Relive The Season-March A Very Busy Month
By John Taylor
March began with the midweek trip to Gigg Lane where we were hoping to avenge the embarrassing drubbing by Alan Knill's outfit early in the season at Saltergate. We got off to a wonderful start with Aaron Downes smashing in a short range effort in the second minute after a Gritton knock-down. A lively opening to the game continued as both defences needed to be alert to prevent further scoring. We extended our lead after withstanding considerable pressure when Lester weaved his magic and scored 5 minutes before the break. The comfort zone was not to last long, however, as a mistimed challenge by Robertson on Bennett led to a very harsh straight red for the Scot. This led to a reshuffle at the break with Austin coming on to bolster the defence at the expense of Gritton. Almost from the off it was a backs-to-the-wall job and after just 13 minutes of the second half, the hosts pulled one back from the spot after Gray brought down Jones. Bishop put away the penalty. After withstanding what seemed hours of defending, we had a break and Talbot bore down on goal only to be upended in the box. Naturally we were denied a penalty and Talbot was booked, just summing up the way we have been treated all season by officials. For some reason we have earned a reputation as a physical, aggressive outfit and we appear to get the worst of every decision in light of this, especially against teams such as the Shakers who are adept at working the officials. Anyway, we held out for our second league win in as many years at Bury after going 62 years without any.
Next up we were at another place where the opponents are usually good at working officialdom: Wycombe. The Chairboys had been looking less sharp of late after a cracking start to the season and certainly did not look the struttingly confident outfit of earlier in the campaign at Saltergate. We were the much better side in the first half but had only Lester's 32nd minute strike to show for our efforts. This should have been doubled straight after the restart as Johnson floored Lester in the box and we were unbelievably awarded a penalty for the foul. Lester's poor effort straight down the middle was saved by Young's feet and you could sense that we'd blown our chance of victory. Still, we continued to attack but could not find the killer goal and the home side began to press as the game wore on. Substitutions were made to bolster the defence and just as we looked like we'd weathered the storm we blew it. Wilson, on his full debut had the opportunity to knock a long ball down the line, but decided to take on the forward, lost the ball and committed a foul. The free-kick was not defended well and Pittman spun to hit an undeserved equaliser 4 minutes into stoppage time-the 5th late goal we'd conceded this season to lose us points.
Midweek saw us back at Saltergate against Grimsby with the Mariners in severe danger of the dreaded drop, despite their 5-1 victory over fellow yellow-bellies Lincoln City on Saturday. The visitors certainly did not play like relegation fodder and had our defence struggling to keep them at bay and conceding too many corners for comfort. Their failure to convert though saw them fall behind as Drew Talbot's exquisite dink from 20 yards left keeper Henderson looking on in disbelief as the ball struck the crossbar and fell a yard over the line. This was the signal to start playing and we then tore into the Grimsby side whose heads appeared to drop after the concession. A second wouldn't come, however, until substitute Derek Niven smashed a wonderful shot into the top of the net with 15 minutes left. A comfortable game this was not to be, however, as Bennett pulled one back 2 minutes later after hesitant defending from a corner. We saw the game out for victory, though, but not before Tommy Lee had done the business with a couple of smart saves.
Next up were the very much unloved Dagenham and Redbridge, who deserved to be taught a lesson in football after the game at their place in September. Unfortunately we were not up for it and the villain of the piece, Strevens, was largely anonymous except when confronted by Austin. The Daggers forward understandably shrank from the task-he is more at home bullying little lads such as Lloyd Kerry, fortunately unable to play in this one owing to injury. A very forgettable first half, not helped by the blustery conditions, led to a somewhat improved second period with Town slightly better than the visitors, but lacking a cutting edge. We did, however, go ahead with 13 minutes left as Gritton was set up for an easy finish by Lester. The Daggers fought back and our defence looked pretty rocky at times, surviving only with a mixture of luck and good goalkeeping. Again, though, we blew it in injury time from a set-piece as Saunders rose at the near post to flick in a header for another dismal equaliser. The visitors almost took all 3 points with Loft hitting the post deep into injury time before the game was mercifully brought to a conclusion.
Probably the toughest test of the season came next with a midweek trip to Brentford, top of the table and victors at Saltergate early in the season in what was a bad-tempered affair. This encounter was much better as two form teams looked to add to their points. Town's defence stood up well to Hunt's long throws and numerous corners, especially in the first half. The second half highlight was, of course, the goal by Gritton: an exquisitely worked affair superbly finished by the Scot from the edge of the box and celebrated joyfully, especially by Jamie Lowry. The Cornishman was subject to an evil assault in the corresponding fixture earlier in the season so the victory at Griffin Park must have tasted especially sweet. Also hugely satisfying was Brentford boss Andy Scott's admission that the better side had won on the night-very honest of the man who is no lover of Town as he made clear after his short spell with us in 1996. This victory must have added massively to the team's confidence which was to be tested severely in the next fixture; away at an athletics venue.
