Summary: Oh Bobby... The 19-year-old right defensive back had myself a roller coaster of a game. After pulling down a Hornchurch player in the box to have them tie the score on a penalty kick by Sean Cronin, Bobby Close found the back of the net less than a minute later on a perfectly worked corner kick from Marcus Diamond to Ryan Charles. It was Close's second career goal.

Daniel Akindayini, in his second match after returning from a fractured skull, scored his second goal of the game to put Witham up 3-1. But, a back pass by Close to an unaware goalkeeper Morgan Bacon made it 3-2. Nonetheless, Witham sweated out the victory.

Rating: 7.5 - Was put in more of an attacking role and had chances to score, including a one-on-one breakaway that was blasted right at the keeper.

Player of Game: Ryan Charles, Witham (8.9)

Summary: Disaster at Spa Road. Danny Watson plays spoiler with two second-half goals to upset Witham. Witham loses Ryan Charles to a knee cap injury in 22nd minute (out three weeks). His replacement, John Davies-Collie, scored Witham's only goal in the match.

Rating: 6.7 - I was pushing for the game-winning goal and didn't have the energy to backtrack when Watson slipped behind us in the 87th minute. I need to be better and take my chances more wisely.

Player of Game: Danny Watson, Romford (8.8)

Summary: Hat-trick hero Daniel Akindayini! The 23-year-old English striker slots in goals No. 15, 16 and 17 in his 21st appearance this season. On the season, Akindayini is averaging one goal every 101.29 minutes, a league best.

Rating: 6.8 - My one shining moment was slipping though Akindayini for his second goal. Assist No. 10 on the season.

Player of Game: Daniel Akindayini, Witham (9.6)

Summary: Another John Davies-Collie and Elliot Ronto sighting. Both get goals in a 2-0 shutout. Goalkeeper Morgan Bacon didn't even have to make a save to get his 11th shutout of the season. A happy outing was only ruined by losing Luke Mallett to an ankle injury in the fourth minute (out two weeks).

So, Witham has its leading goal scorer Ryan Charles and leading assist machine Luke Mallett on the bench with injuries entering the last five games of the season.

Rating: 8.7 - First good game I've had in a while and it comes when I get put in a more natural central midfield role. I also picked up another assist on a perfect long-range, left-footed strike from Davies-Collie.


Player of Game: John Davies-Collie, Witham (9.0)

- Each member gets 5.0 points to spread however they like over the 36 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 1.0.
- Stats are bumped up in FM when they hit that number, ex. 2.9 = 2 in-game, and 13.4 = 13 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 20. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery and is different from the cycling progression scale.
-Comment below to provide stat upgrades.

Summary: Standard sprint finish won by Juan Jose Lobato.

Result: 15th - No breakaway attempt from me on Stage 1 this season. I'm going for a good GC result and stayed out of trouble here on Day 1. I didn't really try that hard in the sprint, I just wanted to get my legs going for tomorrow. I'm feeling good.

Summary: Brutal sprinter stage finishes on a steep hill in Ilkley, England. At least the rain that fell earlier in the day has passed over.


Result: 18th - I'm no match for some of the top-tier cyclists who have showed up here. Maybe someday in the future I'll be able to compete with the likes of Aussie Lachlan Morton.

Summary: Photo finish goes to Danny Van Poppel.

Result: 9th - No speed to match the top guys, but I'll take a Top 10.

Summary: Bold team tactic by JLT Condor to get three guys into the breakaway, including Marcus Diamond. They tried to hide him, but eventually the peloton was made aware of who was in the breakaway and they weren't going to let Diamond pull a fast one over on them.

The breakaway lasted until the first sprint check, which Diamond won to get 3 bonus seconds. Could be useful if he makes it to the finish.


Skip forward to 5kms to go and who is this kid? Diamond is going for the race win and cyclists are struggling to keep up with the sudden acceleration. The motor on this kid is unreal. He really wants to put on a good show for the home crowd.


Just like that, only six cyclists remain heading to the finish line in Leeds. Tom-Jelte Stagter has taken control of the pace making.


Slagter, Diamond and Nicola Bagioli coming to the banner.


Out of nowhere, Sondre Holst Enger! The leading trio played too many mind games with each other and opened the door for the Norwegian.


Enger takes the stage win, yellow jersey holder Juan Jose Lobato comes in with the group just behind the leaders... they receive the same time, so Lobato wins the tour thanks to the generosity of the race organizers.

Result: 5th - I gave everything I had and then some. I think that showed. The bonus seconds I gained at the start of the day allowed me to finish 9th overall, +11 seconds on Lobato. I was the top finisher from Great Britain in the tour.

Summary: On the third journey up and over the cobbled climb, Dries De Bondt and Marcus Diamond head off the front of a depleting peloton. They catch the three-man morning breakaway and start arguing over who should be setting the pace. Both refuse.


Bondt eventually flicks off Diamond and tries to go solo with 10kms to go.


Diamond sits up and waits for more cyclists to help in his chase and they catch De Bondt at the top of the climb. Diamond and De Bondt exchange more words not caught by the cameras.


