City chase another double Easter delight

I’d forgotten what it was like to be in a League where anyone down to eleventh was in with a promotion shout. The National League, as exciting as it was last season, tended to serve up dead rubbers from the end of February for anyone outside the top ten.

Here we are, almost at Easter and the promotion race is still on. After tumbling away through January, after battling on with a thread-bare squad, we’re still here. Danny was right you know, we might only have a small selection of players, but we’ve got the right players. Nothing represented that more than Rheady and Bozzie not getting booked over the last two games. They know the damage it could have caused and were able to adjust their game to have as little impact on the overall season as possible. I won’t lie, I’m looking forward to seeing that hairy beast throw his entire body into a bone-crunching challenge once again.

Last year we were in a similar position, approaching Easter with the odds against us. We were knocked out of cups by York and Arsenal back to back, this season we suffered hits in the league against Crawley and Crewe. Back then we struggled to a late result against Sutton, much like we’ve recently done against Mansfield Town. We even won a home game 3-1 against despised rivals, Forest Green last year and Grimsby this.

We went into the Easter fixtures dead on our feet last time out and emerged as the Champions elect. It is earlier this year, but the premise is much the same. If we take three points at Morecambe, then do the same in the two Easter fixtures, we’ll have one foot in the top seven. After that, who knows?

Be under no illusions, Exeter at home is no tougher than Carlisle away. The Cumbrians are currently unbeaten in six and desperate to make a late surge, a point up there would be a good result. Would it be a good enough result? That’s a different question altogether. They did manage something in the January window we might not have done so well, they utilised the loan market fully, bringing in Kris Twardek and Ashley Nadesan, both who have had an impact. On Easter Monday, they’ll need to be in fine form if they’re to beat us.

For all our faults, for the inadequacies in the squad and for all the moans on the terrace, we’re not an easy team to beat. When we lose towo on the trot we always react and the attitude is just as important as the ability at times. Saturday’s game wasn’t won or lost on skill, the driving snow and testy atmosphere saw to that. It was a matter of which side wanted it more, which side were willing to punish themselves hardest to get the win. That was us and, as the season meanders through to its conclusion, I bet on red and white every time.

Those two days last Easter will live long in the memory, yet for 175 minutes we were really poor.

Danny always says his teams get better as the season goes on and whilst few would have listened in the wake of the Crewe result, the manner in which we’ve bounced back has been admirable. One thing we’ve lacked this season, which went in our favour last, was the ability to beat the teams we considered rivals. We’ve drawn and lost to Mansfield, Luton and Notts County, lost to Coventry and drawn with Wycombe. We lost to Exeter too, something we have to address over the Easter weekend.

If we can buck that trend and find a way past the so-called promotion challengers, then we’re in the perfect position to spin the promotion race on its head and seize the upper hand, just like we did in the final few minutes against Torquay and Gateshead. Those two days will live long in the memory, yet for 175 minutes, we were really poor. As we watch our player push themselves to the limit over the next couple of weeks, remember that last season not every little flick came off, strikers did miss chances and good players did have an off day. Often, the performance had to come second to the win and I’ll take more of the same 12 months on.