Maidenhead United starting to knock down 'barriers' in bid for play-off finish

Manny Onariase

--

Maidenhead United are slowly starting to knock down some of the barriers which have so far prevented them from cementing their place in the National League South play-off places.

This week Ryan Peters side moved up to seventh in the table off the back of deserved victories over Dagenham & Redbridge and Salisbury at York Road. On Saturday, they largely controlled proceedings against a direct promotion rival and deservedly won the match with well taken goals from Josh Umerah and Liam Dulson.

Tuesday’s game under the lights against Salisbury was rather less straight forward and certainly a lot less controlled, but the Magpies managed to recover from a first half mistake which saw them fall behind and rally to win with a late goal from on-loan midfielder Cameron Eubank.

It proved a knockout blow for the Whites who managed to get under the Magpies skin in the second half of the clash after Manny Onariase had headed the home side level on the stroke of half-time.

“It wasn’t our finest performance,” Peters admitted. “But to go and play two games in quick succession on a heavy pitch and to defend the way we did, I was delighted.

“This was always going to be a potential banana skin game, and everyone was expecting another 5-0 or 6-0 like the last game. It was never going to be that, but after a good win over Dagenham people were also expecting more of the same. If you take your foot off the pedal just a little bit you can get beat.

“We started well so their goal came against the run of play. It was from our own mistake, so it didn’t worry us because we weren’t being opened up. It was just a mistake on our end.

“We carried on playing the way we had been and managed to get back into the game from a good set piece. In the second half, we came out a little bit lacklustre, and it became more of a transition game which I didn’t like.

“In the first half we were very much in control. It was an uncharacteristic mistake which allowed them to score. Other than that, we controlled the game and had several chances without being clinical enough. Nevertheless, we came back in at half-time with things all even, but second half we weren’t as controlled as I would have liked. It became a transition game and that’s not our greatest asset. On Saturday we controlled the game and there were less transitions but that wasn’t the case yesterday.

He added: “Salisbury were a very good side. Packed with endeavour and energy in all areas of the pitch. We were mindful of that, but we managed to get over the line.

“They had us penned in and we did exert a lot of energy in that game. The two boys then went on a 70-yard dash with Duls picking up the ball and carrying on going before playing it back for Cameron to score. It shows that we are fit enough.”

Slowly, confidence is starting to build amongst the Magpies squad that they can sustain their form through to the end of the season and finish high in the play-off spots. Chasing down Dorking Wanderers for the title appears to be beyond them - as it does for pretty much everyone else in the division- but the Magpies now look to have the character, resilience and steel to maintain their challenge.

They’re no longer knocked off course by a disappointing defeat, something which blighted their early season form and ultimately led to Alan Devonshire stepping aside. And now - after three or four missed opportunities - they’ve finally got the job done to move into a top seven spot. Staying there and potentially moving even higher is now the aim - but that won’t be entirely straightforward.

“We’ve been trying to knock down some of those barriers that have been preventing us from getting into the play-offs,” he said.

“First, when we’ve lost one game we tended to go on and lose three or four. We’ve managed to get over that hump. Then we’ve had three or four chances to get into the play-offs, and on each occasion, we’ve let ourselves down. So, to finally get over that hump will show the boys they can achieve whatever they set their minds to. Now it’s a case of doing as best as we can over the 14/15 games we’ve got left. We need to pick up as many points as we can.

On Saturday, they have a chance to further embed themselves in the play-off spots when they travel to bottom of the table Chippenham Town. However, a wary Ryan Peters has warned that this is a potential banana skin game against an improving side.

“They’ve turned a corner in terms of their form,” said Peters. “They’ve picked up some really good results. We’re mindful of that because if we don’t start well this game could be a potential banana skin. We now need to string wins together, like Dorking so that we can cement ourselves in the playoffs. What we don’t want now is to have a bad result which results in us falling straight out of it again.”