The venue in question was, of course, the Don Valley Stadium, temporary home of Rotherham United. It was certainly an interesting experience visiting this place, though not one I'll relish repeating. The pre-match pub was terrible-a rare letdown for an entry in the Good Beer Guide and the game proved annoying, to say the least. The view from the stand afforded a fine panorama of empty open seats and Rotherham in the distance, but did little for the football spectator as the action appeared very distant. Early exchanges were at both ends, but Town gradually began to take the upper hand with Lowry on the right causing some difficulties for the Millers' rearguard. After 12 minutes he set up a glorious chance for Gritton, but the former Macc man hit the ball wide when it looked easier to score. It was to prove a costly miss. The real turning point came just after the half hour when Talbot was through and was cynically felled by Tonge, who was lucky to escape with only a caution. His cynicism didn't stop there though, but more of that later. The resulting free-kick was knocked home by Downes, but the linesman flagged for offside and his effort was disallowed. The Aussie was later put out of the game by the persistently robust efforts of Drewe Broughton and Talbot was booked for a nothing challenge on Tonge with the defender seemingly feigning injury. The Millers then took the lead on 38 as Reid spun to beat Lee against the run of play. With Austin on for the injured Downes after the break, Reid exploited our lack of defensive mobility to race through and double the lead by latching onto a long ball and lobbing the onrushing Lee. The hosts were now dominating midfield, despite the promptings of young Montrose and the Spireite fluency of the first period had totally dissipated. With 12 minutes to go Tonge did his dying swan act again and the referee dismissed Talbot following another nothing challenge. The Millers then scored another from ex-Town trialist Pablo Mills with a sweet shot from the edge of the area and we'd suffered our worst-ever away result in the league to Rotherham.
We had little time to dwell on this setback, however, as the following Wednesday, third placed Rochdale were in town. Given Dale's reputation as a footballing side, this fixture was eagerly-anticipated and, as it turned out, was well worth the entrance fee despite the wind. Town included Till for the suspended Talbot and Downes shook off the DVS knock to resume his place at the heart of defence. Early action tested Fielding in the Dale goal but we didn't find the net until 34 minutes. Jack Lester brilliantly finished after a Dale defender skied an attempted clearance from Lee's long punt. Despite much end-to-end stuff, though mostly in the Dale box, it took until 61 minutes before we had another goal. Lester again did the trick with a fine left footer beating Fielding from just inside the box. Dale upped their game after this and stretched our defence, but failed to find the crucial pass. We wrapped up the victory from an unusual source as Kerry's brilliant reverse pass set up Gregor Robertson and the Scot, not renowned for his clinical finishing, scored with aplomb. Dale manager, Keith Hill's post-match interview was hilariously downbeat for Town fans to hear and finished the evening off nicely on a quirky note.
Game 8 of the month saw Port Vale in town, hoping to reverse their run of rubbish results in North Derbyshire. They failed, thankfully and had the misfortune to see keeper Joe Anyon break his leg following a clash with Drew Talbot just before the interval. We were missing the height of the injured (and oft-criticised) Gritton up front and despite having more possession, looked somewhat disjointed. In an effort to attend to this, Mr Richardson brought off Lowry for Boden on 64 minutes and within 3 minutes, the youngster has set up Lester (via Talbot and a defender) to score his 20th goal of the season. Seven minutes later Lester netted again and the game looked comfortable, but like so many other games this season we conceded straight away from a set piece. This time an angled 30 yard free kick was barely flicked by Marshall and our defence was breached. Nonetheless, we held out for the win but failed to win 2-0 again-we've not done it all season.
The month's final offering was the long trip to Aldershot Town where we've a history of being abysmal. An unchanged side saw skipper Lester net his 21st of the campaign after 7 minutes following a great ball from Gregor Robertson. We failed to capitalise on this fine start, however, and looked somewhat jaded as a lively, but not very confident home side began to take control. Lee was the busier keeper as the game progressed and was eventually beaten following the break as Robinson swept in after a corner was knocked down. After several scares, notably right at the death when Morgan's effort went just wide, the ref signalled the end of the action and we'd got a slightly fortunate point.
In summary, a month of 9 games saw us amass 18 points, which is pretty good and saw us in contention for a play-off berth that looked very unlikely a month ago. The performance also got Mr Richardson in with a shout of manager of the month for league 2. Whilst it represented a good haul, there was still a frustration that it could have been better with the 4 points lost owing to injury time concessions. The 2 sendings-off were also galling and mean this is the club's worst-ever season for dismissals.
Off the field, Clayton MacDonald made an early return to Eastlands having been very unfortunate with the timing of his loan spell since he looks a very promising lad. Tony Caig, ex-Carlisle (and far from being a lad) was signed as goalkeeping cover for Tommy Lee, whilst Montrose and Lester made the divisional team of the week for the Vale match. Weirdly, we announced home pre-season friendlies for next season against Derby and Leicester, but more importantly, the vote at the extraordinary general meeting went in the board's favour clearing the way for additional share capital to be offered to an unnamed investor before being offered for general sale and to existing shareholders. With that technicality sorted, and put in simplistic terms, the man in question is able to fill the gap in the funding to get the new ground built seemingly.
All that's left then is to pick out the highlight of the month and that's not easy with all that's occurred. Jack Lester's goals were vital in our achievements in March; all being of quality, and Martin Gritton's winner at Brentford was brilliant. Tommy Lee's save at Griffin Park was also top drawer whilst Drew Talbot's delicious chip against Grimsby was a worthy contender, as was Gregor Robertson's rare strike against Rochdale. The winner this time, however, is Derek Niven's cracker against the Mariners which not only won us the game, but received a massive ovation from a sparse crowd in acceptance of the popular Scot's fight with illness. It was a truly joyous moment in an eventful month. Now what will April bring?
