Nostell Miners Welfare were a match were anyone by the end of the season
In the fourth of our season reviews, we look at Nostell Miners Welfare’s rollercoaster season.
For a campaign that began badly, Nostell Miners Welfare’s season almost ended in fairytale fashion?
League survival was the main priority and that was easily achieved in the second half of the season, but the club also reached the final of the Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup for the first time.
That closed the beginning of a story that could lead to a very bright future for the Wakefield-based club.
You wouldn’t have thought it a few months ago as Nostell stared into the abyss of relegation after a poor start that saw them fail to win any of their opening 13 games of the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division.
Darren Holmes was in the manager’s hot-seat at the start of the campaign. With very limited resources, he also had to contend with playing away for the first two months because major pitch renovations at Crofton.
With an almost non-existence budget, Holmes eventually got them going in October with a 3-0 battering of already doomed Glasshoughton Welfare.
That inspired a mini-revival and four more points in the next two games lifted them off-the-foot of the table and above Glasshoughton.
Around the same time, the club issued a plea for help to secure the future of the club. Local businessman Simon Turfrey, the former Wakefield FC chairman, answered the call as he saw the huge potential of the club because of its facilities.
That led to a change in management as new chairman Turfrey appointed Paul Lines, who was his manager at Wakefield.
Lines changed the face of the team. He kept a few of the old guard, but brought in a mixture of experienced Evo Stik players and young West Yorkshire League players – most notably star turn Rob Bordman, whose form was to be outstanding.
It did take three months for Lines to get lift off. Postponements and free weekends led to Nostell playing only three league games in December and January which put them back to the bottom of the pile.
At the start of February it all came together. A 1-0 win over Athersley sparked a run of five wins in eight league games to propel them away from danger – the 6-1 hammering of Garforth being the highlight.
Defensively Nostell were strong with centre-backs Max Elliott and Jack Fisher earning a lot of credit for their key roles in achieving their aims.
Survival was achieved with ease with plenty of games to spare. Nostell, now a test for anyone, also picked up notable wins and draws against the likes of Handsworth, Shaw Lane and Heanor.
The final league position 0f 15th underlined how strong the end to the season was.
In the middle of all this, Nostell staged a terrific performance to beat Maltby Main in the semi-final of the Senior Cup.
An end of season trip to the New York Stadium was booked. It was the perfect reward for their efforts.
Unfortunately higher-league Frickley Athletic were too strong for them on the day and they lifted the trophy.
But, defeat failed to take the shine off the achievements of the last six months, especially when the future looks bright.