The Ridgeons League premier division season of 2007/8 won't be one that HARWICH AND PARKESTON will look back on with any particular relish.

It was a campaign that saw the Shrimpers enduring managerial unheavals and inconsistent form meant they were left nervously looking over their shoulders at the relegation scrap until the last few games of the season.

navigate As it was, they managed to safely navigate their way through and finished in 18th position, five points above the dreaded drop zone, but it won't be an experience that many will really recall with much enthusiasm.

In many ways Harwich were a bit of an enigma this year, though, and must have frustrated their fans as they were able to mix results like the 4-0 hammering of Dereham and the 2-1 defeat of Kirkley and Pakefield with a 2-0 loss to Histon and a pair of 3-0 defeats by local rivals Stanway.

The uncertainty of losing their manager midway through the season can't have helped when it came to getting stability, with former boss Tony Armstrong having to step into a caretaker role following the departure of Robbie May and assistant boss Mark Sharpe.

At the time, the team appeared to be in freefall towards relegation with a string of alarming results when they picked up just one win in 11 games, but Armstrong was able to steady the ship and steered them clear of troubled waters.

Gino Defeo added goals up front and Matt Stace helped to tighten up the defence and the Shrimpers board opted to appoint Richard Elms as the new boss for the start of the 2008/9 season.

The challenge for Elms will now be to keep hold of the players who have done well in the final months of the season and transform them back into one which is able to compete for a top-ten finish.