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60 games stretching a period of nine months to the day from August 9th tells a story of pre-season hopes being dashed in just 90 minutes, the return of a manager many didn’t want, Steve Morison continuing to score goal after goal, a second trophy in three seasons but with Stevenage once again falling just short of the promised land that is the Football League.
So it was an overcast day in North Wales as Stevenage started their season at the Racecourse Ground against previously-relegated Wrexham. Graham Westley was back in charge having been sacked in the past at the end of the 2005-06 season – a move which had seen uproar amongst fans, the Boro’ messageboard shut down in protest and had led to some even questioning the sanity of Chairman Phil Wallace.
Five goals and a sending off later, Boro’s season was almost in tatters already. The five-nil thrashing was compounded by a 3-1 loss at home to Eastbourne three days later and then a further three games without a win. Five games gone and the table didn’t make pretty viewing, with only long-time rivals Woking beneath them.
The hoodoo was finally broken on the longest away trip of the season with a 3-1 win away at Barrow, which – a defeat at Kettering notwithstanding three days later – led to a turnaround in fortunes, winning four games on the bounce including a 4-1 hammering of eventual champions Burton that lifted Westley’s side up to 11th place and only two points off the play-offs.
October saw a win, followed by a defeat, followed by a win as Boro became consistently inconsistent, surviving a scare in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round where a replay was needed to overcome recent giantkillers Horsham.
The reward for that win was a trip to the Walkers Stadium and League One high-fliers Leicester City. Although the side fought hard and eventually succumbed to a 3-0 defeat, it was to signal the start of what came to be known by both fans and players alike as ‘Nightmare November’. A draw and three defeats left Boro’ in turmoil with fans already upset at Westley’s return now calling for his head once again.
The boss survived the criticism, but did deliver a stern warning to his squad, telling them that their attitude had to change and if 100 per cent effort wasn’t put in, they’d be dropped. It had the desired effect.
The side proceeded to embark on a club-record 24 game unbeaten run in all competitions, stretching over a 119 day period, by which time they’d also progressed to the final of the FA Trophy thanks to a 4-2 aggregate victory over last season’s winners Ebbsfleet.
Although Westley’s strong words had a strong effect, the signing of two players in the first couple of months contributed to the turnaround. Northwich defender Mark Roberts was signed during November while former QPR and Millwall keeper Chris Day was signed on a free transfer in the most bizarre of circumstances.
Day had been released by Millwall at the end of the 07/08 season and had decided to go down the well travelled route of becoming a pub landlord at an establishment in Stevenage. The club caught wind of this and after the bad start to the campaign he was offered a contract, which he duly signed. Suddenly the club had a goalkeeper who was still too good for non-league and a colossus in Roberts as centre back that helped to transform a leaky defence into one which was solid and organised.
After taking 32 points from the first half of the season, Boro’ took an astonishing 49 points from their final 23 games to shoot up from mid-table mediocrity to snatch the final play-off spot, despite losing their final game of the season at Mansfield.
They were to pit their wits against Cambridge United, who had narrowly failed to reel Burton in as the league reached its climax. The first leg saw Boro’ reduced to ten men on the stroke of half-time thanks to a ‘phantom’ challenge but it only galvanised the home side. Coming out with all guns blazing after the break, Roberts broke the deadlock and Morison scored his 29th and 30th goals of the season to secure a hard-fought 3-1 win.
If the first 90 minutes of the league season were to be devastating, the final 90 were even more painful. A 2-0 Cambridge win tied the game at 3-3 after normal time and even though Boro’ had Scott Laird sent off for an innocuous challenge during Extra Time, it seemed all set to go to penalties. Scott Rendell broke Boro’ hearts in the 119th minute.
Down and broken, Boro’ had to lift themselves one more time as they travelled to Wembley for the Trophy Final with York City. A crowd of 27,000 were on hand to see Boro’ eventually break York’s resistance just after the hour mark thanks to Morison’s 31st of the season before Lee Boylan secured the win in injury time.
It was the 2nd time the side had won the cup at the new Wembley, but there was an anti-climatic feeling over the whole day as it wasn’t the Wembley win that Stevenage so dearly wanted. Failure to gain promotion looks to already be taking its toll on the club, with Millwall having an £85,000 bid for Steve Morison accepted. Westley has signed a new one-year deal at the club however, and if the majority of the squad does remain intact, Boro’ have every chance of mounting an assault on the title next season.
Additionally, next season will mark the first league fixture between Stevenage and Luton Town. Colour me excited.
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