British Steel Challenge

So with the transfer window open, and with much work needed to be done to the squad, we brought in a total of 14 players, whilst we also allowed 9 to leave.



The stand-out signing of the close season would have been Connor Rossiter, who was a bit of a steal particularly when clubs like Cork City and Shamrock Rovers were interested in the player, but he chose to come to us.



With all the transfer activity, we had ended up slightly over our wage budget, overspending by €246 per week currently, but hopefully with some success this season, it wouldn't affect our finances too much.



That left our squad looking like this, with some work having been done on the defence, and some extra depth added to the squad. Most of the players signed are younger players who will improve over the next few seasons, but can still do a job for us this season if required.



Onto our preseason fixtures, and having looked at the games, I was slightly worried that our morale would be affected going into the season as there were a number of games against higher division teams, and only one that I would have expected us to win.



However, some brilliant performances saw us begin the preseason with a slightly fortuitous draw against Sligo Rovers before a fantastic 3-1 victory against Shamrock Rovers. We then lost against our new affiliate club Cork City 2-1 before a 3-1 victory against Phoenix F.C.. A good performance against Dundalk saw us unluckily lose 1-0, and then in our final game of the preseason, a great performance saw us run out 3-0 winners, thanks to some poor discipline and defending from Drogheda Utd.

As the preseason schedule came to a close, we had shown some good form going into the season, and it would be important that we started the season well to have any chance of securing promotion this season!

So the start of the domestic season was upon us, and hopefully we would be able to carry some of our preseason form through to the start of the league as we faced six games in the first month of the season.



We began the season with an away game against Finn Harps. After a good start Éamonn Mason scored the opening goal of the game after 16 minutes. The game continued in the second-half in very much the same way as the first-half as we continued to threaten and looked solid at the back, although a serious injury to the goalscorer occurred, which would keep him out of action for approximately two months. As we entered the last ten minutes of the game, it looked as though we would be taking home all three points until goals in the 86th and 88th minutes won the game for Finn Harps 2-1.

Our next game was at home against Avondale, and despite going behind early on, we responded very well with Jay Harris pulling us level just before the half-hour mark before Richard Corkin scored a second goal for us in the 65th minute to give us our first win of the season.

Our second home game in a row and we welcomed Athlone Town to The Carlisle Grounds, and we got off to an absolutely fantastic start with Dan Bennett opening the scoring in the 4th minute. With that being the only incident of note during the first-half, the second-half was an absolute cracker, with Graham Foy extending our lead in the 71st minute and then Jay Harris grabbed another goal in the 77th before Athlone Town got one back two minutes later. Richard Corkin added gloss to the victory by grabbing a late fourth in stoppage time to give us a 4-1 victory.

A week later we traveled to face U.C.D. and after showing a good performance, where we just couldn't find the back of the net we were unlucky to lose 2-0 as the scoreline really complimented them. Hopefully it would be a minor blip and we would be back to winning ways in our next game.

We began our Irish League Cup campaign away from home against Athlone Town, playing them for the second time this month. In a much different game to the first, Athlone Town took the lead early on in the game, and we had to wait until the 71st minute, when we were awarded a penalty which Connor Rossiter made no mistake from. At the end of 90 minutes, the game was still tied. Athlone Town grabbed a second goal, which looked as though it would win them the tie just after half-time in extra-time, but Richard Corkin had other ideas, equalising a few minutes later to take the game to penalties. Unfortunately Christian Moran was the only player to miss a penalty, as it cannoned back off the crossbar, and we lost the shootout 5-4 to send us crashing out of the cup.

Our final game of the month was against Bohemians and a game that we would be fancied to win. A good start saw Richard Stokes score his first goal for the club, but it wasn't long before we were behind, with Bohemians equalising in the 19th minute, before a penalty in the 45th which they made no mistake from. Richard Stokes grabbed his and our second of the game after 52 minutes, but another goal for Bohemians saw us fall victim to our third straight defeat in all competitions.



At the end of the month we were sat in fifth in the table on six points, having won two games and lost three. Not the greatest start to the season for us, but hopefully we would be able to pick our form up and push on, as we are still within three points of the playoff places.

