Town Thumped in Relegation Six Pointer and a Dismal Cup Exit.

Ollie Southern after the away defeat vs Oxford City (Sean Walsh)

So, here we are again. Talking about the latest loss in an ever growing list of dismal defeats. Following the loss against Radcliffe on home soil, Town needed to bounce back and pick up three points on their travels to relegation rivals Oxford City. This wasn't the only thing on fan's minds, as Town had they're Cheshire Senior Cup semi-final to play on the following Tuesday, a competition The Yellows have never won and could bring some much needed confidence into the club as a whole. 

We start this train wreck of a week with the trip to Oxford. A must-win game that saw Town dismantled by the 20th placed side, falling to a 4-0 defeat whilst offering barely anything in the game. It was relatively even for the first half, but the same old story occurred and the host's found themselves 2-0 up at half-time, through simple errors. Town's inability to find the back of the net continued, as they weren't able to conjure anything up in the second half and managed to ship another two goals to Oxford. The 4-0 defeat is Town's biggest defeat this season and has (very nearly) cemented our place in the bottom four. The good news however, only 7 games remain in this disastrous season with Darlington being the next side looking to claim all three points at the Cal.Delivery Stadium. Oh well, at least we had a semi-final to look forward to.

And I stand corrected. Town offered barely anything against NPL West side Stalybridge Celtic ,despite playing the majority of the first team, in an uninspiring 0-1 defeat. The game started with Stalybridge on the front foot and they found a way through. An Aaron James handball, gave the visitors a penalty which was comfortably dispatched. Town continued to offer barely anything in attacking sense and found themselves going into the break a goal down. The second half saw Town have the better of the half but without really troubling the Celtic keeper. Silly mistakes and a real lack of desire and effort from The Yellows saw them exit the competition with Stalybridge heading through to take on Runcorn Linnets at the Deva Stadium in Chester. All credit to Stalybridge for advancing however, things look incredibly bleak for Town fans as the poor performance has had many of the fanbase questioning the integrity of the players. Will Adams also featured (for 3 minutes) as well as a returning Sam Gill, who did put some effort and desire in when they came on.

Overall, there isn't much to say about the situation we're in right now. The only reason we aren't bottom of the league is because of a Farsley side in heavy financial issues and without a stadium. It's been a demoralising season for everyone around the club and with relegation incoming, I'm not sure what is next for Town. I could say we will be challenging for a return to step 2, but with some of the dire and appalling performances from the majority of players I can't see that happening right now. Confidence is at a rock bottom and I wouldn't be surprised if we do finish last this season, as Farsley at least have players who (whilst inexperienced) will give their all on the pitch. Simply, it just feels like there aren't enough players in yellow that care right now.