Saturdays game against Darlington really brought home to me  one thing . The massive gulf between some of  the teams in League One and Two  .  Having commentated and watched games in the higher division for the past three years I have become used to teams (certainly when Cheltenham are away) dominating large parts of the game and having more match winners in their sides than Cheltenham have .

That also goes to say that when the big moments in the game happened the opposition were generally more likely to come out on top , both in a defensive and attacking sense . When I look at the teams that we have played against in recent years , Notts Forest , Leeds , Leicester , Doncaster , to name a few, they were not only big teams in name but also had the players to back it up too . Point confirmed by promotions for Forest , Leicester and Donnie and surely Leeds this year. It was also probably to do with Cheltenham having to stretch themselves as a club and always fighting against the elements too .

Saturday was a contrast to this , where at Darlington in their “White Elephant” 25000 all seater stadium with under 2000 people rattling around in it , “the shoe was on the other foot” and Cheltenham were the ones with the potential match winners and the side that looked like they were going to and should have gone on to win the game . Darlo looked like the side they were , 24th in the Division , devoid of confidence and only Gall ,  Porritt and occasionally Windass causing  any threat. They huffed and puffed for 20 minutes or so , but once the Robins stepped up their game a touch the gulf in the sides was markedly evident . For the final 25 minutes or so of the first half Darlington’s defence  was reminiscent of  Arkwright’s shop in the 80’s sitcom “Open All Hours” as time and again chances and dangerous situations were created with Justin Richards again on the score sheet .  Failure to capitalise at this time would eventually prove our undoing . With 3 or 4 guilt edged chances going begging and the game should have been put to bed by half time .  The really successful sides are those that when they are on top capitalise and don’t let the opposition back in . We said in commentary that Cheltenham were comfortable for most of the game but at 1 nil were always vulnerable to any slip up or lapse of concentration .  This was always going to be a problem later in the game as you would expect any home side to have a spell in the game where they will be on top. This didn’t  materialise until a misjudgement by Drissa let in Gall to slot home . Defensively up to then we had looked pretty solid , with no hangover from the previous weeks game against Bradford . That was the only blemish really on a very good Cheltenham away display . 

Individually there were several good performances . Notably Marley Watkins who was used extensively in that 20 minute spell just before half time where he gave the Darlington left side a bit of a run around . It was a shame that after half time we didn’t  get to see too much of him on the ball , something I eluded to that with experience he will find out how to keep himself in the game more , by either demanding the ball more and forcing players to give him it , (whether marked or unmarked ) or coming inside and looking for the ball which would give  his full back the problem of whether to mark him or not . In that wide position he plays you are often reliant on central players giving you the ball , some games you will get loads of ball others not and its these times that you either fill in and do a job for the team or if you can , find a way of becoming more involved in the play .

This brings me to Frankie Artus , signed on loan recently from Bristol City , and a good foil to the industry of Any Gallinagh in the central midfield . For me in this league he should be running games and when his fitness picks up a touch he will have a great influence on how the side play . He brings a calmness  and balance to the midfield with his left foot and on Saturday was guilty once or twice of playing a sloppy pass but his general class was there for all to see . His mindset should be not to waste a ball , finding team mates as often as possible .

Saturdays game will be very interesting to look at and give us an immediate indication of the difference between top and bottom in League Two with the visit of Dagenham and Redbridge . A fairly fledgling club in League terms but one who have set the early pace in the division under veteran manger John Still .  Their home form is sparkling with 3 wins out of 3 and 13 goals scored . Away the jury is still out as they have won 1 and lost 1 , losing heavily at Notts County .  What Cheltenham need to do is make teams who come here uncomfortable from the off and not let them settle in to any sort of pattern . If this is the case then we will surely pick up more points than lose as home form is always a good indication of how successful a side will be .

Often lately people have asked me whether I am still playing the game . The only regular action is at 6 a side on a Monday evening where I have an Arsenal Soccer School coaches team in the Cirencester  A League . I do rope in a couple of ringers too with Jamie Victory having played in the past , but more  recently have secured the services of the two Johns , Brough and Schofield , on lengthy lucrative contracts of them having to pay £5 per week to play . We  ended the previous season second and have started the new one well with a win and a draw on Monday against the previous seasons winners 3 – 3 . We were 3 – 1 down with 2 minutes to go , quick thinking from the kick off from myself and Schoey ended with a rasping drive from the latter finding the bottom corner . Then in the final seconds I laid the ball off to Broughy who bent a beautiful shot in to the opposite corner leaving the keeper stranded . Yes that was John Brough who did that ! He usually is considered our “terminator” and basically stops any opposition danger man from causing too many problems and if he can come up with the odd beauty like the other night then I’ll be delighted . I will whisper quietly that Schoey is top scorer at the minute with 4 closely followed by me with 3 , many of those goals coming with a late surge from the back . It does show the competitiveness we still have in us as ex players and is a really enjoyable release pitting ourselves against much younger players. The legs might not respond as well as they used to but the desire and the brain is still there thankfully .
Good luck to the Robins on Saturday .