Marcus Braddock takes his weekly look at events at the Montgomery Waters Meadow
I was a little apprehensive ahead of last weekend’s game at Rotherham. Some of it was a worry that we may have gone a little off the boil with two defeats in three games and a Saturday off. The possibility of losing Jon Nolan to injury, added to the loss of Junior Brown didn't help. It was a massive boost to see him on the team sheet. The boost turned from massive to stupendous when he opened the scoring with a goal that oozed class. Stefan Payne's passion for scoring goals was staed in the final minutes and you could say that his desire won the game for us. But it wasn't just that, it was that and Shaun Whalley's never say die attitude and Jon Nolan's goal and Dean Henderson's penalty save and Mat Sadler's assist for Jon Nolan's goal and the whole defence for keeping the country's highest scorer quiet and so many other factors. It doesn't end there either, the team is showing its fitness by scoring late goals so the coaching team are on top of things. The tactical approach worked before and after the sending off too, everything seems to be primed perfectly and all knobs are turned to the number eleven (one louder!). All of this happened in a game where there was a penalty against us, a sending off against us and a hostile crowd pressurizing the situation. Everything was against us and still we prevail, you don't see that happen often anywhere, another moment to savour.
We're back in action on Tuesday night and travelling north again, this time to Bury. They're having a bit of a rough time at the moment with and Ex-Town man Ryan Lowe acting as caretaker manager. I always liked Lowe's commitment to the cause and if he can transpose that on to the pitch, it'll be a tough evening. We're then at home to Bradford next weekend and they're going great guns at the moment, one of those games that could define the season.
Shrewsbury Town Ladies had no game this weekend but they're back in action this coming weekend against Goldenhill Wanderers who are based in Staffordshire.
One nice piece of off and on the pitch news is that this weekend will see the celebration of Stonewalls Rainbow Laces campaign. Clubs across the country will unite in their support of LGBT+ inclusivity by turning their corner flags rainbow coloured. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I like a splash of bright colour so I think it's a great idea that we should keep. It's also good to see recognition of the diversity of football supporters, players and everyone else.
COYB!!!