Corner is turned for confident Magpies (03.01.03)

ALL the talk at York Road is about how high Maidenhead United can finish in the Ryman Premier Division after a four-game unbeaten spell that has lifted the gloom that shrouded the club for over two months.
Three wins and a draw against Boreham Wood, Purfleet, Basingstoke Town and St Albans City has cemented their position in 12th place and brought an air of confidence to a side that won just once on October and November.
Yet even more encouraging is that behind the run of points is an increasingly assured team playing arguably their best football of the season.
This was brought to a head in their 3-1 success at title-chasing St Albans City on Saturday when the Magpies turned in a display that was as good as many seasoned spectators have seen in a couple of years.
So on the back of steadily improving efforts against these four top half teams, there is no reason not to believe that United’s autumn blip is now over.
However according to manager Alan Devonshire it was always just a matter of time before his side turned the corner.
He said: “I have confidence in my players and my own abilities – I always have had.
“Our aim at the start of the season was to finish higher than last year and we are on course to do this.
“Every team has a blip and I hope that that’s ours out of the way.”
Indeed Devonshire believes his side are now better equipped to take on the second half of the season after coming through their rough patch.
He commented: “We are now beating teams that we couldn’t quite get past last year. We have grown.
“We played well against Basingstoke and certainly deserved our point, but against St Albans we were terrific. At half-time we really should have had it sewn up, but it was still 1-1.
“But we showed our spirit to go on and get the result.”
He continued: “We might not have done this last year. This just shows how much more tougher mentally we are.
“This whole period has been a good learning curve for us.”
Certainly the period was a rocky one. sometimes personally for Devonshire himself, from a shocking display against Ford in November in which the United supremo commented that he and the players had let down the club, to the high of running riot over St Albans.
However the recriminations now seem behind the team.
With the return of keeper Richard Barnard after a speedy recovery from his broken jaw, and some eye-catching displays from Andy Cook, Matt Glynn and Lawrence Yaku recently, the side must be in a frame of mind in which they would like to see the games come thick and fast.
In fact only the weather has been able to halt their march as the pre-Christmas clash at Sutton United was unexpectedly called off – the only match to be cancelled in the division on the day – as was the New Year’s Day encounter with local rivals Chesham after the torrential rain of recent days.
However, weather permitting, the Magpies will host Braintree Town tomorrow (Saturday) – a team that is also enjoying a reversal of fortunes at present.
Although the Magpies will be looking to complete the double this season, they will have to be on their guard if they are not to slip on this potential banana skin.
The Magpies do not have a mid-week fixture.