BACK ON THE BUS WITH NEW TICKET!
Relegated Lowestoft set sat-nav to go south
ISOLATED Lowestoft Town face the prospect of another year of long journeys on the team coach next season following their heart-breaking relegation from National League North.
Of the 23 teams they face in the Ryman Premier League next year, only three are within a 100-mile radius of the Suffolk town.
“We are certainly going to be spending a long time on the road,” joked manager Ady Gallagher.
“We faced a very similar situation this year, when we were regularly travelling hundreds of miles up the country to play matches.
“Unfortunately, our geographical position means we do not fit neatly into a certain league, but that is the situation in which we find ourselves.
“I suppose you could say it puts us at a slight disadvantage, but we can’t dwell on it and let it affect us.”
The Trawlerboys went into their final-day fixture against Gloucester City needing a win to secure their National League North status.
However, despite dominating large parts of the game, Gallagher’s side could not grab an elusive victory and were held to a 1-1 draw.
The Lowestoft boss told The NLP: “It was really tough to take because we went into that final match really believing we could escape relegation.
“To go down on goal difference is probably the worst way to get relegated, and it certainly laid us low for a couple of days.
“We went to Portman Road on the Wednesday for the Norfolk Senior Cup Final and, to be honest, our heads were still down.
“The boys showed great character, though, and played some fantastic football to get a really convincing victory over Leiston.
“Though it in no way made up for relegation, winning a piece of silverware against a Ryman League club has certainly given us some confidence.
“It has allowed us to look ahead to next year with a bit of optimism.”
Gallagher was in joint charge with Micky Chapman when Lowestoft secured promotion from the Ryman Premier two years ago, and he is confident the experience will prove important next season.
Campaign
He explained “There is no doubt we will be entering a very tough division next season and it will certainly be very hard to come straight back up.
“However, the experience of having taken a side up through the division before will, hopefully, put me in good stead.
“The most important thing we can do now is not to dwell on what happened this season. We must come into the new campaign with our heads up and be ready to attack the challenge head
on. “That is something we have always managed to do at Lowestoft and is something we are going to have to do again.”