Gloucester City travel to Boston United on Saturday as they look for their third win of the 2023/24 Vanarama National League North season.
Mike Cook’s side travel to the Jakeman’s Community Stadium in Lincolnshire, after a resounding 3-0 win over Alfreton on Saturday October 21. Joe Hanks, Danny Wright, and Brandon Smalley got the goals at the Tiger Turf Stadium last weekend, which was only the side’s second win of the National League North campaign, the other being a 2-0 win against Rushall Olympic, back in August.
Last time out in midweek away to league leaders Tamworth, Cook’s side narrowly lost, 1-0. Ty Deacon got the solitary goal of the evening in the 88th minute.
Finn Glowacki, a third-year Sports Journalism student at the University of Gloucestershire and commentator for the Tigers, said they were unlucky not to get anything from the leaders.
“Under previous manager Tim Flowers, it would have been a cricket score. It was a tough one to take, a second 90th minute winner against us after the Southport game.
“The Tamworth manager (Andy Peaks) said to us after the game, you boys will be alright, come the end of the season” Glowacki said.
Ian Culverhouse’s Pilgrims side are winless in three, including a FA Cup Qualifying round defeat to Worksop Town, and in their most recent league outing, a 2-1 defeat at home to Banbury United.
The Tigers currently sit in 22nd place, with 11 points from their opening 14 matches. Boston sit six points above Cook’s side in 16th place, even having played two games fewer.
“Boston will be an interesting test, another long away trip, as they all are at this level! They’re quite hit and miss, losing to teams they should beat, beating sides they should lose to.
“If everyone is fit, which by the looks of the last training session they were, hopefully we can get our first win on the road.”
Last season, Gloucester got a win and a draw against The Pilgrims, the latter being 2-2 back in January, and The Tigers picking up a 2-0 win back in August 2022.
Two of last season’s top seven sit in the relegation zone, Cook’s side and Kings Lynn Town, something Cook will be looking to rectify at the end of the season.
“There have been quite a few games this season, where fans and media teams at other clubs come up to us and say you are a good team, and when we lost 2-0 to Chorley, their media guy said, how are you bottom of the league?
The way Mike (Cook) conducts training, the way he speaks to players 1-on-1, he is taking it a lot more seriously. There are a lot of teams in and around Gloucester that are playing worse football but getting results. There is more than enough in them to stay up, so hopefully results start to come in!” Glowacki concluded.
