Day 243

We played host to Southport today. Our previous meeting saw Matthew Barnes-Homer and Josh Gowling put the Southport defence to the sword, leading us to a determined 2-0 victory. I was hoping the two key performers could repeat their magic today. Unlike last time, however, we had midfield dynamo Chris Birchall on hand to pull the strings. I expected him to make the difference.

Robert Taylor started on the right wing, as a reward for his fine performance in training of late. With Woods injured, Diagouraga kept his spot—despite a disappointing debut. Shuker stayed on the left wing in the absence of any specialist left-sided midfielders. I went with an unchanged backline—they’ve been brilliant recently—and gave Ben May one last chance to prove himself alongside Barnes-Homer in attack.

Barnes-Homer nearly scored from the kickoff. Less than two minutes into the game, in our first passage of play, the striker powered forward and struck a beautiful shot towards the top corner. Southport keeper Tony McMillan did well to tip the ball wide for a corner.

Barnes-Homer turned provider a few minutes later, setting up strike-partner Ben May for a chance outside the box. Chris Birchall showed great skill to get round his man and test the keeper with a stinging shot in the 7th minute. It looked to be only a matter of time before we scored.

Five more efforts followed before the 20-minute mark, but we could find no way past McMillan. Taylor was next to go close, in the 25th minute, with a fine volleyed strike from 15 yards out. Once again McMillan saved well.

Southport nearly broke the deadlock after half an hour, thanks to a sudden turn and shot from Jamil Adam. Our opponents started to work their way into the match in the final 15 minutes of the first period. It looked to be anyone’s game at the break.

Southport hit the bar in the 54th minute. I started to get nervous around this point.

Taylor came off injured in the 57th minute. I took the opportunity to tweak our tactics, pushing further forward but taking caution to hold possession.

Gowling had a header cleared off the line in the 61st minute; we still couldn’t find a way to break the deadlock.

I made a more fundamental change to our tactics in the 74th minute when Shuker and Birchall came off the pitch. Diagouraga, Christophe, and Power formed a three-man midfield. Ben May stood up as target man in the centre of the forward line. Barnes-Homer and Laurent had duties of running off May. I instructed the players to run everything through Power, who is excellent at distribution (with great passing and creativity).

We traded blows for the remainder of the game, with the best chance coming to substitute Jean-François Christophe in the 89th minute. The midfielder’s striker cannoned off the crossbar, flying several metres up into the air. That proved to be the final opportunity in a tense encounter. You could argue Southport got off light, although the best chances of the match went to their strikers.

The only positives I was able to take away were stand-out performances from young fullbacks Kanouté and Billington, together with a solid overall defensive display. Our attacks lacked a cutting edge, while in the midfield Diagouraga is clearly still settling in—which resulted in some disjointed passing.

As luck would have it, Wrexham were also held to a draw, which means that we still have at least a three-point cushion at the top—potentially more, depending on how their games in hand play out.

Young winger Robert Taylor will be out for four to five weeks with a thigh strain. I feel sorry for the lad, who had finally earned a first-team look-in.