After defeating Boston, New Manchester United continued their winning streak over the next few league matches.
First, on February 8, they defeated Southport 2-0 at home, with Žigić and Crouch scoring one goal each. Then, on February 12, they hosted Doncaster at the City Stadium. After a grueling 90 minutes, New Manchester United secured a 1-0 victory thanks to Juninho's direct free kick in the second half, maintaining their position at the top of the league table.
However, just like New Manchester United, Morecambe, who had climbed to second place in the standings for the first time that season, also showed remarkable tenacity. While the other contenders were generally beginning to lose momentum, Morecambe remained stubbornly close behind.
On February 16, New Manchester United traveled to the small town of Kettering, near Birmingham. In front of fewer than a thousand spectators at Rockingham Road Stadium, New Manchester United convincingly defeated their opponents 3-0, with Žigić scoring twice and Kitson adding another, successfully taking all three points from Kettering.
It was worth mentioning that De Rossi started for New Manchester United in this match and performed well. In particular, his partnership with the young Essien in defensive midfield showed promising chemistry. His passing was also excellent. During the match, he played a through ball that almost allowed Kitson to complete a hat-trick, but unfortunately, the latter's powerful shot was tipped over the crossbar by the goalkeeper.
Carrying the momentum of their league winning streak, New Manchester United traveled to Northwich, not far southwest of Manchester, and defeated Northwich 4-2 at Victoria Stadium, successfully advancing to the semi-finals of the FA Trophy.
However, just as Scarlett had said, although New Manchester United possessed strong overall quality and a decent bench, competing in two competitions over such a long period had placed considerable strain on the players' fitness, especially during long-distance away trips.
After their victory in Northwich, New Manchester United suffered an unexpected upset in their next National League match away to Altrincham. Faced with the home side's stubborn low defensive block, they could hardly find a way through. Instead, in the 78th minute, Gary Turner's lapse allowed Altrincham to score an unexpected goal, condemning New Manchester United to a 1-0 away defeat.
Since Morecambe continued their winning streak, New Manchester United's lead over them was reduced to four points after the defeat to Altrincham. This seemed to give Morecambe, as well as Kidderminster, Boston, and the other teams behind them, renewed hope. All of them secured victories and three points in the league matches played on February 26.
As for New Manchester United, they had played two matches a week for almost the entire month of February, and the players had reached the limits of their physical endurance. After having just gone through a brutal, hard-fought battle at Altrincham, they returned to the City Stadium still clearly suffering from exhaustion. Against the visiting Stevenage side, they failed to show the fighting spirit expected of the league leaders.
1-2. As always, the home team's score was listed first and the away team's second. New Manchester United tasted defeat once again!
The two consecutive defeats left New Manchester United only one point ahead of Morecambe, immediately pushing the battle for the top of the National League to fever pitch. Kidderminster and Boston, who were close behind, also had every reason to challenge for the title.
According to the rules for promotion from the National League to League Two, only the champions would be promoted directly, while the teams finishing second through fifth would compete in the playoffs. Therefore, only winning the championship could guarantee promotion. Finishing between second and fifth carried considerable risk because the teams in that range were very evenly matched, making it difficult to predict who would emerge victorious.
It was precisely because of this that teams such as Morecambe were pursuing the championship so relentlessly. Conversely, after New Manchester United's two consecutive defeats, the outside world was no longer as optimistic about their title prospects. Many teams performed strongly during the early and middle stages of a league campaign, only to run out of momentum during the crucial final stretch and ultimately let the championship slip away.
The current New Manchester United clearly seemed to fit that pattern.
Fortunately, after those two consecutive defeats, New Manchester United were given a rare opportunity to catch their breath.
From February 27 to March 11, the National League entered a two-week break. It was a much-needed lifeline, giving New Manchester United an opportunity to rest and make adjustments.
During those two weeks, New Manchester United's coaching staff and The Lab did everything possible to restore the players' form while helping them recover physically. Even the team's training sessions were structured around fitness recovery and conditioning.
After New Manchester United advanced to the semi-finals of the FA Trophy, they were drawn against Hereford, who were currently ranked tenth in the league.
Hereford were ten points behind fifth-placed Dover, leaving them with very little hope of qualifying for the playoffs. As a result, they had focused most of their attention on the FA Trophy, hoping to lift the trophy for the first time in the club's history.
To accommodate the first leg of the FA Trophy semi-final, New Manchester United's 36th-round league match was rescheduled for March 14. On March 11, New Manchester United traveled to face Hereford.
Playing the first leg away and the second leg at home was undoubtedly favorable. However, if they could secure a convincing victory away from home, the return leg would become much easier.
