CHRISS CORNER POST - By Chris Elsley There’s always something about fixtures between the bottom two teams that attracts the attention of the general fan, especially when those two teams are some distance away from safety. A change of manager and our victory over Stocksbridge Park Steels a couple of weeks ago may have given the Boro a bit of renewed hope but the truth is we still have a mountain to climb if we are to get out of the mess we are in and last week’s trip to Blyth brought everyone back down to earth. For our opponents this afternoon, I’m afraid there really isn’t much hope of them getting out of the bottom four. If they were to do so, it would be one of the most remarkable feats in football. At the time of writing, the Bloods have accumulated just two points and lost their last 20 games but for the few Rangers fans that travelled to the Butcher’s Arms back in November, we know how close they came to taking at least a point from us that night and, no doubt, this afternoon, they will see ‘struggling Stafford Rangers’ as an opportunity to end their dismal run. Are Droylsden on for a record low points tally? The answer is no and there are other unwanted records they may be hopeful of avoiding. There may also be some in the Droylsden camp who have the target of beating the points tally of Conference Premier side Hyde. The East Manchester side have four points from 27 winless games this season and are on course for a record low. As far as I can determine, the lowest number of points earned in a Northern Premier League season is 0 by Durham City in the NPL Premier in 2009/10. Durham actually won two of their 38 games but had their six points deducted for fielding an ineligible player. Not surprisingly, they decided against appealing the decision. They ended with a goal tally of F27 A141. In that same season, Willenhall ended their Div One campaign on 9 points after being deducted 10 for going into administration. Our neighbours, Rocester, picked up six points in the 2004/05 season while they were in the NPL Division One. They failed to win any of their 42 games and ended with a goal difference of -101 having conceded 132 goals. With 46 games to play this season, Rocester’s triple figure goal difference looks certain to be passed but will they remain the only side to go through the season without a win? Back in 1995/96, we were enduring our terrible season in the Southern Premier. We were suffering enough ourselves, so Rangers fans can be forgiven for not noticing the record of Poole Town in the Southern Division. They ended the season with a record of: P 42 W0 D1 L 41 F17 A 188 (GD -171) PTS 1 More recently, Bracknell Town endured a miserable six year spell in the Southern League, never finishing higher than 19th in the league’s second tier. Their final season in the South & West Division (2009/10) saw them finish bottom with a record of: P42 W2 D0 L40 F 29 A187 (GD -158) PTS 6 Comparing the above records and Droylsden’s current plight is no way a gloat. A look at the league table reminds us that we are in no position to gloat at other clubs. The Bloods have recently appointed former Rangers midfielder Ged Murphy as player coach and if anyone was needed to install some fight into Droylsden’s performances then I’m sure that Ged is the man to do it. Whatever happens between now and the end of April, it’s a far cry for both clubs from the events at the Pirelli Stadium, Burton on 6 May 2006 when Rangers and Droylsden fought out a tight Conference North Play Off final. Back the Boro!
Posted on: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 09:00:00 +0000
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