Advantage for Hatters
COUNTY boss Jim Gannon hailed a great achievement as The Hatters took a huge step to securing fifth place – and a home tie in the National League North play-offs – with a 1-0 win at Blyth Spartans on Saturday.
Jimmy Ball’s crisp volley on the stroke of half-time at Croft Park was enough to get County over the line in the face of intense late pressure from Hatters legend Alun Armstrong’s side; who needed a result to keep their own faint play-off hopes alive.
The hard-fought win acceded last Tuesday night’s battling 1-1 draw at play-off rivals Chorley, which sealed a top seven finish for Gannon’s resurgent side – who now take their place as one of the form sides in the country with eight wins and a draw from a possible ten.
“I don’t know the statistics of home side’s progressing in the play-offs, and just taking last season as an example, you had Chorley winning at Kidderminster away after losing the first leg at home. But every small advantage counts, and given our recent home form it’s great to get a home game first up,” said Gannon, who this week moved to secure two of his backroom staff to permanent deals at the club.
Strength and conditioning coach Nick Donnelly, and physio Luke Smith have both penned extensions to their current deals at County, in a move which will see the duo work with Gannon and the playing squad as The Hatters move to a ‘hybrid’ structure made up of both part-time and full-time players.
“It’s a huge bonus for us. I trust both of them; they’re extremely professional and well-qualified and are a huge part of what we do here. You can see from the extra sessions we’ve been putting on that it’s helping the lads in terms of fitness and performance,” said Gannon.
“The coaches do their jobs very well, and they’re the kind of people I want on board here. They’re committed to the cause and are ready to stay with us when we go to a complete full-time set-up; so we’re in good shape for next season but more importantly at the moment we’re in good shape with the staff putting the work in now to get us ready for a big play-off challenge.”
Saturday’s visit of Darlington seems set to bring a party atmosphere to Edgeley Park, with County fans able to revel in their club’s extended season for the first time in ten years.
With County’s grip on fifth place looking likely to be confirmed before Saturday – with Chorley and Spennymoor both playing during midweek – a change in personnel may be brought about with the play-offs beginning just four days later.
“There are plenty of permutations, and with plenty of games being played this mid-week, we should know by kick-off on Saturday where we stand and therefore what kind of team we can put out. I’ve got plenty of decisions to make in terms of personnel, but we’re just focussing on preparing for a home game in the play-offs.
“But it’s a great achievement for the club to not only be in the play-offs but to consolidate that fifth position, because there will have been people out there assuming we would only sneak in to the play-offs via the new format of two extra positions.
“It’s nice to know we’ll have Edgeley Park rocking for Saturday and for the following Wednesday in that first play-off game.””