Golcar United are on a mission to keep climbing up the Northern Counties East League Premier Division table.
Boss Gav Connor and influential forward Dan Naidole are delighted with how the team has turned around their form going into 2023.
The Weavers were disappointingly knocked out of the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Cup on Tuesday night losing 3-1 to Barnoldswick Town. However, it’s all about the league and staying up in their first season after promotion.
On Tuesday’s result, Golcar joint manager Gav Connor said: “It is always disappointing to lose any game and this one was just as disappointing. We had a good start to the match but the second half didn’t go to plan.
“It’s a cup we all wanted to progress in but it wasn’t to be. The long break of not having a game for over three weeks didn’t help but we have trained well and it was the same for Barnoldswick.”
Due to poor weather conditions Golcar’s games have been postponed. Before the cup result the Weavers had gone five games unbeaten in all competitions.
Now the team’s challenge is to get back up to speed and carry on their form which has lifted them to 14th in the division.
Connor said: “As I have said previously the performances have been good. There aren’t many games where we have played badly. It just seems to have clicked together a bit more over recent games and I suppose things have gone for us a bit more.
“The threat of being in the bottom two has focused us. We need to ensure we get the points to take us up the table and not end up in a dogfight at the bottom.
“The way we have played is the way we have always generally played. The pressure is always there. A couple of bad results can bring you back down to earth with a bang. However we want to be concentrating on getting as high up the table as we can.”
Golcar forward Dan Naidole agrees with Connor’s assessment and added: “I am really pleased with the last few league results but not surprised if I’m honest.
“I hope no more games are called off so we can get back to building momentum. A three to four week break doesn’t help us after the last few results.
“I would put the turn around down to the squad sticking together and the characters we have in the changing room. It’s tough when results aren’t going your way but it is important you stick together and move on quickly to the next game.
“I think we’ve always carried on playing the way we want to but we have been much more clinical in the final third and in front of goal. That bit of pressure of looking over your shoulder does help. We are now looking at teams above us not behind us and pushing up the table now.”
With an improvement in the weather, Golcar go to midtable Maltby Main on Saturday (January 28). The Weavers lost 3-0 to their hosts back in September and Connor knows it’s going to be a tough test.
He said: “Maltby are one of the teams who played us off the park at our place. They’re a good, strong side and we expected them to be up there challenging from how they played against us. It’s going to be a tough game but we will be working hard on getting something from it.”
On facing Maltby, Naidole added: “Maltby are a team we are looking to push behind so a win is what we want. It’s not as simple as that though. Maltby is a tough place to go to, having been there several times in the past I know what it’s like.
“They have threats out wide and in attack and no-nonsense defenders. So we will have to be up for the fight come Saturday.”
