Boro beat Crawley plus Barrow Preview

Boro temporarily went top of the Blue Square Premier on Saturday evening after beating Crawley Town 2-0 at Broadhall Way. However, their time on the summit was short-lived as the effects of Chester City’s expulsion from the division were officially felt today as their results for this season were deleted from Conference records. Graham Westley’s side were a point clear at the top, although second placed Oxford had two games in hand. Now Stevenage are 2nd with 66 points, while the U’s are top with 67 points although they now only have the 1 game in hand.

The BBC have stated that we are the worst affected out of the teams challenging at the top and while to a degree that is valid, I don’t think it has made that much difference to the league standings. I think that if Chester were allowed to fulfil their fixtures, then Oxford would have beat them anyway.

“At the top end, Stevenage are worst affected, having also beaten Chester twice, thereby also losing six points – in comparison to their main promotion rivals Oxford and York City, who had played doomed City only once.” What the BBC thinks regarding the top of the league

At least now we know what the table is and also know exactly what we have to do to catch Oxford and overtake them at the top of the table. It now looks like it’s a two-horse race for the title, with York City dropping off in recent weeks. Boro are 7 points clear of 3rd place Rushden, while York are now 9 points behind us in 6th place and have played the same amount of games. Kettering have come up on the rails. They are in 4th place with 58 points from 33 games. The pressure is really on Oxford now. If they make any sort of slip up then Boro will be right behind them waiting. The game between the two sides on the 30th March will go a long way to deciding which team wins automatic promotion to the football league.

Saturday’s game against Crawley was hard work. We weren’t at our best, but we worked hard and did enough to get all 3 points. I don’t think that we’ve been that impressive at BHW recently, but we keep grinding out results and Saturday was another example of that. Crawley played some of the better football, but couldn’t find a way past Boro’s very well drilled defence. Stevenage also didn’t create that much, but found the breakthrough when a long-range shot from Bostwick hit the back of the net. At 1-0, it was never comfortable, but I never really felt that Crawley would hit back. As they threw players forward, looking for an equaliser, Boro countered with Chris Beardsley setting up Lee Boylan who coolly finished the game off.

Tomorrow night sees Barrow make the long trip down to Hertfordshire. The Bluebirds are now in the relegation zone following Chester’s expulsion and will be hoping to earn at least a point. Barrow have had a difficult season, but many believe that they are in a false position and will survive the drop. They are still in the FA Trophy after beating York 2-1 in the last round. Barrow also beat Ebbsfleet 4-1 at Stonebridge Road recently. Last season saw Boro win the home fixture 3-0 with goals from David Bridges and Steve Morison (2). Back in August, the game between the two sides at Holker Street finished in a 0-0 draw.

I don’t think it will be an easy game tomorrow night. It is certainly not one that should just be taken for granted. Barrow have some very useful players and although they have to make the long journey, they will be fired up to take points from one of the sides aiming for promotion. One player that Boro will have to keep an eye on is Nick Chadwick. The former Everton youngster hit a hat-trick against Ebbsfleet a 10 days ago and has experienced the Premier League. Along with Jason Walker, Chadwick poses a serious goal threat that Mark Roberts and co will have to deal with if we are to win the game.

Prediction: Boro 2-1 Barrow