Skelmersdale United manager Richard Brodie has highlighted the importance of a home win against Ramsbottom United.
Skem have been very much road kings this season under the former York City talisman. They made it four wins out of five away matches thanks to Martyn Jackson’s double in the win over Glossop North End.
They have failed to replicate their good form away at their temporary home ground, the Community Ground, who they share with North West Counties side Burscough.
Nevertheless, their win against fellow relegation battlers, Glossop, provides a boost in their hopes to remain in the Northern Premier League West and avoiding the drop.
The gap is now five points and Brodie has hailedd his players for their performance against difficult opposition. He told Off The Park: “It’s not an easy place to go, they’re a team around us.
“We’ve really struggled against teams around us, we kicked off and after 30 seconds they get a penalty, you think ‘is it going to be one of them days again?’ Sam Ashton, made a mistake against Linnets, has pulled off a great save and things like that change the complexion of the game, we go up the other end and score a goal.
“A well-worked goal, Elliot Morris has a shot and Martyn Jackson puts it in the back of the net, it’s quite satisfying, I’ve said to the lads for weeks that we don’t get enough players into the box, midfield players.
“Then you go to Kidsgrove, Dec McLoughlin scores from midfield then Martyn Jackson gets the goal, it shows we can be a bit more bravery and belief to get bodies in the box. The more you get in the box, the more chance you’ve got of scoring goals.
“Dec then whips a free-kick in and we’re 2-0 up, ‘Jacko’ again when really we could’ve been 1-0 down. I listened to their manager and he said we never went past the halfway line more than four times, to be honest, I said to my assistant, I can’t remember the last time we were 2-0 up but I had belief and again it’s another side of us. We have had to manage the game properly and the lads done it well.
“When you go away from home, the position we are, wherever you go, you’ve got to expect an onslaught especially when they’re 2-0 down,” he continued. “They went very direct but we dealt with it really well, they scored late on, the referee added five and played nine – the longest nine minutes of my life – they have to learn to manage games, learn to see games through.
“We wasn’t sitting in for 2-0, we wanted another goal, we didn’t get it, but we got a massive three points. It takes us into Ramsbottom, I remember when we played them last, I hadn’t won a game and I said it’s a six-pointer, this is even bigger because we need to back it up at home and get another three points.”
Bottom boys Ramsbottom United will kick off the new era under David Chadwick after Lee Donafee stepped down from his role. Brodie previously highlighted the importance prior to claiming his first win in their previous encounter.
He said: “They’re bottom of the league and the manager has just left, I’m thinking to myself it can only to us, the manager resigns and they’re going to have an uplift, which is the case when one manager leaves and another comes in.
“It’s another thing we have to deal with, we’re ticking lots of boxes and different ones at the right times, there’s less bumps in the road.
“Not so much about Ramsbottom, it’s about being at home, getting three points on the back of a great three points away from home then we go to Newcastle Town which is another team around us.”
[Featured image: Gordon Johnson]
