Play-off prize is Robins’ aim
Date at Wembley up for grabs in Northampton clash
CHELTENHAM Town fans will be hoping their side can take a step closer to promotion to League One tonight in the first leg of their playoff semi-final against Northampton Town.
The Robins are back in action for the first time since March, when the regular season was halted by the Covid-19 pandemic and will be hoping to take a step towards a Wembley final.
Michael Duff’s side finished fourth in League Two, so take on the seventhplaced Cobblers over two legs – both being played behind closed doors, meaning fans will have to rely on TV, radio and online coverage to follow the action.
The winners of the two-legged tie will face either Exeter City or Colchester United at Wembley – again behind closed doors – on Monday, June 29.
The second leg is at the Jonny-rocks Stadium, Whaddon Road, next Monday (8pm kick-off ) and the team will be backed by more than 1,000 cardboard cut-out fans after a successful Crowdfunder initiative raised more than £30,000 for the club.
Fans paid £25 to have a cut-out placed in the stadium, and supporters have also sent in video messages which will be played over the electronic scoreboard at Monday’s game.
The players all returned to training on June 1 and have been regularly tested for Covid-19, with no players or staff returning positive results at any time.
Those returning included striker Reuben Reid, whose partner Sasha has been undergoing treatment for cancer, putting her in the vulnerable group at high risk of getting seriously ill from coronavirus.
“We have had that extra fear of what’s been going around because of my partner’s scenario,” Reid said.
“At the time of lockdown she was only a couple of months out of invasive treatment, of radiotherapy and chemotherapy and she was at her weakest in terms of her immune system.
“She was told not to leave the house and to stay away from the rest of the family, even.
“As time goes by you ask yourself, ‘How long are you going to live like this?’ and we had the conversation.
“She’d never say I can’t go back to work because of her and all the necessary precautions are being taken to make it safe.”
Cheltenham are hoping to win promotion to League One for the third time in their history, having gone up in 2002, beating Rushden and Diamonds 3-1 in the final, and 2006 after a 1-0 win over Grimsby Town, both times through the play-offs.
Both finals were played at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium while Wembley was being refurbished, and their only play-off final visit to Wembley ended in a 2-1 defeat to Crewe Alexandra in 2012.
Northampton and Cheltenham will meet in the play-offs for the second time – with the Cobblers winning both semi-final legs 1-0 in 2013 before losing in the final.
Cheltenham will be looking to top scorer Ryan Broom, who has eight goals this season, striker Alfie May, with six goals in 12 games since signing in January, and 37-year-old forward Luke Varney to fire them to the final.
Varney scored the winner when the two sides met at Whaddon Road earlier this season, the Robins winning 2-1 with Broom scoring the other goal.
At the other end of the field, skipper Ben Tozer will be playing against his former club, and has had an outstanding season as the leader of the best defence in the whole Football League.
They only conceded 27 goals in the 36 League Two games they played before the lockdown and will be hoping to keep up that fine record in the play-offs.