Survival of the fittest at this point. Anybody that has something left in the tank goes for glory. Diamond is lacking the legs to keep up.


Result: 5th.

"I ran out of energy," Diamond said after the race. "I told De Bondt I didn't have much left in the tank with 14kms to go. He didn't believe me. So, that's what that was about. He just thought I was using him. A pretty classless move on his part."

- Each member gets 3.0 points to spread however they like over the 13 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 55.0.
- Stats are bumped up in PCM when they hit that number, ex. 55.9 = 55 in-game, and 61.4 = 61 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 85. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery.
- Comment below to provide stat upgrades

Summary: Early rain and a wet pitch wasn't going to stop Witham from picking up three points. First half goals from Ryan Charles, playing through his damaged knee cap, and Elliot Ronto settled the nerves. Marcus Diamond sealed the win with an easy tap in from Ronto in the second half.

Footage of Diamond's goal was lost in corrupted video files sent in from Aveley. Just lower league problems... But, the goal wasn't anything special.

Rating: 9.0 - Fifth goal of the season and also picked up assist No. 12. Yet, that still wasn't enough to be named...

Player of Game: Elliot Ronto, Witham (9.0)

Promotion Watch

Canvey Island tied Bedford, 2-2
Coggeshall def. Tilbury, 4-2
Bury Town def. Harrow, 2-0
Witham def. Aveley, 3-0
Grays tied Barton Rover, 2-2

Pos	Team	PLD	WON	LOST	DRAW	PTS
1	Coggeshall	41	25	9	7	82
2	Canvey Islands	40	23	6	11	80
3	Witham	40	24	10	6	78
4	Harrow	41	20	6	15	75
5	Grays	40	21	7	12	75

Summary: The game that will be remembered forever in Witham lore as "Bacon's Blunder." After Daniel Akindayini had the home supporters in a frenzy with the go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute, Witham goalkeeper Morgan Bacon unbelievably did this.


How? What? Why? Bacon had no friends in the locker room after a 1-1 tie. For Bacon's sake, he better hope Witham doesn't lose out on promotion by 2 points or less because that's what he cost them here.

Rating: 6.5 - I was involved in the build up that lead to Akindayini's goal, but didn't do much outside of that.

Player of Game: Bailey Webster, AFC Sudbury (7.6)

Promotion Watch

Coggeshall, Didn't Play
Grays def. Canvey Island, 4-1
Witham tied AFC Sudbury, 1-1
Harrow tied Tilbury, 2-2

Pos	Team	PLD	WON	LOST	DRAW	PTS
1	Coggeshall	41	25	9	7	82
2	Canvey Islands	41	23	7	11	80
3	Witham	41	24	10	7	79
4	Grays	41	22	7	12	78
5	Harrow	42	20	6	16	76

Summary: The panic button was pressed and alarms were blaring after Marvin Daniel scored twice in the first 10 minutes for Thamesmead. But, Daniel Akindayini wasn't going to let this be the end of line for Witham this season.

After getting an inspiring halftime pep talk, Akindayini scored his 19th and 20th goals of the season (he has only played in 25 league games this season).

Witham salvages a tie and a glimmer of hope to stay in the promotion hunt. Surprisingly, only 16 people in attendance managed to see the epic comeback in person.

Rating: 6.8 - Akindayini bailed myself and the team out.

Player of Game: Marvin Daniel, Thamesmead (8.8)

Promotion Watch

Coggeshall def. Harrow, 3-0
Canvey Island def. Brentwood, 2-0
Witham tied Thamesmead, 2-2
Grays def. Bury Town, 3-0

Pos	Team	PLD	WON	LOST	DRAW	PTS
1	Coggeshall	42	26	9	7	85
2	Canvey Islands	42	24	7	11	83
3	Grays	42	23	7	12	81
4	Witham	42	24	10	8	80
--
5	Harrow	43	20	7	16	76

Summary: The energy from the home crowd carries Witham to a needed win. A balanced effort as well with three different goal scorers in Elliot Ronto, Daniel Akindayini and Ryan Charles. They do so without starting centerback Macauley King, who was picked up on a free transfer by Oklahoma City in the United States.

Rating: 7.0 - King's sudden departure put me on the penalty spot in this contest. I choked. Sent it right at the keeper. But, we won and I got another assist.

Player of Game: Elliot Ronto, Witham (9.0)

Promotion Watch

Coggeshall def. Bedford, 3-0
Canvey Island def. Dereham, 3-1
Grays def. Tilbury, 2-1
Witham def. Heybridge, 3-1

- Each member gets 5.0 points to spread however they like over the 36 attributes listed above. One post per member.
- Stats work on a decimal system starting at 1.0.
- Stats are bumped up in FM when they hit that number, ex. 2.9 = 2 in-game, and 13.4 = 13 stat in-game.
- The decimal numbers will remain hidden.
- There is a threshold for each stat when more points are needed to increase that stat. It's start off on a 1-to-1 scale where 1 point equals 1 stat upgrade. However, the scales get exponentially further and further apart the closer that stat gets to the maximum of 20. The increasing scale will also remain a mystery and is different from the cycling progression scale.
-Comment below to provide stat upgrades.