16/02/2023
By Chris Gibbs
Our win at home to Prescot Cables a fortnight ago may seem like a long time ago now after the losses on the road in Cheshire to 1874 Northwich and Runcorn Linnets, but the reality is that one decent result would set us up nicely once again.
No-one knows this better than our opponents on Saturday, Bootle. Before Saturday, the Merseyside club had gone five matches without a win – a run which culminated in a 4-0 stuffing at Clitheroe where they conceded all four goals in the first half.
Then off the back of that dismal run and having been anxiously looking over their shoulders for how other relegation threatened clubs were faring, they pulled off a frankly baffling 1-0 win away at Workington – a team that had quietly been threatening to derail the title bid of Macclesfield.
And here‘s the nub of it. A mere eight points separate 8th from 18th in our division, which crazily means that Witton Albion – at the top of that particular pile – are strictly not safe from relegation. It’s a funny old game, as a footballing pundit from a bygone era would have said.
So where does that leave us ahead of the trip to Bootle at the weekend? Short of a little bit of confidence? Inevitably yes.
However, we won’t be heading north without hope.
When Nathan Morley put us 1-0 up at Runcorn last Saturday in the 44th minute it could have been so much different if we’d kept our concentration to take that lead into the half time break. We didn’t, got punished from a needlessly conceded corner and the rest is history.
This is the third in a sequence of four away games – a run which ends with a midweek trip to Northwich on Tuesday to face Witton Albion – and then we have a run of three home games on successive Saturdays which is completed with the visit of champions elect Macclesfield.
There’s still an awful lot to play for. Come on ‘Castle!