Bruce clearly had exactly that in mind.
For the visit to Hereford's Edgar Street Stadium, Bruce fielded his strongest attacking lineup. Žigić and Crouch partnered each other up front, Krzynówek and Hleb occupied the flanks, while Juninho and Poulsen controlled central midfield. The back four, from left to right, consisted of Evra, Abidal, Distin, and Stansson, with Schmeichel in goal.
With a full-strength lineup and thorough preparation before the match, New Manchester United adopted an attacking approach despite playing away from home. After the two-week break, the players had recovered physically, and they played with ferocious intensity.
The 2-0 scoreline did not fully reflect their dominance on the pitch, but the number of shots taken by both sides illustrated it more clearly: 3-27. New Manchester United attempted exactly nine times as many shots as their opponents, with 11 on target, yet scored only twice. The only explanation was that the opposing goalkeeper had performed exceptionally well.
Nevertheless, an away victory combined with two away goals had almost completely sealed Hereford's fate. Since moving to the City Stadium, New Manchester United had remained unbeaten at home. Even against a powerful Arsenal side, they had managed to secure a hard-fought victory.
Precisely because of this, after losing to New Manchester United at home, Hereford no longer held much hope for the return leg at the City Stadium. Even the media unanimously agreed that New Manchester United would reach the final.
After securing victory in the FA Trophy, New Manchester United returned home to face the visiting Woking. Their unbeaten home record gave the players considerable psychological confidence. Although New Manchester United fielded several substitutes, they still managed to claim all three points with a 2-1 victory, thanks to goals from Olić and Kitson.
On March 18, New Manchester United hosted Hereford in the second leg of the FA Trophy semi-final. Bruce rotated the squad once again, resting several regular starters, including Žigić. Olić was given another opportunity to start, while De Rossi partnered Essien and Marginson in midfield. Richie Wellens and Darren Lyons, who was gradually losing his place to Hleb, played on the wings.
New Manchester United focused on defending in this match. Hereford wanted to take the initiative and attack, but they clearly had not expected a team known for attacking football to be so dangerous on the counterattack.
In the first half alone, Olić used his remarkable pace to tear through the opposition's defense twice and score two goals. Then, in the second half, he assisted De Rossi, who had surged forward from deep, for a long-range goal.
3-0!
With a 5-0 aggregate victory, New Manchester United convincingly defeated Hereford and advanced to the FA Trophy final.
In the other semi-final, after losing the first leg 1-0 at home, Nuneaton overturned the tie by defeating Hayes 3-2 away. With the aggregate score tied at 3-3, they defeated Hayes in a penalty shootout and successfully reached the final.
The FA Trophy final was scheduled for May 6. By then, the regular National League season would have ended, and the promotion playoffs would already be underway.
However, this did not mean New Manchester United's schedule would become easier. On the contrary, Scarlett had been right. The watershed that would determine whether New Manchester United could win the championship that season would come in March because, on March 21 and 25, New Manchester United would face their two biggest obstacles to promotion, Morecambe and Dover.
The match against Morecambe would be played away from home. Although the match against Dover would be at home, it had been squeezed into the same week as the Morecambe fixture. In other words, New Manchester United had to defeat both major rivals in succession within a single week to guarantee that they remained at the top of the table.
This was undoubtedly a major test for New Manchester United. Even though they had remained unbeaten at home since moving to the City Stadium, who could guarantee that an away defeat to Morecambe would not damage the team's morale after they lost the top spot, causing them to lose again to Dover upon returning home?
Moreover, Morecambe had also performed exceptionally well at home that season. They had suffered only one home defeat, and that had come early in the campaign. Since then, Morecambe's performances had steadily improved, and their football had become increasingly consistent. At one point, they had even recorded ten consecutive home victories.
Christie Park Stadium could be considered one of the most intimidating grounds in the National League that season, every bit as formidable as New Manchester United's City Stadium. However, Morecambe, who had recently been enjoying a strong run of victories, undoubtedly held a morale advantage over New Manchester United, who had only just emerged from the shadow of two consecutive defeats and still had to divide their attention between the league and the FA Trophy.
In fact, Morecambe made excellent use of every advantage they possessed. From the opening minute, they completely overwhelmed New Manchester United in terms of intensity. During the first ten minutes in particular, New Manchester United were clearly pinned back and unable to establish themselves.
Driven on by the cheers of nearly four thousand home supporters, Morecambe broke through a New Manchester United defense that no other National League side had managed to breach so easily, scoring twice within the opening ten minutes.
2-0. The large red scoreboard at Christie Park Stadium looked utterly shocking!
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)