Sileby Rangers silenced the AFC Rushden & Diamonds faithful on Tuesday night - and Glenn Botterill wants to continue to keep them quiet by winning the UCL Division One title.
Rangers conjured up an injury-time leveller, courtesy of Mark Redding, to secure a 2-2 draw at Diamonds in midweek.
It ensured Botterill’s boys stayed top of the division one pile, stopping Mark Starmer’s men hitting the summit.
With 10 games to go, Sileby, who have a game in hand, are one point clear of Diamonds and two ahead of Eynesbury Rovers.
And Tuesday night’s significant late show was a hugely enjoyable one for Fernie Fields boss Botterill, who celebrated in style.
“It was sweet,” he said. “The fans pick on you and I was, as usual, quite animated on the touchline.
“Their fans were singing ‘we are top of the league’ with five minutes to go, then we scored.
“I ran down the touchline with my finger on my mouth and it went so quiet, like everyone had left.
“It was good and those are the sort of nights you want in football.”
Sileby head to Wellingborough Whitworths on Saturday, hoping to take advantage Diamonds’ inactivity.
But Botterill knows his men won’t have it easy this weekend, as they take on a side who gave them plenty of problems during their last meeting in January.
“When we played them at our ground they were one of the better teams we’ve played all season,” he said.
“We dodged a bullet then and there’s no reason why it won’t be just as difficult this weekend.
“We’ve got to make sure we go there and do a job. If we don’t, we’ll get beat and this is not a good time to be losing games.
“There’s never a good time to lose, but we’re on the home straight now and we can’t afford a slip-up.”
Sileby should welcome back defender Dan Chilton for this weekend’s clash, but Stuart Smeathers is a doubt after picking up an injury on Tuesday night.
Elsewhere, Bugbrooke St Michael’s take on Spencer and ON Chenecks go to Buckingham Town.
Bugbrooke and Spencer will scrap it out in a bid to enhance their top-six ambitions, with the Badgers currently sixth and Spencer seventh.
While Chenecks will aim to improve their current 12th-place standing with victory against a Buckingham side currently third from bottom.
COGENHOE UNITED
Andy Marks has urged his Cogenhoe United players not to let their season peter out. The Cooks are comfortably placed in eighth in the UCL Premier Division going into Saturday’s game at Spalding, but Marks is not letting his men slack off and wants them to make the most of their final nine games. “We don’t want to start dwindling like we have done in the past couple of seasons,” he said.” “The worst case is that we finish in mid-table, but if we can get a good run together we can finish in the top six. “We want to go out there on Saturday and see what we can get from the game.” The Cooks will be without Wes Emery, Jed Ainge and Darren Frost for this weekend’s trip.
UCL fixtures
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Premier Division: Blackstones v Huntingdon, Deeping v Harborough, Desborough v Boston Town, Irchester v Holbeach, Long Buckby v Kempston, Peterborough Northern Star v Quorn, Sleaford v Newport Pagnell, Spalding v Cogenhoe, Wellingborough Town v Stewarts & Lloyds, Yaxley v St Ives.
Division One: Bourne v Rushden & Higham, Buckingham v ON Chenecks, Bugbrooke v Northampton Spencer, Burton Park Wanderers v Eynesbury, Harrowby v Thrapston, Raunds v Olney, Whitworth v Sileby, Wootton Blue Cross v Oadby.
Reserve Division One: AFC Kempston v Desborough, Cogenhoe v Bugbrooke, Harborough v Peterborough Northern Star, Huntingdon v Whitworth, Thrapston v Blackstones, Woodford United v Stewarts & Lloyds.
Reserve Division Two: Eynesbury v Yaxley, Olney v Burton Park Wanderers, ON Chenecks v Raunds, Rothwell Corinthians v Oadby, Rushden & Higham v Irchester.