Five unbeaten? I like the sound of that! The Sky Blues are starting to find form just when they need it most, at a pivotal stage of the Sky Bet League Two campaign. Despite being forced to share the spoils against Luton Town after going two ahead on Tuesday night, you could list plenty of positives and they were taken into Saturday’s clash with Crewe Alexandra, another game where a positive result was a necessity.
With snow sweeping across the country again, the weather made for difficult conditions at Gresty Road, but City combatted the elements to see off David Artell’s men and move up to sixth. Still just one point above eighth-placed Exeter City, it is all to play for during the remaining nine fixtures and it is sure to be a rollercoaster ride. Mark Robins will keep the feet of his players firmly on the ground, but the automatic promotion spots are not a million miles away.
City got off to the best of starts and the supporters were given a goal to celebrate just five minutes in, a godsend when frostbite is just about to take hold. Various media outlets are reporting it as a George Ray own-goal, but Jonson Clarke-Harris will claim it and he is clinical in front of goal at the moment. Although Maxime Biamou impresses with his work rate and hold-up play, you can tell that JCH has played at a higher level and it is reflected in his goal scoring ratio.
It looked as if the Sky Blues were in control, but then I saw that Jordan Bowery had equalised and my elation turned to frustration. But, all hail Tom Bayliss because we were back in the ascendancy just ten minutes later. The 18-year-old has been a revelation for us this season, and back in his more natural position in the centre of midfield, he can really influence games. His technical ability is way above League Two level, but his box-to-box work is excellent and his goal was very well taken.
Having watched the highlights, it seems as if we could have scored five or six past a Crewe side battling at the opposite end of the table to ourselves. That would be the only criticism really, that we still need to be more potent in front of goal when opportunities arise. We are creating chances which is positive because earlier on in the campaign they came few and far between, but on this occasion we had 13 efforts, eight of which were on target.
Defensively we continue to impress, with Rod McDonald heading and kicking everything that comes his way. The former Northampton Town man can play football too though, and his ball-playing capabilities help our cause. With Jordan Willis and Tom Davies – two very good central defenders – both sidelined through injury, Dominic Hyam has been drafted in and he has not looked out of place in the heart of City’s back line.
Every player in the squad deserves to be applauded for their efforts in the last few weeks because we could have been watching our season fade out into obscurity, but it looks as if we are going to give this a very good go. Our solid home form, reasonable run-in and potentially record-breaking defence means we have plenty of reasons to remain optimistic that promotion can still be achieved.
As always, our support was fantastic on the road and they can play a massive part moving forward. Filling two sides of the stadium is something we have done before at Crewe, but in scrappy games of football played in blizzards, the noise created can provide that extra lift for the players. We all know expectancy levels are high, but they are not letting us down at the moment. Bring on Grimsby Town!
Play Up Sky Blues.
Images courtesy of @SBA_HaA
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