WE’RE barely half way through our season and yet the margins couldn’t be any tighter. Win all of our games from here on in to the end of the season and we win the league. Sorted!

Of course we’re not going to do that. Considering some of the difficult games we have to come, to think that we could win every game to the end of the season would be highly optimistic. That said, I think we are steering ourselves nicely in to a position from which we can challenge.

Throughout the season, we’ve dropped some silly points. In recent times, the two points dropped to Whitby come to mind. Go further back and there were some games that just shouldn’t have been lost; some draws that shouldn’t have been drawn. There was an inconsistency in the side that simply couldn’t be explained.

Since the defeat to Barwell on November 28, we’ve gone six games unbeaten. Won five, drawn one. Something clicked at Hyde that has, bar 35 minutes in the second half of the Whitby game, remained.

I wonder if there is any coincidence that the Hyde game was Gary Brown’s first league game back, playing in the centre of defence? There seems to be a new resolve within the side that appeared suspiciously around the same time. Coincidence?

Now I’ll be brutally honest, I was not the biggest fan of Gary Brown the right back. He got Martin Gray out of the mire by stepping in to a position that the Darlo boss hadn’t resolved since Stephen Harrison left the club. However, Brown never looked completely comfortable in the position. Gary Brown the centre half is a completely different proposition.

Brown brings calmness and composure to a defence that, at times this season, has been all over the place. All of a sudden, there is a reassuring voice at the back directing the way all ten outfielders protect Peter Jameson’s goal. For the first 19 games of the season, we didn’t really have that and at times it showed. On Thursday, Phil Turnbull suggested that Brown’s return from Shildon was the signing of the season. I couldn’t agree more.

Despite all the above, on Tuesday during the first 45 minutes the whole side, never mind just the defence, looked all at sea against a Buxton team that clearly turned up with no pressure on and with an intent to cause maximum damage to our promotion push.

Despite falling behind, in the end, it was a comfortable win. I’m not sure it would have been the same story if we hadn’t equalised so soon after our visitors took the lead. Once on level terms, the win was always going to come. When the second goal went in, Buxton looked visibly finished.

Moving on, a quick glance at February’s fixture list is quite daunting. Tough trips to Salford and Stourbridge and a home game against an in-form Ashton United. I think this month is going to be make or break for us in terms of our title challenge. With that in mind, we need to make the most against some of lesser teams, starting with Skelmersdale tomorrow.

More used to knocking around the top half of the league in recent years, Skem have struggled this season. With just two wins and 30 goals conceded in their 14 away games, more dropped points like those against Whitby would be damaging. On Saturday, the three points aren’t optional, they’re the minimum requirement.