DangerousSausage

We were originally playing Boreham Wood on Saturday, but since they've got a glamour tie in the FA Cup we're visiting Aldershot instead. So I decided to (oh ho!) call the shots on this one and edit it. Not a happy hunting ground for us, I remember Aldershot beating us to stay up one season. Hopefully we're made of sterner stuff this time, and it's crucial to get back to winning ways after needlessly dropping points at Oldham. A clear away win and a clean sheet would do us a world of good.

Very frustrating that we're still handing out presents now that Christmas is done. I think Slocombe was mainly at fault for the first goal, he rushed out to clear the danger after Oldham attempted a fast break, but instead of putting it out of play he scudded a fast pass to Bajrami(?), who was being closed down rapidly and was dispossessed before he knew what was happening. The penalty looked a really clumsy challenge, but it was hard to tell whether Cameron brought down his opposite number, or whether the Oldham man went down and dragged him down with him. Very annoying as the cross was overhit and there was no genuine danger. We were lucky not to lose at the death though. But in spite of all our possession, we never really had the game under control and Oldham worked hard for their point. It definitely feels like two points lost given the fact that we were leading twice.

I'll second that. Oldham are getting good crowds nowadays, and a loud and boisterous crowd could make this a different experience to most NL away days. All the same, we need to keep winning.

Great result, and good to see us putting the match to bed early on. Is there any news about Langstaff? I take it this game came a little too soon for him. We've got plenty of goals elsewhere though - Scott is also on target for 20 goals for the season...

According to the club, the injuries to Langstaff and Chicksen aren't serious and they'll be back in action sooner rather than later. A big relief. Thanks for nothing referee. As for the game, chances were few and far between in the first half despite dominating the possession, but the goal came just at the right time. Things opened up in the second half, and overall it was a comfortable win. Our next match is on Tuesday, with Wrexham playing their fixture on Wednesday. That gives us the chance to go seven points clear and pile the pressure on Wrexham.

We are staying up!

Crikey, I've heard of this one. He's certainly got the pedigree, hope he's still got what it takes. A bit more strength in depth during the run-in is a good idea, but I wouldn't want us to change a winning formula. It probably also doesn't do Ed Francis' chances of making the first 11 any good at all.

Top of the league, and one more win till we're safe from relegation but seriously, we could quite easily have ended up like Scunny after going down. They've got it all on to stay up.

That was a frustrating listen, and in hindsight the "twist" was so predictable it could've been on Eastenders. A record crowd after having scored for 39 consecutive home games? It's sod's law. It's annoying but we just have to pick up the winning habit again as soon as we can.

What an excellent result against what was the second best home team in the division! Also nice to stick it to some of the Wrexham fans who decided to gloat during their three days in first place

Not sure what to say really, sounded like another confident performance, excellent crowd, onto the next one! It'll be very difficult to shake Wrexham off and I personally doubt we'll hold top spot from now till the end of the season, but we are putting clear blue water between us and the rest. Most importantly of all: four more wins and we're safe from relegation

Fantastic result. Wealdstone away is exactly the kind of fixture where we've slipped up in seasons past, but we smashed it out of the park this time. The goals were top quality too. So Wrexham are still snapping at our heels, but we've already opened up an eight-point gap to third. All we have to do to go up is win every game

What a fantastic evening and result, I'm jealous of everyone who was there! And what a superb crowd for a night match too - you could tell clearly on the radio that it was absolutely buzzing, it sounded more like a cup game. Now we need to carry this on at Woking.

Seconded. Bromley have won four of their last five so will be a harder nut to crack, but if we want to be champions we need to win our home games regardless. I reckon we'll do it, but by a single goal.

How good was that? A completely dominant performance away at one of the better teams in the division (albeit one that must be sick of the sight of us by now). The Daggers were unbeaten at home until yesterday. And I'm not sure even the wildest optimists saw Langstaff getting nine goals just a month into the season. We seem to have clicked, but this is the points average we need to keep up right up to the end of the season - it's not unheard of to miss out on promotion with 95 points in this league. But I'm much more confident we'll be up there than I was. On to Bromley!

Great result that, and vital to get another win under our belts prior to a difficult fixture against Solihull. And it's early days yet, but we might just have struck gold on the striking front.

Halifax are rock bottom after a poor start - could be a difficult season for them after losing their manager in the summer. Hope we can pile on the misery with a win, we're due one!

August looked difficult on paper and so it's proving, but I suppose we should be glad of a point after trailing 2-0. Looking forward to seeing the goals tomorrow. From my point of view it looks a lot like LW doesn't know his best team yet.

It's frustrating not to have won having been in control of things in the first half, but I suppose it's a draw away at tricky opposition. By the way, we are top of the league! What with monkeypox and all the forest fires going on, the NL should really do the right thing and stop the season now.

Not the hardest opposition, but a very good start nonetheless. Great to see Langstaff get off the mark straight away too! Hopefully a nice confidence-builder ahead of some trickier fixtures this month.

That's the play-offs sorted then, and very nice listening it was too from my garden in Germany! And we're nearly certain to start the play-offs with a home tie, which will probably be against Grimsby. That'll be a very different game though!

We approach matches against the better teams and those against the Weymouths and the Aldershots very differently, and that's part of the problem. It's disrespectful, and frankly there's no excuse for the opposition "wanting it more" when we have (or rather had) a top-three place to fight for. Now it'll be the play-off quarter-finals for us again. We can thank our lucky stars we're somehow still in the top five.

A winning team stepping down a gear or two when they're winning comfortably is a thing. But there's a difference between that and just stopping doing the basics like tracking back and letting the visitors have a series of chances to get back into the game. It feels like a harsh criticism after we won, but on another day doing that could cost us promotion.

A win's a win, we've increased the gap to 8th and kept the pressure on the teams above us. With Halifax losing, we're 7 point behind them with a game in hand. Another slip-up from them and we could be looking at a battle royale for third place. It wasn't enjoyable listening though, it sounded as though we just relaxed after the second and third goals and showboated out way through a good part of the match. That's a very bad habit and could end up costing us dear.

All the signs point towards a home win. But I've learned never to underestimate our capacity for messing things up! If we go into the game with the required intensity and score early on we should hopefully get the three points.