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The Headhunter - World Tour


craigkillie

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In the end we finished 8th, despite having the chance to win the league if we'd won our last two games. I decided it wasn't worth hanging about with so many job vacancies out there.

Where would we end up?

Spoiler

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I had interviews in South Africa, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but in the end I took this one in the hope of getting Wales done with. If I could avoid the shambling incompetence of my Cefn Druids reign when I was just earning the ropes, then I'd have at least 3 shots per season at every team so it hopefully wouldn't take too long. Fortunately, Bangor City were promoted into the top flight, so that meant the scalps of The New Saints, Connah's Quay Nomads, Bangor City and Barry Town were all up for grabs.

Penybont FC were founded in 2013 via the merger of Bridgend Town and Bryntirion Athletic, and unlike other merged clubs (eg Ayr United) this one seems to have been a success with the club making their way into the top flight in 2019. However, the fact that their Wikipedia page lists the signing of former Dundee and Thistle defender Daniel Jefferies as a notable moment in their history makes me think that this is not exactly the biggest of clubs. Jefferies is still with me, and is indeed my best centre-half.

 

Edited by craigkillie
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I didn't feel the need to overhaul my squad too much - I needed a goalkeeper and brought in Jones, who is a mediocre top flight keeper but miles better than what I had. I could still do with some depth at centre-back and in midfield - I'm still looking for the former, but brought in Harrison from my old club Afan Lido for the latter. Griffiths is a young winger who is really just one for the future. There's still a week or so left in the window as I write this, so I might still bring in a couple more faces.

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I made a pretty strong start to the season, though the defeat to my old club Cefn Druids was a blow. I also chucked away a 2-0 lead against lower league Pontypridd in the cup but fortunately scored 5 out of 5 in the shootout.

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Next up were back-to-back matches against former champions...

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Champion Match 5 - Connah's Quay Nomads (2nd meeting)

First up, we had another go at Connah's Quay Nomads.

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Spoiler

The first half was so uneventful that I forgot to even screenshot the overview page like I normally do. Then, 9 minutes into the second half

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Spoiler

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Ah man, we were looking comfortable with the lead too.

 

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Basically right up the other end and took the lead. 15 minutes to see this out, come on guys.

 

Spoiler

There's been another goal at Bryntirion Park, but who's it for Chris Kamara?

 

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And another!

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Maybe we rode our luck a little bit looking at their chances, but the record books will only show AN ABSOLUTE PUMPING.

 

Spoiler

Thank f**k I don't have to ever type that fucking team's name again.

 

Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 2/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P5 W2 D0 L3

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Champion Match 6 - Bangor City (1st meeting)

Bangor City are three-times Welsh champions - they first won the title in 1993/94, just the second season of the league's existence, and followed it up the next year. They also won it in 2010/11, which earned them a Champions League tie against HJK Helsinki, where they lost the away leg 10-0. Just 1-0 would be good enough for me today though.

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Spoiler

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An error from Jefferies, who cleared the ball right off their centre-forward and into the net.

 

Spoiler

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It's not going well.

 

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Another mistake by Jefferies, fairly reminiscent of the first goal.

 

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The stats suggest we were probably fairly unlucky to lose so heavily, but the record books will only show AN ABSOLUTE PUMPING.

 

Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 2/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P6 W2 D0 L4

 

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Just curious, are you allowing yourself to manage a former champion? For example if you manage to see off TNS with Penybont but can never get past Bangor City, could you jump ship to the Saints in order to bash the Bangors?

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After the defeat to Bangor, we went on a nice run, and I'm actually starting to think we might be quite good. It's a 12 team league, and it splits in two after 22 games before you play each side in your own half of the league twice more. I'm already at the point where I'd be frustrated if we don't make the top six, and I think we might have a shout of Europe. Squad depth is an issue, but I'm already starting to address that.

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Next up we had back-to-back consecutive matches against former champions - TNS were top of the league and Barry were bottom, it was clear where our better chance lay, but maybe we could win both?

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Champion Match 7 - The New Saints (2nd meeting)

A live TV clash against TNS gave us a chance to tick the big boys off the list. I'm fairly confident I'll knock off the rest of them by pure law of averages, but they are often runaway champions in Wales in this game could become a bit of a bogey team.

