Part 27: Chapter the Twelfth: The final five.

Chapter the Twelfth: The final five.
March 28, 2015-April 25, 2015

Time to finish this. This being the regular season, of course.



Oh come on. We're on the verge of promotion and this is what you want to talk about? Stop being a jerk, Nsangou. You haven't even been that good. An average rating of 6.5 from the starting goalkeeper is very unimpressive.



I'm thinking that Holtham and Bailey will get new contracts, but beyond that everyone else is going to go. Including Tierney and the Cannon. If we do gain promotion they won't be good enough for the next level, and if we don't they'll just keep aging and end up stuck to the end of the bench by midseason.



Uh, no, I'm not going to give you a contract that's nearly double your current one. We'll leave this negotiation for after the season.



Holtham is much more amenable to a new contract with a meager raise.



Getting real tired of you, waterlogged pitch.



I wonder who will win?



Congratulations on your victory, though whoever was elected would immediately have their name changed. Our directors remain the same, so I can't name anyone new to the board.



Oh, I see how it is. I do all of this work to drag us to the verge of promotion and you get reelected on my coattails yet you won't spring for new toys.

vs. Macclesfield, April 6, 2015
Skrill Premier


We're gonna be on TV! And it's a good showcase for us to start, at half time we're up 3-0. We play some horrid football in the second half, however, and it's only luck that keeps us from coughing up a three goal lead. I'll take the win, but it's really frustrating to watch us play like rubbish. Seriously, look at those stats. Ugh. Makes me sick. The players don't even seem to realize how lucky they were to win this game, and get huffy when I barge into the locker room to start haranguing them.

Wrexham 3-1 Macclesfield

At Farnborough, April 11, 2015
Skrill Premier


Farnborough has something to play for, avoiding relegation. So I don't expect them to roll over for us. They fail to disappoint me. They take the lead in the 17th minute, and add another in the 35th minute. I switch us to a 4-4-2, but while we play better we still can't score until a gift penalty call in the 57th minute when Liam Franks dives and draws a call. Even so it's not enough, and we lose to relegation bait. You can imagine my furor with the team. We are still in position to make the playoffs, but our margin of error has gotten much narrower.

Farnborough 2-1 Wrexham



Tierney will be back next season, having triggered his extension clause.

At Southport, April 14, 2015
Skrill Premier


Southport is doomed one way or another to relegation, they'd need an improbable series of events to stay up even if they won all their remaining games. It's another game where we batter a defense but can't get on the scoreboard. But thanks to our continuing excellence on set pieces we find the back of the net thrice and take a solid victory home with us. It seals Southport's fate, and enhances ours- with two games left to play we're in third place, four points back of Tackleford and Forest Green and four points ahead of sixth place Grimsby. If Grimsby drops any points or we win one of our last two matches we'll seal a playoff berth.

Southport 0-3 Wrexham



Sorry, Southport. Thems the breaks.



Oh, so now people will take our unwanted players from us. Not back in January when it could have saved us some money.



Three of the players are from Tackleford. Coulson, Duchamps, and Callum Williams are all shorlisted. I refuse to vote for them on principle. Drew McGarry gets my vote, 24 goals and 11 assists for a middle of the table team is pretty impressive. Coincidentally, we play his team next.

vs. Worcester, April 18, 2015
Skrill Premier


We're leading the game and looking good until Alan Tierney makes a huge mistake and plays a terrible back pass to Senior which results in a Worcester goal. Worcester then takes the lead in the 89th minute, and I'm worried that making the promotion playoff will come down to our final game of the year. The team rallies, though, and Bah gives us the equalizer late in injury time. A near run thing, and we're definitely not in good form at the moment.

Wrexham 2-2 Worcester



Whew. It's not essential that we win promotion, but making the playoffs was the very least I wanted from this season.

vs. Tamworth, April 25, 2015
Skrill Premier


This game was so much in our favor that I expected Tamworth to pull out a last second goal to win the match. We had numerous opportunities, and nothing came of them. Over and over again. We had two goals called back for offsides, and out of six total chances we created nothing. It's inauspicious to have this sort of performance just before the start of the playoffs.

Wrexham 0-0 Tamworth



And stupid Tackleford won the league. That was supposed to be my title!



Gag me with a spoon. Sure, it was some random manager hired of the scrap heap that's responsible for winning the league, not the squad I put together. Galling, that's what this is. If we don't win promotion to League Two I'll never hear the end of it.



The promotion playoffs involve home and away fixtures between the playoff teams. The winners of the two semi-finals then face each other in a single match that determines promotion. We've been drawn against Wycombe, and play there first on April 29, and then at home on May 3. It's going to be imperative to get at least one away goal during the first match.



Given that we finished 8 points behind Tackleford, our poor form towards the end didn't end up costing us the title. If we'd won out we'd have finished one point behind them, which might have felt even worse than finishing in third. I don't like going into a playoff tie stuttering the way we have, though, so I'll be pulling every motivational tool I can think of out of my bag of tricks to make sure we take the Dragons back to the Football League.