‘The task now is to stay there’ - Pontefract boss lays down gauntlet as Colls rise into East Division play-offs

Colls extended their unbeaten run to 11 games with a win over the East Division’s bottom club in a rather strange game, as both sides played the better part of an hour with 10 men.

Pontefract were cruising at the time after goals from Jack Greenhough and Frankie Sinfield, but when Sinfield was dismissed along with Blyth’s Nathan Buddle, the game flipped on its head.

“It’s something I’ll need to look back on. Whether I didn’t get our shape right when we went down to 10 men, or we couldn’t get to grips with theirs, we were second best for 70 minutes,” Williams said post-match.

“It’s probably the worst we’ve played since November, but we’ve managed to win the game.

“Having said that, up until they did score, we were in no real danger of conceding. They end up breaking from a poor free kick that we turned over, and make the last 25 minutes interesting, but we saw things through.”

Pontefract haven’t lost since their final game in November, and despite being on the periphery of the top five after that 4-0 loss against Emley, they’ve finally broken in off the back of an 11th game without defeat.

Now, Williams has tasked his players with maintaining their standards, improving on Saturday’s win, and staying there over the next couple of months.

“I’ve seen the Dunston and Bradford (Park Avenue) scores, and I’m aware that we’re in the play-offs now, so the task for the lads in there is to stay in them, simple as that,” he said.

“The next three games are massive, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, all away from home, and it’s important that we keep this run going and pick up points in every game.

“I’m confident that we can do that. We weren’t at it today, but we picked up the three points, so we look forward now to Tuesday.”