Jim won’t give up on play-offs
COUNTY boss Jim Gannon refused to concede defeat in The Hatter’s National League North play-off chase after a 1-0 home defeat to promotion-chasing Brackley Town at Edgeley Park on Saturday.
Aaron Williams’ lastminute winner condemned Gannon’s side to a second consecutive league defeat, both on home soil, and saw County slip to 12th in the league as the top seven moved further out of reach.
The demoralising defeat came despite near dominance on the day for Gannon’s men, who were dumped out of the FA Trophy 2-1 by the same opponents last Tuesday.
Despite County sitting five places away from the play-off positions, the gap remains just five points from the final spot, with The Hatters holding three games in hand over some of the leading pack owing to their cup football involvement.
Tuesday’s hosting of mid-table Boston United was cancelled after the Edgeley Park surface turned into a mudbath during Saturday’s wet and windy affair, meaning Gannon’s tiring side face the prospect of four midweek fixtures in the final month of the season.
But, although Gannon admitted his side’s hopes of a first play-off berth since dropping into the sixth tier in 2013 were fading, the former Northwich boss pointed to his record upon his 2016 return to the club as proof that the season is far from over.
“I don’t think the season is over, there are plenty of twists and turns,” he said. “When I first came back here in January 2016, we had a really good run with five wins and a draw with a side which had won one in fifteen when I arrived here.
“After that run, everyone started talking about the play-offs which shows you the nature of this division.
“There’ll come a point where it’s not in our own hands and it may become mathematically impossible, but we just want to focus on a strong run-in because regardless of whether we make it or not, it’s not just a run-in for this season but it’s about preparation for next season and proving who’s good enough to really help us step up.”
Despite a run of just one win in five for The Hatters, Gannon – who last week bolstered the ranks with the re-signing of former club captain Paul Turnbull on a deal until the end of next season from National League strugglers Chester – chose to sympathise with his players over the Brackley loss as County’s play-off chase appeared to be ended by the Saints.
“There’s things we need to iron out, and I told the lads how disappointed I was for them because they’ve put a big effort in – but it’s not just about effort,” he said.
“I mentioned this when we brought Paul Turnbull back, but we have certain players just running around without much thought or thinking that they know better than what we’re trying to teach them, and we need to be moving those kind of semi-professional footballers out who aren’t going to improve, and move towards a more fulltime set-up – because it’s the only way we’re going to get better as a club.
“Without criticising the lads, the ball wasn’t sticking up top, it kept coming back on us, we didn’t have much guile or creativity in midfield to outwit their midfield lads and in the end they were clever enough to just pick us off,” Gannon said.
The Hatters’ involvement in the FA Trophy, which came to an end at the quarter-final stage at St James Park last week, has seen County end up with a huge backlog of league fixtures to play, and Gannon explained his side’s busy calendar had caught up with his players on the day.
But, after two successive 1-0 home defeats in league action, Gannon admitted his side’s task of reaching the National League North play-offs was becoming increasingly unlikely. The 49-year-old had targeted a total of two wins and a draw from the next three fixtures beginning with the visit of Brackley, with a trip to Gainsborough Trinity swiftly approaching this weekend.
“The support play wasn’t strong enough for us to keep the ball in the final third, but that’s down to a number of things such as fatigue, tiredness and players just not being good enough. But I can only commend the lads for a huge effort.
“We did target seven points from the next three games, in that respect we would have taken a point from Brackley, but it now puts huge pressure on us going forward and going to Gainsborough.
“The onus is really on us now, and by and large we need much more quality in our front play to create opportunities and score goals to win these games.”