IF we are going to be involved in the playoffs or maybe even still challenge for the league title, we’re going to have to grind out the wins. That’s exactly what we did on Saturday at Marine.

In horrible weather and on a pitch that looked a bit touch and go in places, I don’t think anyone could have complained with the performance put in by those in red. In the first half, despite having a strong wind behind us, we kept the ball down, played it around, shifted the Marine defence from side to side and eventually reaped the reward for a reasonably dominant performance.

In the second half, against the wind, the whole team defended, worked as a unit and, apart from one poked effort that went close, we kept the hosts at bay.

While it was a team performance and it may be a bit unfair to pick out individuals, two players stood out for me. At the back, I thought Gary Brown was immense. His reading of the game and physical presence was impressive. Since his return to the team in his preferred central position, our defence has looked far more solid.

Meanwhile, in midfield, Phil Turnbull was outstanding. With the wind playing havoc, the midfield could easily have been bypassed but the ex-Gateshead midfielder made it his mission to make it wasn’t. Constantly providing an option for those not as comfortable on the ball, everything went through him.

At times in the last two or three years, we’ve been a bit agricultural; Turnbull’s presence in the centre of the park counters that. It’s to his credit that despite playing on heavy pitches at this time of the season, the side is still playing a progressive passing game, stretching the opposition and creating chances.

Moving on, we now have three very winnable home games on the bounce. While the Tuesday-Saturday-Tuesday is going to be a challenge, we need to get nine points from these games and set ourselves up for the tough game at Salford City.

Speaking of Salford, it seems like everyone has a view of the news that they have only provided us with 250 tickets. The approach Salford have taken disappoints me.

To limit the number of Darlo fans and yet have no segregation just doesn’t make any sense. All parties seemed to agree it was a small minority of fans who brought shame on our wonderful club at last season’s game. With that in mind, what’s to say that a handful of fans within the 250 who will be allowed to roam Moor Lane in a couple of weeks won’t cause trouble again?

Clearly, while this is being done in the name of safety and security, the approach taken by Salford does not mitigate the risk of it happening again. Surely, if Salford were worried about the potential for trouble, they would have segregated the Darlo fans, keeping them in a controlled area where any trouble could be managed easily. Instead, all it does is punish real football fans that travel to most away games but may not be able to secure a ticket.

For me, this is an arbitrary and punitive stunt by Salford City that was intended to punish real football fans. Given how Salford have exponentially grown their fan base in no time at all due to the significant publicity they’ve received, I suspect that the Class of 92, Peter Lim and their proxy committee probably wouldn’t know what a real football fan looked like if they stared them in the face.