Remaining fixtures

[BWFC_Insane]

I think we are in a shoot out for 3rd. Cambridge and Cheltenham have enough to stay above the line.

Monday is massive. Feel we need a win. Or momentum might slip too much.

[Burnden Paddock]

R Barrow 2-1 Newport
R Cambridge 2-1 Morecambe
GOAL BRADFORD 4-1 Forest Green (Rowe 90+4')
R Bradford 4-1 Forest Green
R Cheltenham 4-0 Tranmere

Came back in after doing some tree chopping (grrr!!) in the garden to see this! Excellent news, but as said above, those 2 extra points would have given us a nice little cushion!

[knobpolisher]

Plus Exeter lost. Wonder what odds you'd have got on the five teams below us all losing? Puts a draw, however disappointing, into perspective

But the teams below us were away , as we will be monday.

[TonyDomingos]

Newport and Morcambe both had players sent off today. Every little helps!

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Newport and Morcambe both had players sent off today. Every little helps!

Does that mean Newport's lad will be banned against us?

[TonyDomingos]

Newport and Morcambe both had players sent off today. Every little helps!

Does that mean Newport's lad will be banned against us?

I think so. It was their left back, Mickey Demetriou (whoever he is!). He's played 90 mins of every game bar one this season, so hopefully his replacement is a bit rusty.

[LeverEnd]

Scores are just making todays 2 points dropped feel worse.

You always get frustrating games like that. We've had some luck.in this run so can't complain.
Also 4 points from fGR away and Colchester home isn't too.bas if you ignore the details

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

How it started vs how it's going.
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Title less likely, but promotion slightly more so, I'd say.

[irie Cee Bee]

Watched the Cheltenham vs Tranmere game. They destroyed Tranmere with their size, direct attacking pace and long throw set pieces from which a couple goals came. Their players are built like tanks. They really go at you hard and direct when they have the ball. Tranmere didn't know what hit them on that first half.

[TANGODANCER]

How it started vs how it's going.
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So we are now 3rd, a point ahead of Tranmere?

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Watched the Cheltenham vs Tranmere game. They destroyed Tranmere with their size, direct attacking pace and long throw set pieces from which a couple goals came. Their players are built like tanks. They really go at you hard and direct when they have the ball. Tranmere didn't know what hit them on that first half.

Aye. Yet we took four points off Cheltenham, and gave up four to Colchester. Funny old division.

[Prufrock]

How it started vs how it's going.
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So we are now 3rd, a point ahead of Tranmere?

Aye, Newport (7 back) and Exeter (8 back) have a game in hand on us, and we (and everyone else) have a game in hand on 1st placed Cambridge.

[TonyDomingos]

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[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Sorry Tango - missed your question. Aye, amid the understandable angst that we didn't beat Colchester, we actually strengthened our position yesterday in terms of automatic promotion (but not the title race). Such is this division.

So to Easter Monday, when it's all 3pm games. We're at Newport but again there's a bigger match elsewhere: Tranmere v Cambridge. Keith Onions' team will have to retrieve its arse from the bag Cheltenham stuffed it into, while hoping to deal with Cambridge's efficiency (top of the league from the tenth-most shots per game). Cambridge, for their part, will have seen what their main title rivals did to the Wirral mob and fancy matching it - although single-goal wins are more their style (12 of their 21, as opposed to 10 of Cheltenham's 20). Whatever happens there can't be all bad for us - a Tranmere win would help our title hopes - but obviously that depends on us winning our own games.

Other Monday games:
Cheltenham go to Grimsby. That might sound like a gimme but we know how hard teams at the bottom work, and perhaps counterintuitively Grimsby are on the division's third-longest unbeaten run (7). True, they've only won one of them – usefully for them, at Barrow – but they've only conceded one goal in their last three home games - including a 0-0 shut-out of Tranmere, who'd done them 5-0 on the Wirral back in November – while Cheltenham have also lost two of their last three away games (Morecambe and Mansfield) and earlier this season lost to both Barrow and Grimsby while shipping three in each game. A home win would be lovely but I'd take a draw, which would take us to two points behind them if we win. And we all know about promotion-chasing teams failing to overcome drop-dodgers.

Forest Green host Salford in a clash - or maybe more of a drunken mutual collapse – of two teams in woeful condition: they're both bottom-six on last-6 and last-8 form. Now under Gary Bowyer, Salford were better than recently in yesterday's 1-0 loss at 8th-placed Exeter - 12 shots to 4, Exeter scoring with their only accurate effort - but still lost. You feel the first goal will be crucial here.

Morecambe wait until Tuesday night to host Southend. Again, you'd expect a home win, but again, the relegation hauntees are refusing to die: they won yesterday at Harrogate, they're unbeaten in four, only lost two in eight.

In most seasons I'd expect a clean sweep for our rivals (except obvz Tranmere-Cambridge, which they can't both win). But this is not like most seasons, and perhaps the second game in four days might hold more shocks.

[Worthy4England]

Whilst results have seemingly helped us more than hindered over the last couple of weeks and we've had bizarre and last minute winning goals. Still feels like early 80's points might be required to guarantee autos. That's still 5/6 wins out of 8 games required. If one of our nearby rivals hit a much shorter run than we've been, we going to have to match that pace.

Still lots to do. Yesterday didn't hurt us short term but may do longer term (but when considering that, the thing that's really put the pressure on and might do for us is really our pre-Christmas woeful start).

[Dave Sutton's barnet]

Whilst results have seemingly helped us more than hindered over the last couple of weeks and we've had bizarre and last minute winning goals. Still feels like early 80's points might be required to guarantee autos. That's still 5/6 wins out of 8 games required. If one of our nearby rivals hit a much shorter run than we've been, we going to have to match that pace.

Aye. Unless Cheltenham or Cambridge crumble, or Newport or Exeter accelerate, we're basically looking at four teams competing for one auto place. That's not a grand margin for error. But almost all the top teams have stumbled, and some have gone into the gravel teeth-first. Maybe it's an early manifestation of the run-in yips, but long may it continue (for everyone bar us).

80 points is 16 from our last 8 - W5 D1 L2, or W4 D4 L0. Either's doable – but as you say, if one of the other three sprints, we have to match it.

[TANGODANCER]

So how does it all read after today's games? How much damage has been done? Top six I mean.

[LeverEnd]

So how does it all read after today's games? How much damage has been done? Top six I mean.

Not much. None of the top 6 won. Morecambe play Southend at home tomorrow so should drop us to 5th. Worst case we'll be a point off an automatic place.

[LeverEnd]

That was always a game we could lose and we should've won it. Carry on as we have been and I'm convinced we'll go up. We certainly should. We need a spark up front though. Doyle is pretty much undroppable so someone needs to step it up on the assists. This would be a very good time for Maddison to pull his finger out. Looked ok today.

[officer_dibble]

Not a bad game for Maddison to start next time out either you would suspect. I just don’t see Dapo offering goals and Delf has pretty much dropped himself.