Cheltenham's last goal to date was Duffy's strike at Morecambe, over 8 hours ago

Looking back, my blog posts have been nothing short of optimism and delight, for supporting the Rubies this seaosn has been a fantastic experience, up until March anyway. Mark Yates has done an incredible job in constantly defying the bookies, winning games “we shouldn’t be winning” and topping the league. The majority of the season we’ve led comfortably in the top 3 or at least the play offs. So where has it all gone wrong?

The fixture calendar dealt us a huge test with the month of March and from as far away as December us fans had pin pointed it as the month that will define whether we are good enough to go up or not, sadly it seems the latter occurs. Just a solitary point was gained in the whole month and coupled with a run of simply no luck, profligate finishing and some dire quality has led to all our promotion rivals gaining the upper had on ourselves. From being 6 points into the top 3 and 15 points into the play offs at one stage we now lie just 3 points ahead of Crewe (what should’ve been 1 if it wasn’t for some last gasp goalkeeping heroics from a debutant Northampton Goalkeeper, thanks for that!)

Daryll Duffy’s goal gave us a deserved lead at Morecambe back on March 3rd but having let slip a sloppy equaliser to Kevin Ellison there only looked like being one winner. Morecambe attacked with vigour and purpose and thoroughly deserved their win. No worries, we only had Swindon at the County Ground lying next. What was ironically one of the finer displays of March still yielded no points or goals. Duffy, the lone striker once again, was guilty of missing 4 guilt edged chances including a penalty which Wes Foderingham saved impressively. Paul Benson, however, had 2 chances all game. He scored one and forced Butland into a fine save for the other, there was the difference. An impressive display desperately unlucky to gain nothing but at this stage of the season it’s a results based business.

Jordan Obita scored a double at Whaddon Road after 2 defensive errors

Gillingham at home looked like it couldn’t come at a better time. A team who had so many injuries and suspensions they could field a whole team of them, and have one left over. It was a great chance to react and show the home faithful the blip was a minor one. Oh how it went oh so wrong. Yates confirmed the thoughts on the terraces post match: “that was the worst performance of the season by a country mile”. It was dire and we lacked heart, passion, fight and most importantly we were devoid of any quality. Enough said!

Things were looking up though, we only had Shrewsbury away 3 days later – hopefully you detected the sarcasm there. The Shrews had just passed the milestone of going a year unbeaten at home and considering some of the positions they’d gotten themselves out of that was even more impressive. Crawley and Oxford in particular will look back and wonder how they didn’t win at the Greenhous Meadow. The cries from the 400 travelling army from Cheltenham was to just keep it tight and give ourselves every chance. You could understand our joy that we were breached after just 43 seconds by Nicky Wroe! More sarcasm by the way. Despite another display that showed signs of quality the tactic of 1 up front was fast fading from a stroke of early season genius to an over used tactic that every manager in the league had figured out. Changes were needed and the lack of chances created that day proved that.

Cheltenham's loan signing Ben Burgess

Cue two loan signings just 48 hours later, both strikers, both from League 1 clubs. Ben Burgess and Steve MaClean came to Cheltenham with pedigree from higher divisions and their differing qualities gave Cheltenham fans cause to be optimistic. The return to 4-4-2 for the visit of play-off and local rivals Oxford pleased the home faithful further. The game itself once again proved fruitless but a display that showed far more heart, quality and endeavour than the previous home one left Mark Yates and the fans wondering quite how Cheltenham didn’t not only win, but win by a comfortable margin, even Chris Wilder admitted so. So we’d turned a corner then, the goal was around the corner? Wrong again!

A month of crazy twists and turns led to Cheltenhams heaviest defeat of the season. The Rubies outplayed Southend at home in early December and with yet virtually the same team this encounter could not have been anymore different. Granted Sido Jombati’s early red card didn’t help proceedings but this was a game Southend only ever looked like winning, and winning at a canter.

