Match report: Nuneaton Town 1 Welling United 0
A WIN at Gateshead saw it whispered at first, a point at Kidderminster meant the voices got a little louder.
It was this dogged, 1-0 win against relegation-threatened Welling that had fans screaming it from the roof-tops.
The comeback is well and truly on for Nuneaton Town this season.
A little under a month ago the Boro were marooned and isolated, cut off at the bottom of the Vanarama Conference with relegation being a case of when and not if.
Fast forward a few weeks, though, and everything has changed.
Hope has replaced despair in the terraces as a club that was deemed to be out of sight by March is threatening to pull off the miracle to beat all miracles – but let's not get ahead of ourselves, just yet.
This three points earned is just that, three points that has put the Boro back within touching distance of safety this season.
They have played more games than those around them, though, and have some tricky fixtures still to come – but for the first time since Jorrin John struck the woodwork back in August – the Boro fans can afford to smile this week.
The key now is keeping those smiles on faces until the end of April – and only performances like the second half of this game can do that.
The Boro were simply sensational.
A dogged first half saw Nuneaton ease into the break as the better team, the problem was they had nothing to show for their superiority in the first 45 minutes.
Elliott Whitehouse did go close with a long-range drive just four minutes in, but truth be told, clear cut chances were few and far between.
The second half was a different matter altogether, though, as the Boro just blitzed a free-falling Welling.
The half was only four-and-a-half minutes old when Adam Walker struck what proved to be the decisive goal.
The former Coventry man was guilty of missing chance after chance against Kidderminster last weekend, but he took the first one that came to him this time. He was in the right place at the right time to smash the ball home after George Maris had been tackled when through on goal.
Walker had the easy task of getting his body behind the rebound as it ricocheted towards him, the midfielder expertly slotting it home from the edge of the box.
The Boro – and Walker – had their tails up after the goal and only some desperate defending from the visitors stopped one from becoming two not long after.
First Walker saw his goal-bound cross superbly headed off the line by Jamal Fyfield, then the same Boro man had to watch on again as this time Barney Williams slid in to deny him after a cut-back looked like it was sneaking in at the back post.
Welling offered little in return and only a late flurry of corners in the last five minutes gave the Boro backline any reason to be concerned.
They came through the test, though, like they have come through the last month.
Now they are back in touch with the back, though, they have to stay there.
Only then can the Great Escape become a reality come the end of the season....
Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2015 2:44 pm