Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Friday 28 April 2006

28 April 2006

Before leaving Costa del Humber for the warmer climes of the Costa del Sol timeshare industry, Dave Booth declared: "Watchability is winning." You can't argue with a man who took Town to their most impressive finish since 1948. Or can you?

The recent Target 6000 campaign was the club's latest attempt to tempt the population of North East Lincolnshire to come and watching their regularly winning football team, currently destined to finish no lower than fourth. The average attendance is 5,001: a mere 58 attendees and 14 league places up on last term. Tomorrow's opponents, Macclesfield, have the opposite situation and are currently nestled in 19th, their season endured by an average attendance of 2,203. Last season they finished fifth with 69 more people attending games. Some times you just have to accept what is the norm, what is expected now.

But cast those figures aside! Macclesfield is bracing itself! Town are gunning for a win from their final road trip of the season, to keep their noses ahead of fourth-placed Leyton Orient. The Mariners' impressive recent volume of away support - two and a quarter thousand at Lincoln, 1000 at Leyton Orient - will continue with a level of support not seen since, ahem, Sincil Bank. The usually spacious Moss Rose will be a comparatively throbbing throng as over 4,000 spectators pack in tomorrow afternoon.

Russ speaks up ahead of the game in a revealing interview on Mariners World, despite a microphone set up right next to the world's squeakiest door and an interviewer obsessing too much about Town being promoted on Saturday. The bald-headed mastermind keeps a level head, saying: "It's not going to be easy. At home [Macclesfield are] quite strong," and reminding us, his players and anyone else who hasn't seen a recent league table that the home team are "not out of the woods". He might as well have made like Bob Dylan, holding up a succession of cards spelling out "it could be tricky, this".

"An atmosphere helps the lads, there's no doubt about it in my mind, but despite the atmosphere, despite the occasion, we've got to focus," says a steely-eyed Slade. "We've got a job to do on the day for ninety minutes, it's vital that we do our job and we do it professionally." So long as Mrs Stick keeps her legs shut, the backline should remain as was against Cheltenham, as Tom Newey is out and Macca is rated as highly doubtful. Michael Reddy has yet to train, but that was last week's story as well.

So far it has been an Awesome April for the lads. The Lincoln defeat at the end of March was the cue for Slade's side to display everything noteworthy in their locker. The professional job defeating Wrexham. The sumptuous display against Shrewsbury. An impressively calculated draw at Leyton Orient. Resilience and mettle, and victory over a perky Cheltenham team. It's all been building up nicely. But what awaits at Macclesfield? The agony or ecstasy? This month has built renewed and undeniable optimism in our team. Winning in front of so many expectant fans will provide watchability. If Peterborough manage to steal any points off Leyton Orient? Deep breaths. What was Russ saying? Ah, let's make sure we do our job.