Freddy Eastwood scores on his 2nd home debut for Southend

Freddy Eastwood’s homecoming after 5 years was a delightful one for the Essex club, he along with 3 others gave the Seaside club the easiest win they could imagine and the 160 travellers leaving for the long cross country journey home wondering what an earth they’d just witnessed. Jack Butland had a game he’ll never forget conceding 3 goals normally he’d save with consumate ease. The team hid away after Sido’s red card Yates claimed, he was right.

It leaves Cheltenham in a position still in their own hands but with ourselves and Crewe both going opposite directions many Ruby fans believe we’ve already blown it. A small squad seems burnt out, struggling for ideas and having the same sinking anti-climactic last season.

Barnet at home lie in store next in what simply must be a Good Friday for Cheltenham. One things for sure, we don’t care how we do it, we just want a goal to celebrate.

There had been whispers of the wheels coming off however. Performances had dropped slightly, yet our ability to still grind out results in the majority of those matches points to sign a champions right? The performances against Port Vale, Aldershot and Bristol Rovers were far from the swift, stylish best that Cheltenham have to offer but the return of 6 points was a healthy one considering.

The only way is up. Mark Yates acknowledges the 5,500 Ruby army at White Hart Lane

2012 began with a trip to Port Vale who Cheltenham brushed aside at Whaddon Road back in Autumn. This was a different test though and the Valiants, for the first half in particular gave Cheltenham as good as they had and were perhaps unlucky not to have scored through the ever present Marc Richards. However, Cheltenham made their quality show and were rewarded when captain Alan Bennett stooped to head home from Marlon Pack’s free kick. Junior Smikle sealed the deal late on with a neat chip and despite Port Vale’s resilience to pull one back the defence, once again never surrendered, and the Rubies started the year as they ended the previous. Winning.

Then came the special day out, and what a day. Every one of the 5,500 Ruby fans had their own special story to tell. Mine beginning on the 8.59 to Paddington, through Liverpool Street and onwards to White (sorry Ruby) Hart Lane for Kick Off, already more than half cut! The game unfortunately didn’t show the magic of the cup with Tottenham in truth coasting to an easy 3-0 win. However, we did ourselves proud and the celebrations of the day out continued long into the night leaving thousands of heavy heads the following Sunday. It has been confirmed since that the Spurs game alone had funded our new signing (Jermaine McGlashan) who has already shown real promise on the wings. Baker and Yates have claimed there is more to come with a potential return for young starlet Jack Butland and maybe more. Thanks for the memories Tottenham, it was quite a day and the funds now allow a solid financial foundation to be built. It’s why we love the cup.

Jermaine McGlashan on his debut having signed from Aldershot

Bouncebackability was therefore the order of the day when Aldershot came to town and funnily enough McGlashan turned in a man of the match display for the away side but their inability to find the back of the net was shown up big time here. Neat build up play but fruitless in the final third meant we eventually picked the Shots off despite not finding our feet at all for the majority of the game. Luke Summerfield’s blockbuster gave the Rubies a lead they barely deserved and we had to wait until stoppage time for the ever present enigma Mohamed to finish off a lethal counter attack emphatically to seal another win. Little did we know the opposition’s best player would later sign for the Rubies later that week! Funny old game.

New manager syndrome was the buzz word in town the following week with Bristol Rovers appointing Mark McGhee mid week. We knew what was coming, we were due a bad day and here it came! Once again, Cheltenham struggled to get going and the Gas had clearly done their homework. Proving difficult to break down all game and then 3 crazy 2nd half minutes handed the points to Rovers with Zebroski and Richards the goalscorers as Cheltenham lost the plot for 5 minutes. That was all it took. In truth Cheltenham never tested Poke in goal and the strong travelling army sang loud and proud down the streets of Cheltenham. I zipped off home as quick as possible and hit the drink…! It’s days like that you want to forget and after yesterdays display at Macclesfield that is now thankfully long forgotten!

