Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 11 February 2013

11 February 2013

Miss Guest Diary writes: Another Monday morning, another three points in the bag for Town. And still top. With a crowd of nearly four and a half thousand creating a good atmosphere and a defence that never looked like crumbling even when Telford had several free kicks in dangerous areas and a number of corners in the last 10 minutes, I really enjoyed the game on Saturday. This, despite the performance by Town being, according to Shouty, "far from their best".

It really is enjoyable being a Town fan at the moment - if I was a footballer on Twitter, I would undoubtedly describe myself as 'buzzing'. Why is this? I think it must be because my overriding emotion lately has been hope, both of promotion and of reaching Wembley in the F A Trophy. This is in stark contrast to many of the last 20 or so years, when the latter half of the season has been spent counting each point until reaching the magic number to ensure Town avoided relegation, including the four times when they didn't make it.

Which reminds me of a conversation I had the other week with a fellow Town fan. What will it be like next season if Town do return to the Football League? Will we fans retain that enthusiasm when we are no longer the big fish in the small pond, when there is no prospect of taking a big crowd to thrash Lincoln on Boxing Day, when the likelihood of a trip to Wembley is severely reduced? Or will it be business as usual? Starting the season full of expectation, which drains away after dreary trips to the same old places like Rochdale, Chesterfield or Wycombe, then spending the months after Christmas in fear of relegation. This brings to mind the oft-quoted football cliché: I can take the despair, it's the hope that kills. Well, with Town currently riding high, I disagree - the hope feels pretty good at the moment.

And now it's time for me to apologise to the management duo for my scepticism last week about the benefits of players having to fight for their place in the team. If Joe Colbeck's performance on Saturday - which deservedly earned him man of the match - is anything to go by, then having to compete for a place with Jamie Devitt was just what he needed. So the managers are likely to have - cue another football cliché - 'a selection headache' ahead of tomorrow's game against Nuneaton if Devitt is well enough to play.

Meanwhile, spare a thought for fellow Grimbarians dealing with the Findus fallout - apologising for other people's mistakes is no fun. Just ask Shouty and Shorty after a Town defeat.