Daventry Town boss Darran Foster is adamant his players won’t give up on their play-off dream - despite suffering a ‘kick in the teeth’ in their past two games.
Foster’s men fell to a 4-3 defeat against Burnham last Saturday, with the manager ‘fuming’ at the display of the referee.
And they were hit with another blow on Monday night, going down to a 3-1 reverse at the hands of Beaconsfield SYCOB.
Those results leave Daventry’s hopes of a top five finish looking slim, as they now sit 10 points adrift of the play-off places.
And though Foster admits it was a tough few days for his squad, he insists they can bounce back against Slough Town this weekend.
“It was a very, very bad three days,” said Foster. “Sometimes it goes against you and sometimes it goes for you.
“What we won’t do is give up. We’re just looking for a respectable finish to the season.
“We’ve got 14 games left and we’ll never write it (finishing in the play-off places) off when we’ve still got a chance.
“We’ve got to keep going and we’ve got some very big games to come. We’ve got Slough on Saturday and Godalming coming up and we don’t want to embarrass ourselves.
“I want to see the lads go on a run and rack up 12 or 15 points very quickly.”
Last Saturday’s defeat to Burnham, in which Daventry were 3-1 up, clearly still rankles with Foster.
The normally laid-back boss couldn’t believe some of the referee’s decisions in the game at Communications Park and was eventually removed from the dugout after some vehement protests.
“Saturday was the biggest kick in the teeth for us,” said Foster. “The ref has killed us. It was the worst refereeing I’ve seen in my career and he gifted Burnham the game.
“Decisions didn’t go for us and we got punished for it. He overruled the lineswoman five times and it cost us two goals.
“They were key decisions and you can’t afford for them to go against you. I’m normally very placid but I’m fuming because I’ve never witnessed anything like it in my life.”
WOODFORD UNITED
Paul Oddy has revealed captain for the day Joe Power threw in the towel at half-time during Woodford’s 7-1 thrashing at Chalfont St Peter last weekend.
With the Reds 3-0 down at the break and heading towards their 27th Southern League Division One Central defeat in as many games this season, Power told Oddy he had had enough.
The playmaker did not reappear for the second half and Woodford went on to lose the game 7-1.
Joint-boss Oddy admitted Power’s decision was difficult to deal with, but he had already prepared himself for the worst.
He said: “We got walloped. It was one of the worst defeats of the lot to be honest.
“We had our captain for the day coming up to me at half-time and telling me he didn’t want to go back out there.
“Joe was our most experienced player, but he said ‘that’s me done, I’ve had enough’. We had to deal with that in the changing room, with the players coming in 3-0 down.
“We’ve had a few players leave recently and I suppose that was always going to come. It’s the younger ones who are fighting for the cause and the ones in their 20s who’ve had enough.”
Power’s loss has been accentuated by the fact Woodford have also recently lost midfield man Wes Emery, who has moved to UCL Premier Division side Cogenhoe United, and Aaron Hynes.
And Oddy said: “We’re in a situation now where we’ll just be putting out a team entirely made up of players under the age of 18.”
CORBY TOWN
Stefan Galinski is certain Corby Town will survive in the Blue Square Bet North this season, writes JON DUNHAM.
In fact, the young defender insists the Steelmen squad’s target is still to finish in the top half of the table, despite them facing a huge bottom-of-the-table clash at Colwyn Bay on Saturday.
A run of defeats have seen Corby drop back down the league and with Colwyn Bay being, realistically, the only side who can get out of trouble with Droylsden and Hinckley United already looking doomed, the weekend’s clash has taken on extra significance.
Galinski, who was on loan at Steel Park earlier this season, rejoined the club as a free agent on a deal until the end of the current campaign.
And he is in no doubt when it comes to whether the Steelmen will still be a Blue Square Bet North club next season or not.
“We will get out of trouble,” the 19-year-old said.
“We have got too many good players to go down and I don’t think any of us are thinking about relegation.
“The lads have been through a tough run of games and a poor run but we will come out of that.
“To be honest, I will be upset if we don’t finish in the top half.
“That is the squad’s target and if we can finish 12th or above then it will be an excellent achievement for us.”
Galinski returned to Corby ahead of last weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Bradford Park Avenue and he admitted it was good to back among the same players he enjoyed a successful loan stint with earlier in the campaign.
“It has been easy to fit straight back in and the boys haven’t changed,” Galinski added.
“It is just good to be involved in men’s football. You don’t have the same camaraderie when you playing youth or reserve football.
“We know we have a big job to do in the rest of the season and I am sure we will get that job done.
“I am hoping I can help firm things up at the back and really play a big part in the games we have left.”
KETTERING TOWN
Thomas Baillie has urged his Kettering Town side to “go down fighting” as they look to avoid an unwanted club record this weekend, writes JON DUNHAM.
The Poppies take on AFC Totton in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division at Corby Town’s Steel Park as they get ready to enjoy something that has become a rarity in recent weeks – a home fixture on a Saturday.
While the battle to give the club a future off the field continues, the one on the pitch is looking hopeless as Kettering tumble towards relegation.
They were beaten 4-1 at one of the other strugglers Redditch United last weekend and the gap between themselves and safety is now a massive 22 points (23 if you include the goal difference) with 13 games to play.
If they lose again this weekend, it will mean a 10th successive league defeat which would beat the previous record of nine which was also set earlier on in this most difficult of campaigns.
But Baillie is intent on rallying the troops and he is hoping his players will fight for every point that is left.
“If we are to go down then we have to make sure we go down fighting,” the Kettering boss said.
“And if we get to the position where we are already down we have to make sure we try to give the fans something to enjoy before the end of the season.
“We have to soldier on, there is no other option.
“And hopefully we can pick up a few positive results to give the supporters some hope when the summer arrives.”
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