WE’VE turned the final corner and we’re on the home straight now. We’re looking right up the hill and two questions remain. Do we have enough stamina to make it to the top of the hill with the rest of the pack? Do we have something hidden in reserve that will allow us to finish strongly enough to claim a paying position?

Last Saturday’s win at Stalybridge Celtic did little to answer those questions. Yes we won. We even kept one of those rarest commodities – a clean sheet – and yet it all had to be taken with a pinch of salt given how poor our hosts were. Having seen the three teams that at the time occupied the positions leading directly to the glue factory, I thought Stalybridge were the poorest. They are clearly relegation fodder. So, it was a little disheartening that we relied upon a sole Mark Beck penalty to seal the points. We had good chances to finish off our hosts but both Beck and Nathan Cartman gave ex-Ramsbottom goalkeeper Grant Shenton the chance to save when the ball should have been nestling in the net.

Meanwhile, at the other end, there were still plenty of signs of the fragility which has left us looking up at the playoffs rather than down at the chasing pack. Stalybridge got in behind our defence a number of times in the opening exchanges. Fortunately, their lack of quality in the final third meant they couldn’t take advantage of the opportunities. While we have some very winnable games in the next month and a half, those teams will punish us if they find themselves in the same positions Stalybridge did. But for a good save from Ed Wilczynski at the death, ably backed up by Gary Brown’s clearance, we would have suffered the same ignominy as the week before at Worcester – failing to get over the line against poor opposition.

Coming away from the wonderfully named Bower Fold, finding out that all of the teams above us had won was a touch disheartening. At this point, it is almost worth putting the blinkers on, play our final nine games and then having a look to see where we finished. There’s nothing worse than winning away from home, keeping a clean sheet and then finding out all it achieved was the status quo. Of course, the flip side was it kept us in the hunt.

Having showed a little burst of speed against the donkeys of the division, on Saturday we’re coming up against one of the underrated thoroughbreds in Brackley Town. They are much happier on the road than at their home yard and the results they’ve picked up on their travels have defied the bookies’ odds time and time again. Having played all six sides above us in the league on the road, they’re yet to lose. While draws at Fylde, Salford and Chorley are highly credible, they’ve punished Kidderminster (2-1), Stockport (4-2) and Halifax (3-1).

With us desperate to get the three points for our long shot at the playoffs, Brackley won’t be as obliging as Stalybridge or Altrincham. If we give them the chance to get in behind us like we seem to offer most teams, they’ll happily cash in and take their place in the winner’s enclosure. We’ve got to stay switched on for the whole game. If we go behind, we go behind. Let’s not panic, start chasing the game as though it’s the last five minutes and get found out again. Let’s just jockey for position, keep it tight and then when the moment is right, strike for the line.