 

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Spoiler

A decent first half performance, but Jones' daft red card made our task extremely difficult.

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Spoiler

A solid defensive performance in the second half, and ordinarily I'd be delighted with a good point, but ultimately the goal is to beat these teams and disappear off out of Wales as soon as possible so it is tinged with disappointment. However, I'd hopefully have at least two more chances this season.
 

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Spoiler

Empty spoiler just to avoid the low number of spoilers themselves being a spoiler.

 

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Empty spoiler just to avoid the low number of spoilers themselves being a spoiler.

 

Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 2/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P7 W2 D1 L4

 

Edited by craigkillie
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Champion Match 8 - Barry Town (2nd meeting)

Another chance to tick off one of the "lesser" champions. We are a better team than Barry and should be beating them comfortably, even away from home. We had to reshuffle due to Jones' suspension, but this was still a strong side.

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Spoiler

How on earth has a winger been able to get booked twice in 7 minutes? Utter stupidity, which could cost us the game. This would actually be the beginning of the end for Wood with me - he was only in and out of the team from this point on and would ultimately ask to leave in January.

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Spoiler

Hello!

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dan-alan.gif

 

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A big 45 minutes coming up.

 

Spoiler

Barry pulled one back...

 

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...but only after we'd already gone 3-0 up.

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Spoiler

 

Easy peasy.

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Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 3/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P8 W3 D1 L4

 

Only Bangor and TNS to go in Wales.

 

Spoiler

The good form continued after these games, with our unbeaten run extended to 10 games. Next up, Bangor again.

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Edited by craigkillie
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Champion Match 9 - Bangor City (2nd meeting)

We suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Bangor earlier in the season, but hadn't lost since then, so confidence was high heading into our home game against them. We were just ahead of them in the table.

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Spoiler

Absolutely battered them in the first half but they scored with their only meaningful shot.

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Spoiler

A really poor second half, just didn't really lay a glove on them and conceded two more cheap goals.

 

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Spoiler

We'd hopefully get two more shots at them after the split.

 

Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 3/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P9 W3 D1 L5

 

Spoiler

This was  the start of a really poor run of form, the lowlight of which was losing 4-0 to a lower league side in the cup. Bangor and TNS were already out anyway, but it would have been nice to win a trophy. For some reason, which I'm pretty sure must be a bug in the game, or perhaps an overly realistic application of Welsh covid restrictions, there was a two-month break in league games in November and December which I filled with some friendlies.

We came back firing on all cylinders after the break and secured our top six spot with two wins. Next up, TNS again.

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Champion Match 10 - The New Saints (3rd meeting)

Another shot at TNS. They were unbeaten in the league and very obviously going to win it, but could we pull off a shock?

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Spoiler

It's not looking good.

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Spoiler

I've got a baaaad feeling about this.

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Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 3/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P10 W3 D1 L6

 

Spoiler

The form wasn't great after that defeat - we were still clinging on to second place, but literally everyone else in the top half was closing in. The next two were another two shots at the remaining champions - Bangor at home was a great opportunity to tick them off.

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Champion Matches 11 & 12 - Bangor City (3rd meeting) & The New Saints (4th meeting)

First up, a big chance to tick them off the list, and also to boost our chances of a 2nd place finish.

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Spoiler

Still alive at half-time - not many chances at either end.

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Spoiler

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...but denied by the flag (correctly).

 

Spoiler

If anyone was going to win it it was going to be us, but we just couldn't get the goal.

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Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 3/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P11 W3 D2 L6

 

Spoiler

Now on to TNS again. Look at what we're up against - they've been able to bring in Sone Aluko and we've got guys on amateur contracts.

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Spoiler

And it showed. I'm worried this could be a long spell in Wales.

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Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 3/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P12 W3 D2 L7

 

Spoiler

The form still wasn't great, but that win over Haverfordwest was massive.

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My last two games had a lot riding on them in more ways than one.

 

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Champion Match 13 - Bangor City (4th meeting)

The penultimate game of the season was another chance to take on Bangor. They were still in the race for 2nd and needed to win to be able to catch us, while for us there was a good chance a win would be enough to secure 2nd.

