18 hours Ago
Alex Reid continued his fine goalscoring form, netting in the 20th minute for his 13th league strike of the campaign. The visitors rallied for an equaliser, but Stones held out on a crucial win with just six games left. Manager Neil Gibson said: “It’s an absolutely fantastic result for the club and everyone involved with the club.
It’s been a testing week for the group, the staff, and players - everybody alike. A lot of illness has been through the camp. “I was disappointed for the players on Saturday [a 3-0 defeat at York] because whilst we didn’t deserve to take any points from the game, I thought a lot of effort, energy, and endeavour went in actually just getting players out on on the pitch.
"We regrouped, we didn’t feel sorry for ourselves, and players put their hands up again and made themselves available. “Everyone understood the importance of tonight’s game. Boston have been on such a fantastic run, so it was going to be difficult for us, but I just felt the way we approached it and the way we applied ourselves, I never really felt we weren’t going to win.
” The result saw the Stones leapfrog Dagenham & Redbridge into 19th place, two points clear of Lewis Young’s side, but Gibson revealed more concerns about the availability of his squad. “Some of the players on the bench were full of illness and probably couldn’t have played too many minutes," he added. "Other players who were on the bench have played a lot of minutes themselves or are probably just getting used to playing at this level with us and what we’re about as a group.
“We will definitely need them in the next few weeks, but when the game’s as tight as that was and there’s so much riding on it, sometimes it’s difficult to put a player on with 15 minutes to go, and all they can do then is contribute to a mistake happening because it takes them a while to get up to the speed of the game.” Stones host Forest Green Rovers at Grosvenor Vale on Saturday in another huge fixture in their pursuit of survival. “What we’ve got to try and do - is build on the confidence of that result," said Gibson.
"We know Forest Green are a strong team and at the top end of the league, but the next six games between now and the end of the season, every game’s an opportunity to make sure we’re a National League club for next season. “We’ll take the confidence from today and we’ll march forward into Saturday.”.
