John Lyons
FLP EXECUTIVE EDITOR
DOES anyone want to win promotion from League Two? It’s a question you could be forgiven for asking after a batch of unpredictable results of late.
To be fair, Walsall did look as though they were going to run away with it around the turn of the year. Having notched up 18 wins from their opening 25 games, Mat Sadler’s boys appeared keen to wrap things up before Easter.
But heading into yesterday’s big clash against promotion rivals AFC Wimbledon, they had won just two of their last 13 matches and picked up only 12 more points. Talk about staggering towards the finish line.
Admittedly, the loss of top scorer Nathan Lowe, who netted 15 league goals before being recalled by parent club Stoke, was a blow, but it shouldn’t have affected the Saddlers that much.
It shows that once you lose momentum and confidence takes a hit, it’s very difficult to turn things around again. The one good thing for Walsall amid their horror run is that the bulk of their promotion rivals haven’t cashed in.
One exception to that is Bradford, who have hit form at the just the right time. Indeed, they had closed to within a point of Walsall ahead of yesterday’s game at Accrington.
Yet even they will be ruing surprise recent back-to-back 1-0defeats to lowly Gillingham and Tranmere. Last week’s 4-1thumping of in-form Colchester was the perfect response and manager Graham Alexander should be applauded for the work he has done at Valley Parade this season.
The other teams in the top seven ahead of the weekend have hardly set the world alight lately.
AFC Wimbledon were surprisingly beaten by Bromley, Morecambe and Cheltenham, while Barrow’s last-gasp comeback from 2-0down to earn a point at Plough Lane last weekend must have felt like a real kick in the teeth.
Barrow are one of those sides – 16th pre-weekend – with precious little to play for, but they have certainly got nuisance value for those in the promotion hunt. The Bluebirds followed up that point at the Dons with a 1-0win at Port Vale in midweek, causing the latter to miss out on a place in the automatic play-off berths.
Big-hitters
Doncaster and Notts County have both gone off the boil at a crucial time, while Grimsby have had a mixed bag of results of late.
To be fair to the Mariners, no-one was really expecting David Artell’s men to be in the hunt. The fact they had lost 15 games pre-weekend and were still seventh says a lot.
Stockport won League Two last season with 92 points, but it doesn’t look as though anyone will get near that total this time around.
Wrexham and Mansfield also went up automatically last term, meaning a number of big-hitters disappeared in one go.
It always seemed likely that this season would be more of an even playing field and that is the way it has turned out. Some might argue that shows there haven’t been any standout teams and that the division lacks quality. However, it might also hint that teams have felt the pressure and expectation of knowing that they do have a great chance of going up this term.
Whatever the case, it makes for compelling viewing. Any team that hits a run of form now knows they will have a great chance of going up and there are going to be plenty of blockbuster matches down the straight.
Which teams will ultimately make it? In this crazy division, your guess is as good as mine!
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