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Spoiler

Get in, an absolute belter from Jones, who has been a goal machine all season.

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Spoiler

So far, so good. A fairly even game, but crucially we have the goal.

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Spoiler

Would there be another in the game?

 

Spoiler

Aaaargh. Still, there were 37 minutes plus stoppage time to put it right.

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Spoiler

Sadly, we could not. Another chance slips by.

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Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 3/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P13 W3 D3 L7

 

Spoiler

The draw did secure at least a top three spot though, and we remained in second place ahead of Haverfordwest going into the final game. With TNS playing Haverfordwest in the cup final, we were guaranteed a place in the Europa Conference League, though the game didn't seem to think so.

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You'd better bet we'd be giving it one final push in that last game. f**k the league position, we just wanted to beat TNS...

 

 

Edited by craigkillie
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Champion Match 14 - The New Saints (5th meeting)

The final day of the season, but would it be the final game against TNS? They already had the league wrapped up, and we had home advantage, so surely this would be as good a chance as any.

 

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Spoiler

Oh no.

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Spoiler

We were probably the better team for much of the second half, but that doesn't count for much.

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Spoiler

This is what we're up against.

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Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 3/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P14 W3 D3 L8

 

Spoiler

Haverfordwest drew their final game, so we could at least console ourselves with a 2nd place finish and a shot at the Europa Conference League, where of course there was an off chance of us beating some champions from other countries if we got a lucky draw. It would be Penybont's first ever trip into Europe.

 

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Spoiler

The front three were really carrying the goalscoring burden for the team. Jefferies was an absolute colossus at the back.

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Spoiler

Borac Banja Luka are former champions, but unfortunately Bosnia & Herzegovina isn't one of the leagues in the game so they're no good to us. They'd almost certainly put us out, so no real chance of a "bonus" elimination.

 

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2 hours ago, oneteaminglasgow said:

I assume you’re only going after teams who’ve won the league in real life? Like, if St Mirren inexplicably win the Scottish league in game, they wouldn’t be added to the list of teams to beat? 

 

Yeah, otherwise I might never get it done.

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Europa Conference League

 

Spoiler

Not the worst performance in the first leg away from home, but 2-0 means that Europe is likely done for the season. Fair play to the 16 hardy souls who made the trip.

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Spoiler

BUILD A STATUE OF MORGAN JONES! We absolutely battered them but I kept waiting for the sucker punch. Then when I was preparing for penalties, a single penalty came along and sorted it out.

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Incidentally, my European games are being played at the "Bridgend Community Arena", which holds 50,000 fans. This stadium does not appear to exist, so I have no idea what is going on.

 

Spoiler

I'm going to create a "bonus list" of champions I've beaten from countries which aren't in the game, and two-time Bosnia & Herzegovina champions Borac Banja Luka are the first team on it.

 

Spoiler

On to the 2nd Qualifying Round, and we'd have our first shot at some international champion beating. However, I assume that the Bulgarian league is a fair bit stronger than the Welsh one and my chances will be slim.

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Champion Match 15 - Lokomotiv Plovdiv (1st meeting)

Lokomotiv Plovdiv were Bulgarian champions in 2003/04, and would be a stern challenge for the part-timers of Penybont. But after our heroics in the previous round, who knows?

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Spoiler

Incidentally, we hadn't done a lot of transfer business. Campbell is an experienced midfielder who came in from Northern Irish football for a whopping £950, Bergier is a Polish teenager midfielder from English non-league, Bradley was a young English forward from Colwyn Bay, Harris is a teenage midfielder poached from fellow top flight club Newtown, and Roche-French and Amos are both standout players from a very good crop of youth players.

 

Spoiler

I forgot to take a screenshot, but we got in at 0-0 at half-time despite a bit of an onslaught from them.

 

Spoiler

A cruel blow as we gave away a daft penalty.

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Spoiler

A big chance towards the end of the game...

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Spoiler

...fucked it.

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Spoiler

Still well in the tie, which is more than I expected.

I note that the 16 who made it to Bosnia & Herzegovina had dwindled to just 2 for this game.

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Spoiler

Clubs beaten - 3/540

National teams beaten - 0/66

Results - P15 W3 D3 L9

 

 

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