Any belief that a final programme of 3 home games against fellow teams in the nether regions of the division would provide an easy route to the three points that secured the Rams retention of their NPL position was more than dispelled by a nervy evening against this former colliery team. How precious in the light of this point was the marvellous triumph on the road at Barwell on Saturday.
A depleted Ramsbottom United side were denied a place in the Doodson Sport Cup Final by their Yorkshire visitors, going down 2-1 to Farsley in the semi-final.
A very tired bunch of Rams players ended a very satisfying week on a positive note with a well deserved, if somewhat, nervy win against a determined but all but doomed Belper Town team. It will be a great shame to see this well organised, welcoming and well appointed club return to Division One after just one season.
It took 108 days and 11 league encounters but the Rams finally secured an Evo-Stik Premier Division success with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Stourbridge down in the Black Country on Tuesday evening.
There was a feeling of euphoria amongst the players and supporters of the Rams as this crucial victory preserved the club's status at Evo-Stik Premier level after a season of more ups and downs than the Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach.
With a third defeat in their last four outings, Ramsbottom United have been drawn inexorably back into the relegation mire following their narrow 1-0 loss to promotion-chasing Ashton United on a warm, spring day in Tameside.
The Rams somehow managed to grab a draw from the jaws of victory on Thursday by conceding two goals in the last two minutes of a see-saw game.
It would take a level of optimism last exhibited by King Canute when trying to turn back the waves to detect any sign of an upturn in fortunes for the Rams after another dispiriting defeat.
Ashton United just about deserved all three points which should guarantee them a play-off place but should feel themselves both fortunate and more than flattered by the final scoreline.
This was a very comfortable and largely untroubled victory for FC United of Manchester, who are now just three points away from assured promotion.
If there were any doubts that the managements and team see themselves in other than a vicious fight to retain their Evo-Stik Northern Premier League status, never mind the games in hand, the approach to this game should consign them to the rubbish bin.
Compared with the previous three games, even in continuing defeat, this was an improved performance from the Rams and one which offered at least a shard of optimism of awakening from the nightmare.
For the time time this season, after a troubling week off the pitch, there was a sense of lack of optimism and collapse in morale on the terraces on Saturday which somehow transmitted itself into a nervous performance on the pitch.
By far the most assured and accomplished 45 minutes of football in the current era saw the Rams grab a well deserved and valuable three points at a wide open and windswept Grantham Town on Saturday.
The Rams will be bitterly disappointed to have lost this game having beaten the visitors in the Black Country only four days earlier.
If Saturday's performance had the nervous, and possibly the managers, peering apprehensively from behind the couch, this was full on 'When Frankenstein met Dracula'.
Saturday 28th April 2018
