Dr Gee seeks Saturday sickess cure

Rainworth Miners Welfare manager Kevin Gee is looking for his side to shrug off a debilitating bout of 'Saturdayitis' and push on in their bid to put more Evo-Stik NPL Division First South points on the board, writes Gordon Foster.[/b]

The Wrens have not picked up any Saturday points since 8 December when they beat Mickleover Sports 4-2 at Kirklington Road. Since then they've lost to Sutton Coldfield Town, Brigg Town and Belper Town, the last two of those as a result of conceding twice in the final five minutes.

At Brigg they led 2-1 as the game entered stoppage time, only to let in two in the five added minutes. At home to Belper on Saturday the game was petering out to a 1-1 draw until a debatable penalty and an own goal saw the Nailers go home with a 3-1 win.

But in midweek games during the same spell they've a 100 per cent record of four wins from four – two of them in the Doodson Sport Cup. Fortunately, the league cup competition is played in midweek and they made further progress in that competition on Tuesday night with a 2-0 extra-time success over Premier Division Buxton to reach the last 16.

Although the play-off chasing Buxton manager, former Mansfield central defender Martin McIntosh, made changes with what the Bucks will see as bigger fish to fry coming up, Rainworth also made a number of changes.

In their case the changes were enforced to some extent by injuries or players being cup-tied but it was the Wrens who always looked the more likely winners, leaving Gee a well satisfied man at the end of the two hours of play.

Gee, whose Wrens take on Loughborugh at home on Saturday hoping to cure their weekend malady, said: "What pleased me above all was not so much the result as the fact that we improved what we do when we are out of possession.

"This is something that ‘Chalkie’ [coach Ian Whyte] and I have been pushing at them lately. So it was pleasing to see that the message seemed to have got home and they were doing the right things off the ball.

"What ever side Buxton chose, they came to play a certain way, but we more than matched them which made it an entertaining game for the spectators to watch with a lot of good football played by both sides.

"We kept the ball well, dominated possession, did things properly when we didn’t have it, and we carried it over into extra time and scored two good goals from Lee Cooksey and Ryan Goward.

"When Ryan's goal went in the referee might as well have blown for time then because that seemed to be all that Buxton wanted to hear – there was no way back for them at that point."

Gee paid tribute to Stephen Akers who pulled on a Rainworth shirt for the first time this season at the weekend, having had a long injury lay-off before regaining match fitness playing for Holbrook Sports in the East Midlands Counties League.

"I was delighted for Steve," said Gee. "He worked hard, put himself about and performed well after being away for such a long time, while young Jordan Claxton again showed promise stepping up from the reserves to come on as substitute."