Cheltenham's on loan left back Luke Garbutt scored his first ever league goal at Macclesfield

With Crawley and Southend out of action only a point was needed for the Rubies to hit the summit for the first time in 12 years! We did it, the hard way, but we did it! Marcus Marshall’s (did it cross the line) opener had the travelling Rubies scared a possible double defeat was on the cards for the first time this season. Thankfully Sido Jombati stabbed Cheltenham level and 1-1 at half time was a scoreline most were relieved with. For much of the season Cheltenham have simply upped the gears in the 2nd half to blow teams away, yesterday was a classic example. Jermaine McGlashan and Kaid Mohamed were electric on both wings and Jeff Goulding showed brilliant striker touch to fire Cheltenham in front. Luke Garbutt’s first ever professional goal sealed the points and Cheltenham were in dreamland. WE ARE TOP.

We may go into the next game 2nd again if Southend beat Swindon in a big promotion clash on Tuesday but once again Cheltenham showed resilience of the highest order, boucebackability was once again achieved and as we enter February we are in a position that we could only have dreamt of after last April’s 8-1 loss at Crewe.

Mark Yates, hat’s off Sir.

January to May: Played 26 Won 5 Drawn 7 Lost 14

August to present day: Played 28 Won 17 Drawn 4 Lost 7

Could you ask for a bigger swing? So what’s changed? Going by the team line ups, on New Years day of this year just 3 of the line up remain in first team contention. Another overhaul in the Summer of 2011 was needed (not quite so to the extent of the season before but still neccessary), there was a basis there but this needed building on, and how Mark Yates has so far suceeded.

Jimmy Spencer working away at Luton in the FA Cup

My monthly updates are starting to become a tedious love in for Gloucestershire’s only football league club, but as I stated a month ago, When times are good, SHOUT, we still are don’t worry about that. Not only that but we have one of the most exciting days in our history to look forward to on January 7th 2012. A day that will live long in the memory of all Cheltenham Town fans no matter what the scoreline, for the scoreboard at White Hart Lane (or as us Chelties have decided to rename it due to the hefty nature of the away support, Ruby Hart Lane (see twitter #rubyhartlane!)) will show the visitors as being Cheltenham Town. After winning impressively at Tranmere, we eventually negated our way past an impressive Luton side at Kenilworth Road who never gave in. Thankfully, our quality shone but Luton can proudly boast to being one of Cheltenham sternest opponents all season, proving just how tough the Blue Square Premier is to get out of. Having led twice, Aaron O’Connor twice levelled for the home side only for 2 of Cheltenham midfield trio struck to seal the Hatter fate. Luke Summerfield scoring a measured effort from the edge of the box and Russ Penn bagged his first Cheltenham goal having stepped away from his man before curling into the top corner. The draw awaited, and we got our reward.

Over 5,000 of the Ruby Army will fill White Hart Lane on January 7th 2012

After the draw for the FA Cup 3rd round was made obviously all eyes went straight onto planning the day, or even weekend out. However, the players and management had to immediately switch focus to the following game, a blockbuster home clash with the then league leaders Southend. A true test to how far Cheltenham had come, could we match the big boys? You bet. Yet another scintillating display of pass and move had the Cheltenham faithful purring and the eventual final score of 3-0 was thoroughly deserved. Key players such as Marlon Pack, Daryll Duffy, Jack Butland and Sido Jombati, already writing themselves into Cheltenham folklore with many fans believing the current squad as a whole being the best we’ve ever had in terms of quality.

Can we keep them all together in January? This remains to be seen. With success comes interest and there is no doubt scouts from clubs in the 3 higher divisions will be sniffing around our prized assets however the current squad togetherness seems at an all time high. With the winning nature and mentality of this squad only silly money or a big club could tempt our stars away.

After winning manager of the month in November Cheltenham fans were all too aware of the curse that followed… not this time. Another unbeaten month with 3 wins and 2 draws in all have lead the Rubies to just 3 points off the summit and already 5 points INTO the automatic promotion spots and even more impressively 9 points into the play-offs.

