Dev keen to get job done
Manager doesn’t care if United ‘limp over the line’ just so long as they get there
With two matches of the National League season left to play, Maidenhead United boss Alan Devonshire has said he doesn’t care if his Magpies side limp over the line to survival, just so long as they get there.
Torquay’s 5-1 defeat to Chesterfield on Tuesday evening means the Magpies have a three-point cushion – and a far superior goal difference – over the Gulls heading into their final games of the season at home to Barnet on Saturday and away to Gateshead on the final day (April 29).
Given that advantage, and Torquay’s tricky looking run in – with matches at Altrincham on Saturday and home to likely champions Wrexham on the final day – the Magpies may already have enough points on the board.
However, Devonshire won’t leave anything to chance and insists they’ll be leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to get the job done on their own terms with a win over Barnet this weekend.
That will be easier said than done, however, with the Magpies having failed to win any of their nine matches against the Bees in the National League. But, as Ryan Peters noted following Saturday’s disappointing 1-0 defeat to Oldham Athletic, bad records ‘are there to be broken’.
Maidenhead, in 20th place, and fourth-frombottom Torquay aren’t the only two sides that can be relegated either. Aldershot have likely given themselves enough of a buffer with Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Wealdstone, moving to 18th, and five points clear of the drop zone, in the process.
However, York City are very much still in the mire alongside Maidenhead and Torquay and all three will be desperately hoping they don’t fall into that final relegation spot.
Yeovil Town became the third club to be relegated on Tuesday after their 3-0 defeat at Wrexham, and they’ll join Scunthorpe United and Maidstone United in being demoted to step two.
York, 19th and level on 49 points with Maidenhead, host Aldershot in a potentially pivotal clash on Saturday before travelling to second-placed
Notts County on the final day of the season.
Speaking about the run in this week, Devonshire said: “It’s a tough league. It’s hard. Who’d have thought Scunthorpe and Yeovil would get relegated before the start of the season. You wouldn’t have thought that, so it’s tough.
“You might not win a game in 10, you can go on runs like that. I’m not surprised, with the run in that we’ve had and the injuries we’ve had. We’ve had people out long term and that’s hurt us, but it’s still in our hands and we have two games left to play. They’ve (Torquay) won five on the bounce which has put them right in the mix. There’s not a lot we can do about that. All we can do is take care of our own business.”
Devonshire felt Alex Reid’s early finish in Saturday’s defeat to the Latics at Boundary Park was offside but went on to point out the difference in scale between the clubs – with Oldham the first former Premier League side to be relegated into non-league football.
He refused to put himself through the ringer of watching Torquay’s clash at Chesterfield in midweek, claiming he has enough on his plate to worry about, but hopes to see a good crowd get right behind the players in Saturday’s clash with Barnet.
“We were very disappointed on Saturday,” he said. “We felt their goal was offside. It’s disappointing that we conceded because of that and lost the game because of that.
“I’m a bit old school and Oldham were in the top flight not that long ago. They were in the Premier League. Scunthorpe were in the Championship 10 years ago so to be competing with these teams is really good. But it’s in our hands and it’s up to us.”
He added: “No, no, no. I wasn’t going to put myself through watching that (Chesterfield v Torquay). I have enough to worry about, so I wasn’t going to sit there and watch that.
“We’re feeling ok. We’ve got a few injuries. I think we had both midfielders out on Saturday and they’re both touch and go for this Saturday, that’s Kane (Ferdinand) and Charlee (Adams). Our goalkeeper (Dan Gyollai) has been out for three months, and Cole (Kpekawa) has been out for two and a half months. We’ve had some things that haven’t helped us, but I’m not making excuses. Listen, I don’t care if we limp over the line so long as we get over the line.
“Maidenhead’s crowd is tremendous, and they get behind the boys. They need that help at the moment, so yeah, I just hope they can get behind the boys as much as they can on Saturday. At the end of the day, it’s a good game, they’re a good side. The league table doesn't lie. They’re decent and they’ll come to us full of confidence. We’ve just got to make sure we give everything we’ve got and make sure we take something from the game.”