By Adam Ellis
There's no better place to start this week than drawing attention to Barrow's first away win of the season, after a 2-0 victory against Eastleigh saw them move out of the National League relegation zone.
Goals from Byron Harrison and Jimmy Dunne sent Ady Pennock's side on their way to a second victory in the three matches under the head coach.
Pennock described the Bluebirds performance as looking ‘very strong' as they sent the Spitfires to defeat, leading to a chorus of boos from the home fanbase at the sound of the final whistle.
Eastleigh boss Richard Hill said the ‘black cloud' hanging over the club was adding to the fragility of a defence that has not kept a clean sheet since early September.
“Defensively we're not good, are we?” Hill said after the match. “We're actually giving teams goals at the moment.
“And when I say defensively, I don't mean just the back four, I mean everybody.
“We've got some good players at this football club, without a doubt, and we just need to get this black cloud lifted some way, somehow.
Still knows how to deliver a half-time team talk
Whatever happened in the home team dressing room at Victoria Road made its mark as Dagenham & Redbridge fought from 2-0 down to clinch a vital victory after their recent inconsistency with results.
One win, two draws and three defeats since the start of October saw the Daggers' promising early-season form disappear to a point where they now sit outside the play-off spots.
But second-half goals from Morgan Ferrier, Scott Doe and the winner by Luke Howell ten minutes from the end keeps John Still's outfit well within touch of Bromley, after their 1-1 draw with Chester.
“The second-half we upped the tempo and it was just one-way traffic,” Still said, “but it was great character, good ability, but the most important thing was at 2-0 down our heads didn't drop we kept going.”
O's winless streak continues but home fans get strong showing from squad
Last week was a difficult week for Leyton Orient. A clash between summer signing Jamie Sendles-White and a section of travelling supporters at Ebbsfleet and the subsequent sacking of manager Steve Davis gave Dover all the advantages they needed to maintain their surprise promotion push.
Under the interim charge of Davis' assistant Ross Embleton, the O's players showed an upturn in self-belief to deliver a performance that had Brisbane Road rallying behind its under-achieving team.
After watching his side concede a 78th-minute equaliser to cancel out Nortei Nortey's first-half opener, Dover boss Chris Kennear said: “It was a great atmosphere, the supporters got really behind them, bearing in mind what's been going on.
“Our lads dig in and it wasn't our day, yet we've got a point and it keeps us top. To be top at this stage of the season is absolutely amazing for our football club.”
Kinnear's name has been among the frontrunners to take over at Orient judging by the bookies odds and after the improvement the O's showed, Ross Embleton now finds himself in contention should the Dover draw prove Orient's most important point in turning around their season.
“I thought there were occasions when we deserved all three points,” said Embleton, who worked in Orient's youth set-up prior to joining Martin Ling at Swindon Town in 2015.
Wrexham defence will take some bending to break
Early frustrations over Dean Keates are now becoming a thing of the past for Wrexham supporters after a 2-0 home victory over Ebbsfleet continued to build on the air of confidence forming at the Racecourse Ground this season.
The Dragons are ten points better off now than they were at the same stage last season when Gary Mills had been in charge. And that is in now small part down to a defence that was solid with Chris Dunn between the posts.
This is after all the best defence in the country and they show no signs of letting up as Dunn and the entire back four all scored an 8 rating in our NLP match report.
But it was Mark Carrington who Keates reserved special praise for after adapting well to his switch at left-back.
“Chris will take the accolades, but for me Mark Carrington was the man of the match. He came in at left-back, he can play at right-back and midfield so he is three players for me.”
Look out for Saturday's result when the Dragons travel to Aldershot Town, a team who average two goals per game at the EBB Stadium.
Are Sutton United a cert for the play-offs?
With one spot at automatic promotion we won't deliberate top spot, but are Sutton United guaranteed a place in the top seven this season?
Defensively perhaps not, yet it seems to be a case of one step backwards and two steps forward for the U's who outscored FC Halifax Town by three goals to two on Saturday.
Ross Lafayette delivered the firepower to extend United's unbeaten run to nine league matches by scoring a brace.
With Craig Dundas also getting himself on the scoresheet, Paul Doswell expressed his happiness at seeing his side become the fourth team to reach double figures in the ‘win' column of the league table.
“We're delighted with the win, which keeps our going run going,” the Sutton boss said after the game.
“Although I'm a little bit disappointed with some aspects of our performance that allowed Halifax back into the game.”