Mark Yates has also moved quickly to sign impressive loanees Jimmy Spencer and Luke Garbutt on extended deals and the jury remains out on whether England U21 Goalkeeper Jack Butland will return. There will no doubt be business in January, not excessive, but the sending out of fringe players on loan seems inevitable, and the inclusion of maybe 2 more new faces could be on the agenda but providing this squad remains together and untouched come February 1st, the sky’s the limit and the unthinkable, may just become a real possibility.

Who knows, by the time the next post comes along Cheltenham could well be in the hat for the 4th round of the FA Cup… OK, getting ahead of ourselves a bit, but what’s that about the magic of the FA Cup?

I will no doubt be one of the Football League’s most positive bloggers around at present. Whilst fans of Northampton, Chesterfield and Doncaster will rant about their woes and tales of hatred and heartache on a Saturday afternoon, here at Cheltenham we are cruising along beautifully and have now spent over a couple of weeks in the top 3, it’s ever so nice up here!

Marlon Pack once again controls the midfield battle at Oxford

A quick glance at the fixtures for November proved we had a difficult but ultimately decent set of fixtures to play with. Home games against Barnet (in the JPT) and Port Vale were against teams struggling to find any sort of form, and the away ones at Bradford, Oxford, and Tranmere (FA Cup) were classic examples of “if we could knick the first goal, the home fans would get on the backs of the home players”. As it happens in each of those 3 away games we did knick an early goal, in fact before the clock hit 3.10pm in all of these fixtures Cheltenham has recorded the opening goal and led 1-0, and in all of these fixtures the lead was never relinquished with the only goal against us a quite wonderful free-kick from Peter Leven. At Bradford Kaid Mohamed struck on the 8th minute, at Tranmere Daryll Duffy’s solitary penalty won the game in Birkenhead and at Oxford Sido Jombati’s cross-cum-shot found the corner to help Cheltenham onto a 3-1 win at the Kassam

Daryll Duffy, the Rubies top scorer

The home games come with a bigger weight of expectation, but against Port Vale, patietience was a virtue as we eventually saw the Valiants off 2-0 in one of the most comfortable wins of the season. Unfortunately, even at Cheltenham, things can go wrong and Mark Yates decision to tinker with the team for JPT game at home to Barnet backfired miserably with a dire display, devoid of any quality… the fringe players had the chance to stake a claim, none of them did sadly. However, that defeat is long forgotten now and although a potential trip to Wembley was lost, no league points or places were!

For the statto’s that leaves Town already 8 points into the play-off zone, just 4 points from the summit. It leaves the Rubies with 10 wins in 12, 7 away wins on the bounce and the last draw, a 0-0 draw with Hereford seems an absolute lifetime away.

It all set’s itself up quite nicely for a Cupset this weekend then? Luton are the opposition and funnily enough, when fans watch the draw unfold, they are baying for the home fixture, yet at Whaddon Road the news of an away draw was greeted with smiles! Times are that bizarre! The tie is ultimately winnable, but a definate banana skin. Luton have already dumped out League 2 Northampton (although Cobblers fans will hardly call that an achievement) and they have also dispatched of higher league opposition in recent seasons so the Ruby players need to keep their professional heads on this weekend. We are no doubt our own worst enemies. The prize of a win (not just financially) could be huge, on the other hand it could give us a miserable trip to Ipswich or Hull. All Ruby fans will tell of how we are due a good cup draw and if Luton can be surpassed, could it be our year?

Our finest hour in recent history points us back to 2006… A team of hungry players who possessed plenty of quality, togetherness and a will to win from bizarre positions. That season saw the club win promotion to League 1 via the play-offs and gain a moneyspinning cup draw at home to Newcastle (our biggest fixture to date) shown live on the BBC. This season there are stark similiarities to that season, and many believe this squad possesses even more quality.

We’ve crept quietly up the league so far but now teams are starting to take notice, heck, let’s enjoy this brilliant time to be a fan of Cheltenham Town and SHOUT ’til our hearts content… it’s bound to end soon, right?

