The following article appeared in the programme for Racing Club Warwick v Oldbury United on 30th April 2005.
And so here we are. The last day of the season has arrived and Racing Club meet Oldbury United hoping for a dose of revenge against a side that soundly spanked us 4-2 way back in October when we were in the middle of a 6-game winless run (our worst of the season). Oldbury come into today’s game in a predicament. They are not yet mathematically safe from relegation despite their apparently lofty position in the league and so will fight us all the way. Let’s put in a similar last day of the season performance to last season’s 5-2 thrashing of Cradley Town and send us off for the summer in good spirits!
Today’s ramblings are something of a bumper issue as I review the roller-coaster of a season that was 2004-05. August 2004 dawned with high optimism amongst Warwick supporters for the first time in many a year following our hugely successful conclusion to the previous season. We began away at Ludlow’s well-appointed Coors Stadium and, after going behind, Racing Club ran out comfortable 3-1 winners. So surely this was it? A procession to the league title come the end of April with a string of victories along the way. Well not quite! The following Tuesday saw a 1-3 reverse at home to Barwell and, cruelly stung, Warwick put Biddulph Victoria to the sword with a 5-2 win on the Saturday. Although the wheels were apparently back on the wagon we wouldn’t have chosen to go to Quorn the following week for what was always going to be a difficult match given the result of the previous season. We lost. Now there’s no shame in losing to a classy Quorn side but the realisation was dawning that this season was going to be much more difficult than many of us had anticipated.
The following three straight wins in the league were punctuated by yet another early September FA Cup Preliminary Round exit, this time away to Shepshed Dynamo. Then it was off to my early season tip for the title, Chasetown, and unfortunately another defeat on the road to potential title rivals. Warwick’s topsy-turvy start to the season continued with a classy 3-0 mauling of Oadby Town. Next came the match that I consider to have been the turning point of 2004. Away at Boldmere St Michaels we were 3-0 up after half an hour. “Game over” I remember saying, only to then watch The Mikes pull one back before half time and decisively draw level in the second half. A 3-3 draw doesn’t look so bad on paper but the effect of losing our three-goal lead was, in my view, a crushing blow that would reverberate around the club for several weeks.
The hangover from Boldmere included a hugely disappointing defeat at home to Ludlow in the Vase and away losses to Oldbury, Loughborough plus Cradley Town in the Birmingham Senior Cup. Of course, Racing Club were simply too good to prolong such agonies and we turned around the sequence with two wins and a draw including an impressive 2-1 win away at Coalville and a 6-2 trouncing of Alvechurch in October. Consistency? Why yes! Racing Club ended 2004 in consistent inconsistency in the league – three defeats, one win and one draw including the bitter blow of a 2-0 defeat at Rushall. Our last game of 2004 however was much more significant than would have been apparent at the time as we eased past Bridgnorth Town 2-0 in the Polymac Services League Cup.
The New Year arrived but there was no let up in the inconsistency. Racing Club had last won two games in a row in October and this was not to happen again until we went on a 6 game winning run that started with the 1-0 win at home to Causeway United on January 29th. Significantly three of these matches were in the League Cup as we marched into the Final with a 3-1 victory against local rivals Stratford Town followed by a 5-2 aggregate success against another near neighbour, Alvechurch, in the two-legged Semi-Final. Those who were present on the night of the first leg against Alvechurch will never forget the late introduction of magical Marcus King who broke Alvechurch hearts with a cruel late winner. Sandwiched between the two Alvechurch Cup games was a fixture that was to have important bearing on the destiny of the Midland Alliance title itself as we crushed Chasetown spirits with a 3-1 home success. It should be noted that our 6 game winning run coincided with Jermaine Gordon’s magnificent hot-streak of form and also that the run was spread over 6 weeks during which time the weather really took it’s toll on our fixtures and left us with an alarming fixture backlog which was to coincide with an injury hit squad in the latter weeks of the season.
We came back down to earth with a bump. Unusually
Racing Club lost two home games in a row against Malvern Town and Westfields.
These two sides were the only ones to record doubles against us in 2004-05
(must be something in the water or the cider!) unless Oldbury turn us over
today that is! A return to form with wins at Barwell and at home to Coalville
was another false dawn as we suffered a horrendous Easter fortnight enduring
three league defeats in a row. Hardly ideal preparation for the Polymac Services
Cup Final First Leg against Oadby Town! The fixture pile-up ensured that Racing
Club were now forced to play Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday in the weeks
containing the Cup Final ties – hardly ideal preparation! The result in the
First Leg against Oadby was a 1-1 draw with Racing Club coming from behind
thanks to an all important strike from Leon Thomas (more from him to come!) and
a vital penalty save from Richard “The Cat” Williams. Two-legged affairs are
never over until the end of the second leg but it was hardly the result that we
would have wished for to take to Leicestershire.
That defeat against Westfields on April 5th saw the start of another solid run that saw some impressive wins against the likes of Quorn, Stratford Town and Stourbridge in the league. But the jewel in the crown was surely the Second Leg of the Polymac Services League Cup (surely soon to be renamed the Paul O’Brien Trophy as he doesn’t seem to want to give anyone else a look in when it comes to winning it!) Final. Thursday April 21st will be remembered for a long time in these parts. It was the day that ended over 50 years of “hurt”. Incredibly Racing Club had not enjoyed cup success since Saltisford’s triumphs of the post war era! The match itself was a microcosm (lovely word that!) of our up-and-down season. Throughout the first half Racing Club seemed to be second best creating few chances. Oadby on the other hand seemed to be exceptionally solid at the back with Tyrone Mintus in particular putting in a centre-half performance that had Andy Lovelock scratching his head. They scored via an overhead kick and at half-time Warwick trooped off 2-1 down on aggregate and needing to step up several gears.
I asked Marcus after the match what he had said to the players at half time but all I could get out of him were some modest mutterings about changing the shape. Surely they put something in the tea? The effect was astonishing. Within 15 minutes we had equalised and then taken the lead thanks to two expertly finished Leon Thomas goals (seeing as he scored three goals in the Final does that count as a hat-trick?). The second Warwick goal on the night saw Andy Lovelock round his tormentor of the first half, Tyrone Mintus, and pick out Leon. What joy! Suddenly, with away goals counting double, Oadby had to score two goals, a task that was well beyond them as Racing Club proceeded to boss the remainder of the match. Marcus even managed to bring on club captain Tom Cudworth late on to ensure that it would be he, rather than monumental skipper on the night Lee Everitt, who would collect the Cup.
And what a Cup! If you’re going to wait such a long time to get your hands on some silverware then this is the Cup to get! What a beauty and it’s taking pride of place in the Clubhouse as I write. The League Cup has transformed views of our season. Without it, we would have regarded 2004-05 as a bit disappointing given the optimism that greeted the start of the season. With it, things look so much rosier and it gives the squad that essential winning-confidence and team-bonding that counts for so much in the build up to another assault on the title next season. Oh and don’t forget that we will be presenting the Supporter’s Player of the Year Award in the Clubhouse after today’s match – who will it be? Well you’ll have to stay and buy a few beers in the bar to find out! See you there!
Have a nice summer and remember to keep the faith!
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