Gingerbreads look ahead to Lincolnshire derby

The Gingerbreads return to footballing action on Boxing Day with a traditional local derby.

Stamford make the short journey up the A1 to take on the Evo-Stik League Division 1 South leaders at the Meres. Earlier in the season the Daniels occupied top spot, Grantham Town joint manager Wayne Hallcro is enjoying seeing his side top of the pile.

“We are just about coping with being top of the league!” Hallcro said. “It is something we as a management team have been striving for since we took over. There has been a big transformation at the club. When we were struggling and at the bottom of the league, we took games like Loughborough too easy and lost two point. The mindset now is so different, that says things about the message Jim and me have been trying to get across of doing things right game after game.”

Hallcro felt that the league position was a reward for the performances his team has put in, but also the way everybody has conducted themselves this season. The experiences gained over the last couple of seasons have paid off in Hallcro’s eyes.

“This season we have earned the position we are in and the gap that has opened up to third place.” Hallcro stated. “We have been doing our jobs properly week in week out. Now we are in a position of being top, we are striving for the same thing. We feel we have the right personnel in the changing room. No-one has upset the camp. The proof of that has been in the pudding. The selection decisions Jim and I have made and the substitutions we have made have generally proved to be right. We have confidence in our decisions and the players support us in those decisions.”

There has been a bit of fine tuning in the squad in the run up to the Stamford game. With one striker leaving and one joining, the balance of the squad has been maintained despite the change in personnel. The move brings a former crowd favourite back to the Meres.

“Tris Whitman has left us to join Quorn.” Hallcro stated. “Tris felt that this season was possibly his last as a player. He has been good for us; his attitude in the dressing room and on the training pitch as well as match days has been excellent. He has taken whatever we have given him with the right response. He has wanted to play more than he has had the opportunity to do. Things may have been different had he not missed four games due to suspension. Tris was looking really good up until then. Tris had established his place in the side, but when he was suspended, Paul Grimes really took his chance and made it difficult, as did other players, to put Tris back in.”

Sean Cann is the player making the move in the other direction. Ironically, Cann’s season started at Stamford in pre-season. He has also turned out for Rainworth Miners Welfare before returning to Lincoln to play his football. With 11 goals from 57 appearances so far for the Gingerbreads, Hallcro expects to have to work hard with Cann, but thinks he can bring something to the squad.

“We will have a new signing in the squad on Monday.” The Gingerbreads joint manager confirmed. “Sean Cann is returning to Grantham. We have been talking to him for a few weeks now. Canny has been playing at Lincoln Moorlands since he left Rainworth. He has always enjoyed his time at Grantham and wants to come back and be part of things here again. We’ll see how things work out, but we expect him to bring something a bit different to the team. He will get goals and is a very tricky player to play against.”

Cann joins a very settled Grantham side. Hallcro and Albans have had the luxury of playing the same eleven of their choice most weeks. With very few injuries or suspensions this season, Grantham have built their league position on consistency in selection as well as play. From the view of the managers, however, it is not just about the eleven on the pitch. The substitutes and anyone not in the sixteen play just as important a part in the success of the club as those who are wearing shirts 1 – 11.

“Only one or two in the current squad have not played a major part in things so far on the pitch.” Hallcro said. “Even those have played a major part in the squad effort to get us where we are now. We are only halfway through the season and we need to keep maintaining what we have done so far. We have brought players like Damien in to give us options to try other things. We think he is a really astute signing; he has a lot of experience, not just of playing at this level, but of being in this situation before.”

Being at the top of the league adds some pressure to the game each week. It is a football cliché that the hard job is staying at the top once you are there. Hallcro and Jimmy Albans felt that the performance against Loughborough fell short of the standard Grantham need to deliver if they are to remain league leaders.

“We have got to ensure that we maintain the standards we have set.” Hallcro explained. “Players have been putting in 8, 9 or 10 out of 10 performances each week. Last season we were putting in 6, 7 or 8’s each week. Everybody has dips in form across a season. The second half against Loughborough was probably the worst we have played all season as a team. It will happen in football, when you have achieved such high standards as we have set at times, it builds its’ own pressure to maintain those standards. Our job is to motivate people correctly to keep those standards high.”

One of the consequences of the performance they watched against Loughborough was felt by the squad at training this week. The managers had a few moans and groans for a change as they put the squad through their paces.

“We ran them hard on Tuesday night at training because we didn’t think the performance on Saturday was acceptable.” Hallcro explained. “There were some moans about it, but we have got to ensure there is no complacency creeping into our game and keep doing some fine tuning. We thought we got through the Loughborough game, rather than getting a comfortable win. We have got to get back t the comfortable wins. We know things can turn very quickly in football if you aren’t careful. If you start to feel that all you need to do to win is turn up, you will trip up. As a team, the players can’t allow each other to play like that.”

Grantham’s only league defeat since August came at the start of the month. Despite enjoying the Gingerbreads run prior to that, there is a part of Hallcro that is pleased the Newcastle game went against Grantham. Strange as it may seem, he is of the opinion that it could be a good thing for his side in the long term.

“Losing the unbeaten run in some ways took the pressure off us.” He said. “Once a run like that has stopped, you no longer think about making sure it doesn’t end, the thoughts move to trying to better it next time. The training we have just given the lads was very intense. At the moment we have a number of lads who just want to play pure football, because it seems so easy. We can see that we need to maintain the intensity and level of hard work that got us to the place we are in at the moment. It is just as important to approach and play games in the way we did for the first half of the season as we go through the second. There are no prizes for being top at Christmas.”

Hallcro doesn’t expect any Christmas presents from Stamford on Monday. The Daniels have lost ground in December with only one win so far, but come into the game off a good result at home to Lincoln United last week. A five game unbeaten run in November showed the level Stamford are capable of playing to with goals flying in.

“It will be a very tough game on Monday against Stamford.” Hallcro predicted. “They had a very good result on Saturday and if I was in Tommy Brookbank’s shoes, I would feel my team talk is pretty much done by the league table. Coming to play at top of the league with only a few points separating the two teams should be enough incentive for anyone. Being top of the league and maintaining that is certainly a huge incentive for us. When you add in a big crowd and the number of players who know each other having played on the same side before, it adds up to a cracking prospect.”

The level of performance Grantham showed against Loughborough will not be enough as far as the Gingerbreads managers are concerned. Hallcro expects his side will have to earn the right to get a result that everybody wants.

“Stamford have done very well this season.” The Gingerbreads joint manager stated. “The game starts with two sides on an even keel. They are going to be coming into the game thinking they have got a chance of getting all three points from it. We need to do the basics right if we are to get the result we want. We have got to make sure our passes go to the right place and that crosses hit their targets. Stamford must be made to work hard to get the ball and we must work hard to get it back when we don’t have it. We didn’t do very much of that against Loughborough, but we have also got to do something a bit different against Stamford to make them think about things and not have an easy time of it. If we play above average again, we will do alright. We need everybody back in the 8-10 out of ten range again. We know they will be well prepared to face us and if we aren’t tight about our game, then we will get punished.”

Hallcro also took the opportunity to give a seasonal message to the fans at Grantham.

“Jimmy and I would like to take the opportunity to wish everybody a very merry Christmas to all our fans from all the playing and coaching staff.” Hallcro said. “We would like to think everyone has enjoyed the first half of the season and that the second half will be every bit as enjoyable, if not more so.”