Kaid Mohamed, an ever present for Cheltenham in their recent run of form

Cheltenham fans, embrace these days, for it’s not often you’ll see us in the lofty heights of the play-offs. 6 wins in 7, yes SIX in SEVEN, 5 wins on the bounce, with 4 of those coming away from home. It’s numbers and facts like these that gives all Chelties some of the broadest smiles in the country, even moreso after 5 consecutive years in the doldrums of relegation scraps.

The last 7 games have produced a real mixed bag of performances, some classy goals and tactical masterstrokes from Messers Yates and Howarth. All this remarkably comes on the back of another failure against Hereford, as shown in my previous post. The run began with a tricky fixture in Bristol. Paul Buckle and his side certainly haven’t lived upto pre-season billing by any stretch of the imagination but with the quality possessed in that squad this fixture was still one we’d all be happy to escape with a point with.

Having been based in Bristol for 3 years myself at University, with my back garden merging onto the Memorial ground this game had added significance for myself and I managed to wrangle along many friends from University. By full time they were purring! Mark Yates decision to go 4-5-1 was questioned majorly pre match, we were surely asking for trouble right? Wrong, the combination of Jimmy Spencer’s hold up play and the pace and quality from the 2 wingers Kaid Mohamed and Josh Low proved irrestibily devilish on the counter and Cheltenham led 3-0 by 50 minute and coasting. The game finished 3-1, and we’d gained some new fans along the way!

Daryll Duffy celebrating his brace at Wycombe in the JPT

This was followed up with an equally classy display at League 1 Wycombe on the following Tuesday, a victory by the same scoreline in the Johnstones Paint Trophy, having rested a number of key players. Had we turned a corner? The home match against Dagenham was normally one we’d struggle with, for Cheltenham and the favourites tag do NOT mix well.

This fear was dispelled however, a 2-1 home win, which probably should’ve been far more. The choice to go 4-5-1 at home was a bold one, but for this game at least it paid off. This led the Town onto a Friday night trip to Burton. Two teams in real form, two teams level on points before KO. Burton had scored in every game so far this season, they hadn’t lost at home… however, once we were finished with them that had all changed. A tight first half which proved very even left the game goalless, however, once the 2nd half commenced the Rubies stepped up a few gears and the hosts simply couldn’t handle the counter attacking genius just like Bristol Rovers and Wycombe. Josh Low and Jimmy Spencer the goalscorers and somehow, after the most dire of 0-0 draws to Hereford, Cheltenham had won FOUR on the bounce, the first time since January 2008.

Josh Low scored the opener at Burton

A tricky Friday night trip at Accrington yielded a further 3 points, albeit this win was far more ugly than the rest. Jeff Goulding’s sublime lob, with virtually his first action of the game was enough to seal the points, and, overnight at least Cheltenham were 3rd. Can we not just end the season now?

Sadly the more games we were winning the more inevitbale it felt we’d lose the next game and along came Crewe. I found out just before the game the Railwaymen hadn’t won a Tuesday night away game in TWO whole years… you knew what was coming. Despite a first half display of real quality Crewe snatched the win with a penalty conceded by, ironically, one of our best players on the night Sido Jombati.

The home game with Plymouth yesterday therefore was all about bouncebackability. Despite leaving it very, very late, Daryll Duffy was the Cheltenham hero with goals on 84 and 93 minutes to break poor old Plymouth’s hearts having led for much of the game. It was a deserved win despite a lacklustre first half display which was typified by Plymouths opening goal, an OG that slowly trickled over the line!

Cheltenham currently remain in 5th, a position fans could hardly have imagined a few games back, but one that is fast becoming a reality. However, this season is a marathon and not a sprint and it only takes reminding of last season’s epic slide to make even the most optimisitic Cheltie that bit more cautious. Let’s not count our chickens, but at the same time, let’s embrace a brilliant run of results with some excellent football on show, that currently see us in a position to “enjoy” those end of season play-offs!