My Conference Fantasy Football Team

My Top Ten Players & Goalkeeper of the Blue Square Bet Premier 2011/12 season so far.

Barrow AFC training ahead of the match against AFC Telford

As we are already two months into the Blue Square Bet Premier 2011/12 season, I want to pause and look at some of the best player performances so far.

To present this, I have made my very own conference fantasy football team full of players who I think have made a great start to the season.

It was extremely difficult to choose just 10 players plus the goalkeeper and I had to leave a number of great players out of my starting line up.

I’ve chosen my team based on match statistics and from players’ performances in matches I have reported on.

                     

It’s just a bit of fun to see if you agree with my managerial choices.


My new starting XI
I have an online premier league fantasy football team along with millions of football fans.

But over the last few weeks, my strikers for Bluebirds AFC have not been scoring highly.  

So instead of Javier Hernandez and Edin Dzeko up front, I’m replacing them with Jon Shaw and Adam Boyes in my conference team.

The new and improved Bluebirds AFC line up in a 4-3-3 formation.

Goalkeeper


1) Danny Naisbitt

Tough decision to turn down Braintree’s Nathan McDonald but I opted for Naisbitt, keeper for Cambridge United. With 6 clean sheets and only 14 goals conceded so far, less than one goal a game has been netted past him this season.

 Defence

Steve Akrigg, Southport FC

2)    Neil Ashton

Ashton has featured in every Wrexham match this season and has helped the league leaders to 7 clean sheets.

3)    Steve Akrigg

Southport are on an incredible run losing only 1 of the last 10 matches. Akrigg has helped the Sandgrounders to 5 clean sheets and was brilliant attacking and defending against Barrow at Haig Avenue in August.  

4)    Richard Tait

Regular in Tamworth’s defence and has helped keep 5 clean sheets and a positive goal difference for the Lambs. Looked solid on the opening day of the season against Barrow.

5)    Steve McNulty

It would be fair to say that Fleetwood Town had an erratic start to the season, however after settling into third in the league, they have to be promotion candidates. The Cod Army’s skipper McNulty has aided 5 clean sheets and is at the very heart of the defence.

Midfield

6)    Paul Rutherford

Nominated for MBNA Blue Square Bet North West Footballer of the Year (2010/11) for Barrow AFC. Paul Rutherford’s runs on the wing are full of pace before he cuts into the box to set up goal scoring opportunities. Injuries have stopped him from making the perfect start, but a fully fit ‘Rudders’ has been threatening when he has played.

7)    Jai Reason

With 6 goals for Braintree Town, I have heard many compliments about this midfielder. Scored two goals against Tamworth in Braintree’s 3-1 victory in September, earning a crucial win against mid-table rivals.                                                                          

8)    Danny Rose

Danny Rose, Newport County

Despite Newport County’s difficult start to the season and now stuck in the relegation zone, Rose has scored 7 goals and performed well in midfield. He aided the comeback in last night’s 4-1 victory against high flying Fleetwood Town by scoring from the penalty spot.  

Strikers

9)    Jon Shaw

My first choice striker is a former Bluebird and has been vital in helping Gateshead to second in the league. An obvious decision with an impressive 13 goals scored in the first 15 games of the season.

10)    Jason Walker

I’m still not fully over Walker’s departure from Barrow last season. But with 11 goals scored in York’s campaign already, he is proving that he is a magnificent striker. His ability to score goals at crucial stages in a match is why he has made my team.

11)    Adam Boyes

The new Bluebird has made double figures already in his debut season for Barrow AFC. With 10 goals to his name, the former Boston United player has settled in quickly and scored twice to secure a surprise victory against ‘table toppers’ Wrexham.

This is my Conference Fantasy Football team, I hope to review it again near Christmas.
More importantly, this shows that if you look beyond league football, this is only a handful of the talented individuals that play in the Conference.

@amyscarisbrick

Contact the author at: ascarisbrick@uclan.ac.uk