
               
BATH                
    White     Blue    
Sat:  Nov:  6 12.00   Birkenhead 5   Polytechnic 12  
13.00   Bristol 8   Penguin 9  
14.00   Tyldesley 10   Hucknall 6  
15.00   Lancaster 13   Rotherham 8  
16.00   Birkenhead 9   Manchester 11  
17.00   Bristol 11   Cheltenham 7  
Sun:  Nov:  7 10.00   Hucknall 5   Polytechnic 6  
11.00   Rotherham 8   Penguin 4  
12.00   Tyldesley 10   Manchester 8  
13.00   Lancaster 15   Cheltenham 11  
               
LANCASTER