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Gresley Rovers manager Frank Northwood believes his table-topping side could be just three victories away from clinching the Banks’s League title for the first time in their history.
Rovers moved a giant step nearer to fulfilling their greatest ambition last night with a 3-0 victory at Oldswinford.It was a win Northwood had asked for beforehand to keep the title right in the FA Vase finalists’ sights.
Said the veteran boss: “If we win another three games now we’ll be looking at the title – another four and we’ve won it.
“All the top sides have got to play each other before the end of the season so they’ll all lose points along the way. But we’re obviously setting our stall out to win all our games. I’m just saying to boys: ‘keep playing.’
“We’re not looking at the situation mathematically – we aim to keep winning and win the league in style.”
Last night’s win gave Gresley a 15-point lead at the top of the table with four games in hand over second-placed Wednesfield, who the Moatmen visit on Saturday in the league.
Northwood’s big worry is a mounting injury crisis that worsened last night when full back Scott Elliott – drafted into midfield to cover for a missing Neil Lovell – hobbled out of the game with an ankle injury.
Top scorer Kieron Smith and fellow strikers Carl Rathbone and Steve Adcock are already sidelined by injury and illness while Lovell suffered a knee injury and keeper Bob Aston a groin strain in Saturday’s League Cup defeat by Chasetown.
Gresley called up strikers Martin Devaney from Tamworth and Brian Beresford from Stapenhill on loan last night to cover for their injuries but neither will be available for tomorrow’s trip to Darlaston, meaning that Northwood could have to dip into his reserve team pool for a potentially hazardous assignment against a side that ran Rovers a lot closer than last week’s 3-1 Moat Ground scoreline suggested.
