Cod Almighty | Diary

Oh what a goal!

4 April 2022

Miss Guest Diary writes: When a sporting event goes the way you want, it is right up there with the best feelings in the world. The win on Saturday at Chesterfield was definitely that, with knobs on. And to do it against one of our "promotion rivals" – more on this later – was the icing on the knobs, so to speak.

The game had a touch of Roy of the Rovers about it. Going behind in the first few minutes, Maguire-Drew missing from a yard out and then, out of the blue, a speculative long-distance shot from McAtee sailing in to the goal to equalise, followed four minutes later by Holohan's screamer. It had me dancing in the stand whirling my gloves above my head. That run down the pitch by the entire team and Paul Hurst jumping around in celebration said it all. Then for Harry Clifton – one of our own – to score in front of us fans, followed by a fourth from Ryan Taylor who has struggled a little to score recently. It was just fairy tale stuff.

I can honestly say it was the best performance I have seen all season, from the fans as well as the team. Sure, we all went a little quiet after Chesterfield's goal, but it didn't take the players or the fans long to bounce back and, once McAtee had scored, the noise and singing was non-stop. I still can't understand why people have to throw flares on the pitch, but I'm not letting that spoil the feeling.

I know I promised to leave it alone for a month, but I'm going back to the constantly debated topic of the play-offs and Town's chances. After Saturday I have revised my opinion. If Hurst can keep those players fit and playing like that, I wouldn't bet against us reaching Wembley. And after that, who knows. I wouldn't even bet against us finishing in one of the coveted top three spots.

Looking back at my scrapbook for this campaign, I see that Chesterfield had been ever-present in the top three since the second week of the season, topping the division for seven of those weeks. Where are they now? Fifth, with only one win in the last six games. Likewise Boreham Wood, who up to the middle of March had never been lower than fifth in the table, but are no longer even in the play-off places and haven't won a game since February. Maybe relying on a £250,000 striker or taking your team to Dubai mid-season isn't the way to go after all.

I definitely won't be the only Town fan to have muttered the words "Of course, this means we'll lose to Weymouth" at the final whistle on Saturday. We don't really believe that, do we? It's just our way of trying not to get carried away, not counting those chickens and setting ourselves up for more disappointment. See you at the Bob Lucas Stadium, with everything crossed!

UTM