Grantham away form breaks record

This seasons impressive away form from Grantham Town has seen Jimmy Albans and Wayne Hallcros side match a club record which has stood for almost 50 years.

This seasons twelve away wins on the trot matches the mark set by Jimmy Raynors’ side in the 1963-4 season. While Raynors team went from the start of January to the end of April for their run, this seasons side started its’ run at Quorn in August. Ironically, both sides drew their thirteenth game.

“It has been an incredible run.” Hallcro said. “To have played over half the season and just recorded wins is a magnificent achievement. It has put us in the position where we go out with confidence wherever we are and always look to win the game.”

The Gingerbreads draw at Sutton Coldfield on Saturday has drawn some criticism from fans which Hallcro feels is unwarranted.

“Some of the comments I have seen are crazy”. Hallcro said. “Reading them, you would have thought we lost! As a team we didn’t play well enough to win on Saturday. No-one played badly; we just didn’t do enough all over to deserve the win. We did the same thing too often and were not prepared to gable when the game gave us the chance to do so. We should also be prepared to give some credit to the opposition. Sutton set up in a specific way to stop us playing our normal game and on the pitch we didn’t do enough to react to that.”

“To pick on the two changes we made is totally wrong.” Hallcro continued. “No-one has commented about the amount of space we let Scott Rickards get in midfield, or how we played too much ball straight to their centre halves. Some of the comments don’t even show an understanding of how we set up to play.”

Tony Battersby and Michael Jacklin started in the Gingerbread line-up and Hallcro defended those selections.

“Jaffa was a no-brainer coming in for Watty.” Hallcro stated. “Watty was not ready to start and would have run the risk of missing the rest of the season if he had played. Coming into a system that he is not 100% familiar with and the way that we want our centre halves to play, he did superbly. It took him a while to get used to it, sure, but fans should remember, it took Grant Brindley a pre-season and a couple of games to settle in, Jaffa did it in 20 minutes.

"Yes, he made a couple of mistakes early on, but he showed the character he is by getting on with his job and for the remaining 70 minutes didn’t put a foot wrong. If Watty is not fit to play against Leek, we will have no hesitation about picking Jaffa, even if Watty is fit, it is not a 100% certain decision.”

“We picked Batts because he showed on Tuesday against Boston how good he is in the hole.” Hallcro said. “He is one of the best ball players we have at the club and no-one else keeps the ball as well as he does. We expected the ball to be played on the floor and felt on a carpet of a surface like there is at Sutton, his ability to get space, hold the ball and bring others into the game would work in our favour. For a lot of the game, we didn’t play the right ball forward to allow us to do that. Fans sometimes have short memories, no-one said that Batts and Ben couldn’t play together against Hucknall, but then, we won that game!”

Hallcro and Albans picked the team on Saturday with one goal in mind, the same one as they have taken into every game this season. The Gingerbreads joins boss laid out his stall not only for Saturday, but also for the remainder of the season.

“We are doing everything we can to get promoted as soon as we can.” Hallcro said. “We will always pick the side that we think gives us the best chance of getting a win. Given that we have won 42 out of the last 59 in the league and only lost 7, I think we have mostly got it right.”

Tuesday nights’ game at Harrison Park brings the Gingerbreads up against another side with everything to play for. Opponents Leek Town sit just outside the play-off positions, but with enough games in hand to threaten Stamford and Sheffield. The Blues have shown better form away from home, including a win at Ilkeston and are looking to bounce back from a defeat to Hucknall Town on Saturday.

“Leek will try to get their push back on track after that defeat.” Hallcro said. “They might see us as wobbling after two draws and will want to go for the throat. We are confident in the way we play to go and get a result against anybody. The pitch might play a part again, but in a different way to Saturday. In our recent visits to Leek, it hasn’t been a good surface, but we have got to take it as it comes.”

It is by no means certain that there will be any changes to the Gingerbreads starting line-up. With Phil Watt not 100% certain to play, Michael Jacklin is the automatic choice for Hallcro and Albans should he not be ready. The Gingerbreads joint manager was also not sure who would play up front.

“Batts, Gio and Jamie are all considerations to play alongside Ben and Grimesy.” Hallcro said. “They all bring something different to the team. We know that whoever we pick, we can play well enough in the system we chose to win the game. We have no negative thoughts after Saturday. We are approaching each game in the same frame of mind as we have done all season. The league position we are in changes absolutely nothing about how we set up and prepare for any game. The whole squad are maintaining their focus on the game in front of us at all times. It is business as usual against Leek. We will select the best eleven to start and go out knowing what to expect from them and playing our game our way.”