A relatively quiet month saw us only play four games this month as we looked to start a consistent run and begin to move up the league.



We began the month well, with a good point against the league leaders SD Galway and arguably should have taken all three. We went ahead thanks to a Conor Rossiter penalty after 18 minutes, and should really have gone further ahead, but a number of wasted chances came and went. With all the glorious chances we had missed, it was always going to happen that their first clear cut opportunity was going to be tucked away, and that it was after 74 minutes, and we were unable to grab a second goal to give us all three. A good point nonetheless in a game we were expected to heavily lose.

Our second game of the month was against relegated Derry City as we looked to build upon the previous result, and a first goal for the club for Christian Moran in the 33rd minute gave us a 1-0 advantage. The defence held strong under some stern tests from Derry City but the final whistle came and we had secured all three points.

Our third game of the month, was against Avondale away from home. In a tight game a goal for Avondale just before the half hour was enough to settle it as we struggled to create chances and tuck them away. We were able to welcome back striker Éamonn Mason from injury though, which would provide us with a welcome boost as we moved forwards.

Our final game of the month was another home game, our third in four matches against Finn Harps. With it having been a close game away from home at the beginning of the season, I was expecting a much better performance from the players this time round, however they not only let me down, but they also let the fans down as a truly woeful performance saw us lose the game 3-0, with the entire defence having an absolute shocker unfortunately. It meant it was our second loss on the bounce, and our heaviest defeat of the season.



At the end of the month, we were languishing down in 6th place after having managed to get 10 points after nine games. It hadn't been the best start to the season, but with us still within touching distance of the playoff spots as well as first place, it could be quickly turned around should we hit some form, which hopefully we will do soon.

Another poor month for us as we faced four league games and a cup game during the month, and only managing to pick up a single win in the league, whilst advancing in the Senior Challenge Cup.



We began the month by travelling to Athlone Town and a good defensive performance saw a singular Christian Moran goal in the 66th minute was enough for us to be able to get all three points. It was a good start to the month, and one that I hoped would continue.

The following week we welcomed U.C.D. to the Carlisle Grounds, and following a poor first-half, we were 2-0 down at the break. A brilliant goal from Christian Moran, which was awarded goal of the month, gave us hope with 20 minutes to play, but we were unable to find the equaliser.



A game against Bohemians was up next, and in a game that I felt we should be winning, we went down again by a score of 1-0, after Jay Harris decided to pick up his second red card of the season already in the 22nd minute, leaving up hopelessly open an Bohemians took advantage, scoring their only goal in the 26th minute.

A cup game was up next as we welcomed Bangor Celtic to Bray, hoping to advance in the Senior Challenge Cup and bring in some much needed income for the club. A good solid performance saw us race into a 2-0 lead within 20 minutes, David O'Brian scoring first and then becoming provider for Christian Moran to slot home. Late on in the second-half, Richard Stokes added a third as we looked very comfortable in progressing.

Our final game of the month was against SD Galway who took the lead in the 4th minute. We pressed and pressed, but unfortunately couldn't find an equaliser, our best chance of the game was spurned by Richard Corkin as he was clean through on goal with only the keeper to beat. The defeat was our third on the bounce, and things were not looking good for us this season so far.



The league table looked like this as we moved into the mid-season break, and hopefully we would begin to pick up some more points after the break as we look towards moving up the table. Even though our form hasn't been brilliant, we are only 7 points off a play-off spot with 15 games to play. Stranger things have happened....

A few defeats slipping in but still going well Alec! keep it coming!

Just to let you all know, I have decided that I am going to stop doing the updates now as it is just too time consuming for me to do. I am still continuing with the challenge, so will still be sending the screenshots of the trophies to Dan, but unfortunately I just don't have the time to do the updates anymore. Sorry guys

I think writing careers does take the time and almost fun out of the game at times! glad to see you continuing behind the scenes as it were!

I totaly agree with Dan.

I think I will still update the first post though with teams managed and titles won/remaining at each team though just so you can still see where my career takes me although month updates/game reports I won't be doing anymore.