Two successive away games against teams who dress broadly like the Bacon Boys of Sheffield brought two monumentally different results. The memory of a tame capitulation at Lincoln was swept away by a performanceat Exeter that set a new club record for an away win. The 151 Chesterfield supporters who went down there saw only the club's tenth 6-1 win since joining the Football League in 1921, since when we've played 1,767 away games. If we have to wait another 87 years to do it again, it is likely to be your great-grandsons who will see it.
Saturday sees another long trip to the South Coast, to try conclusions with AFC Bournemouth. We've been nurturing quite a good record there, of late; one defeat in our last seven visits, and our last two trips ending in away wins. The Cherries have accumulated 13 points this season, enough to have them in 17th place, but thanks to the deductions made in the wake of their falling into administration last season, they remain second-bottom, ten points behind Grimsby Town and a position of safety, if not comfort. Their home record is quite similar to that of Exeter's, before we played them so, if we approach the game in the proper way, we can expect to get something out of it.
Bournemouth report that Alan Connell and Ryan Garry have resumed training after injury, although the abandonment of their match at Luton in midweek means that striker Lee Bradbury hasn't completed a suspension handed out forgetting to five yellows so he is forced to sit out our game, too.
Speaking at the launch of the new-look club shop on Thursday, Lee Richardson revealed that Gregor Robertson is still a doubt but that Tommy Lee had been given the all-clear. Asked whether the recent improvement came as a surprise he felt that he'd "...always believed we could mount a platform to build on," and "didn't share the view that things were massively awry before." A reason for the improvement? "We've had more of the rub of the green in the last few games."
As form improves, Lee feels that the danger of complacency is "...something that we remind ourselves of, constantly." "We are back in touching distance now," he feels, "and we want to maintain that and take it forward in the new year."
The geographical facts behind these two long away trips were evident as soon as the fixtures came out. Their potential significance to the way the season pans out could not have become apparent until now, though. My mind goes back to the 1984-5 season, and back-to-back away games against Hereford and Darlington. Both were promotion rivals and we won at both places that season to take a huge stride towards promotion ourselves. Although only Exeter of the current two may be present at the promotion shake-up these are nevertheless games of huge significance, as tests of our endurance as much as our playing abilities. If we come back with anything from Bournemouth and if things go our way as the season unfolds we may rightly look back on this pair of long road trips as being the real turning-point.
After this, we have successive home encounters against some non-league outfit in the Cup, a huge game against Shrewsbury Town and one that offers just as many points to the victor, against Accrington. If we can come out of the Accy game on a seven-match unbeaten run we'll be right back in it!
Spireites World will bring live commentary to those who cannot make it to Bournemouth.
