Cheltenham Town: Neil Howarth's weekly column
THE last two matches have seen us have a couple of contrasting results which keep things just as tight at the top of the league as they were this time last week.
Last Tuesday we entertained Chesterfield who I believe we had never beaten since we gained our place in the Football League.
-
Managed by Paul Cook, who had already seen his Accrington team beat us handsomely at the Abbey Business Stadium earlier in the season, Chesterfield are perhaps a little bit lower in the division that many people would have predicted at the start of the season.
They needed to beat us to give themselves an opportunity to force their way into the play off places.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Friday, May 31 2013
We started the game very well, I thought, but we were unable to turn our superiority into goals.
However, we never gave up and in the 92 minute Paul Benson did what he has done all his career by getting his head onto a cross in the six-yard box to score the winning goal.
It was certainly very welcome to score such a late goal and it was good to see us pushing for the winner and finishing the game so strongly.
Our next game then saw us travel to Burton Albion, who we knew would go above us if they were to beat us.
We went into the match in good spirits following our midweek win and we certainly started the game very strongly. We dominated the opening 20 minutes but were unable to get ourselves an all important first goal.
And then, due to some poor defending, we allowed Burton to score two goals on the first two occasions they got into our box.
Goals change games and these two completely knocked the stuffing out of us.
Another one straight after half time gave us a virtually impossible task to get back into the game but we never gave up and Byron Harrison got a thoroughly deserved first goal for us. He scored with a last minute header after producing a very strong second half performance.
We now a have a week to dust ourselves down, learn from our mistakes and get ready for hosting Rotherham United next weekend in what is sure to be another massive game for us.
Before that the town has a very busy and exciting week as we welcome horse racing lovers from all over the country and beyond.
I have to say that going to the Festival is possibly the best sporting event I have ever been to live and the links our club has with the racecourse have always been very strong.
I shall be popping down this week to experience first hand the occasion and I will be doing my best to help improve the economy by donating plenty of money to our local bookmakers.
Comments