Boss knows Lancaster City are in pole position to win title

Lancaster City boss Phil Brown admits all his pre-season targets have gone out of the window with his side cementing their place at the top of the table.
Lancaster City boss Phil Brown. Picture: Tony NorthLancaster City boss Phil Brown. Picture: Tony North
Lancaster City boss Phil Brown. Picture: Tony North

The Blues manager wanted an improvement on sixth in the Evo-Stik First Division North last term meaning a play-off push this time around.

But with Tuesday night’s 3-1 win over Radcliffe Borough leaving City seven points clear of Ossett Town in second Brown admits his side are in pole position to win the title.

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Trafford are two further back in third with Farsley, who lost 3-2 at Giant Axe on Saturday after a stunning Lancaster comeback, looking like the most direct title rivals as they sit nine points adrift but with three games in hand.

“I’d be foolish now to say I want to finish in the play-offs,” said Brown, who takes his side to struggling Mossley on Saturday.

“We want to win it. I’ll go on record now and say that.

“But with 13 games to go, even though we’re seven points clear, we haven’t won it and there’s still a long way to go.

“But we want to win it. We asked the boys in the dressing room ‘do you want to win the league?’ and obviously everyone said yes.

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“We’ve got to do what we did on Tuesday night another 13 times.

“If we do, then we’ve got a right chance.

“We need Farsley to drop a few points and we will drop points here and there.

“I’d rather be in our position though and we’ll try and maintain our position from now until the end of the season.”

The victory over Radcliffe, Jordan Connerton scoring a hat-trick, marked the end of a busy period for City.

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After three straight Tuesday fixtures they now have no more midweek games on the calendar.

Brown praised his side’s will to win, the gritty Radcliffe win coming on the back of the Farsley stunner, the Blues coming from 2-0 with 15 minutes to go to triumph in the most dramatic fashion.

“One things my lads know is that giving up is not an option,” said the City boss.

“They’re a resilient bunch and they understand that they’ve got to find a way to get something out of the game.

“We’ve done that several times this year.

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“We’ve had three midweekers in a row and I think we’re only team that’s done that and it’s maybe taken its toll a little bit.

“But we pride ourselves on having an engine, I think Saturday proved that.

“We’ve had some tough games over the last month and to finish off our midweek campaign like we did I’m really pleased.”

Saturday’s opponents Mossley may be 19th in the table but Brown knows his side will be in for a rough ride.

“It’s always a battle at Mossley,” he said.

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“It’s never a pretty affair and will be similar to Tuesday night as will a lot of games.

“They’re a big, physical team and we’ve got to stand up and be counted.

“We’ve got to stick together as a group and then if opportunities come we’ve got to hope that we take them.

“We’re under no illusions, Saturday’s going to be as tough as Farsley but we’ve got a good away record.

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“We’ll go there, roll our sleeves up and hopefully add to the tally.”

Glenn Steel missed the Radcliffe win with a bruised foot picked up against Farsley while Paul Jarvis is set to return against Mossley having been unavailable due to work commitments.