I had originally started writing this before the Northwich game and had written a very optimistic assessment of the season so far. We seemed to have been turning round the poor start to the season at home with a victory against Kidderminster and a good performance against Rushden. I have, however, had to start writing this again after yesterday's defeat at the hands of what was, to be honest, a very mediocre Northwich side.
It felt (and probably looked) as if we could not get out of second gear from the start. The wind was obviously a factor, but was the same for both teams and I think Northwich used it much better than we did when they had the wind at their backs. There was a long discussion after the game as to the reasons for what was the worst full 90 minutes that we had put together so far this season. The conclusion that we came up with was that it was not tactics or preparation that had let us down, but the fact that on the day too many players played below par. Usually you can get away with a couple of players having an off day, but apart from Browny, Al-James, Murray and Tony Pennock I don't think anybody could have been particularly pleased with their performance.
The season, before yesterday, was going very well overall. We certainly seemed to have solved the problem of our away performances from last season. We look a very solid unit away from home and are proving to be very difficult to beat as the results so far have proved. At home results have not gone our way, but performances had been acceptable, with the notable exception of the first half against Hednesford and the 90 minutes against Northwich.
With things being quite tight around the top end of the table behind Rushden and Cheltenham we need to put Saturday out of our minds and make sure we get a result at Stevenage tomorrow night. It is very important that we do not lose touch with the teams at the top and that we are in the chasing pack to maintain our hopes of a successful season. To be able to do this we need to stick together as a club and not get too down from performances like Saturday's. I can't praise enough the supporters who have turned up at Huish Park for staying patient in a frustrating run of results at home. I can assure you it hurts us players just as much as it hurts you. Hopefully this was just a "blip" and we can get back on track starting tomorrow.
Steve Stott
13th September 1998
