Onwards And Upwards For Silsden
Tue 26th January 2016 | Silsden | By Ian Templeman
Despite their position in the Premier Division relegation zone, Silsden manager Ryan Haigh is confident in his side’s ability to put in a strong performance in the second half of the season.
Although they have just one win in their last six games, played over a period of more than two months, Ryan says that his side’s performance in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Ashton Athletic showed that they have the quality necessary to get out of trouble.
“I think we deserved more than a draw on Saturday”, he said. “They went 2-1 up which I didn't see coming, their keeper pulled off two or three great saves, and our keeper had very little to do.
“We have a lot of quality in the dressing room and we are looking to go on a little bit of a run now”.
Like everyone else, the Cobbydalers have suffered with postponements in recent months, although during the enforced break, Ryan has taken the opportunity to freshen up the squad.
"It's been hard with postponements recently, but we have a lot of new faces, and the layoff has on the other hand given us time to go and get new players and work on things.
“It gave us a chance to work with new players instead of just throwing them in, so funnily enough it has helped us a bit in that way, and we have come back quite fit as well”.
Ryan’s decision to bring in new faces was due in part to his side’s inconsistency in the opening months of the season. Their cup form was better than their league form, which he admits was a bit of mystery.
“We seemed to get up for cup games, and the league was a bit of a sidetrack before we looked for the next cup game”, he said.
“I can't really put my finger on the problems with the league form, but Saturday (against Ashton Athletic) was one of the best performances we have put on since the Guiseley game (which Silsden won 2-1 in the West Riding County Cup).
“We said last year that we wanted a bit of a run in cups, and we didn't do too bad in the Vase, getting to the First Round and we still have the West Riding County Cup semi final against Harrogate Town to look forward to”.
The game against Harrogate, which takes place on 9th February, is one of the big nights of the season for the Cobbydalers, and Ryan insists that the need to collect league points won’t be sidetracked by having that game on the horizon.
“The Harrogate game is a nice distraction", he said. "I would like to get to the final of the County Cup, it would be a big day for the club and I believe the final is going to be played at Valley Parade, so the lads will be up for the game.
“But Harrogate Town will be tough for us, we are under no illusions. They will take it seriously, but it's eleven against eleven on the day.
“Guiseley had four or five first teamers in the side when we played them, so it's about what we do on the day”.
In the meantime, Ryan is looking for his side to continue the form in the league that they showed on Saturday, and begin to pick up more points.
“The performance we put in against Ashton Athletic was a lot better than we were putting in around November time, so there is no way we are going to be panicking.
“It's been hard not playing many games, but everyone is in the same position and at this stage of the season we have still got a lot of games to play.
“As long as we have luck with injuries and suspensions, we will be able to pull our way up the table”.
Onwards And Upwards For Silsden
Tue 26th January 2016 | Silsden
By Ian Templeman
Despite their position in the Premier Division relegation zone, Silsden manager Ryan Haigh is confident in his side’s ability to put in a strong performance in the second half of the season.
Although they have just one win in their last six games, played over a period of more than two months, Ryan says that his side’s performance in Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Ashton Athletic showed that they have the quality necessary to get out of trouble.
“I think we deserved more than a draw on Saturday”, he said. “They went 2-1 up which I didn't see coming, their keeper pulled off two or three great saves, and our keeper had very little to do.
“We have a lot of quality in the dressing room and we are looking to go on a little bit of a run now”.
Like everyone else, the Cobbydalers have suffered with postponements in recent months, although during the enforced break, Ryan has taken the opportunity to freshen up the squad.
"It's been hard with postponements recently, but we have a lot of new faces, and the layoff has on the other hand given us time to go and get new players and work on things.
“It gave us a chance to work with new players instead of just throwing them in, so funnily enough it has helped us a bit in that way, and we have come back quite fit as well”.
Ryan’s decision to bring in new faces was due in part to his side’s inconsistency in the opening months of the season. Their cup form was better than their league form, which he admits was a bit of mystery.
“We seemed to get up for cup games, and the league was a bit of a sidetrack before we looked for the next cup game”, he said.
“I can't really put my finger on the problems with the league form, but Saturday (against Ashton Athletic) was one of the best performances we have put on since the Guiseley game (which Silsden won 2-1 in the West Riding County Cup).
“We said last year that we wanted a bit of a run in cups, and we didn't do too bad in the Vase, getting to the First Round and we still have the West Riding County Cup semi final against Harrogate Town to look forward to”.
The game against Harrogate, which takes place on 9th February, is one of the big nights of the season for the Cobbydalers, and Ryan insists that the need to collect league points won’t be sidetracked by having that game on the horizon.
“The Harrogate game is a nice distraction", he said. "I would like to get to the final of the County Cup, it would be a big day for the club and I believe the final is going to be played at Valley Parade, so the lads will be up for the game.
“But Harrogate Town will be tough for us, we are under no illusions. They will take it seriously, but it's eleven against eleven on the day.
“Guiseley had four or five first teamers in the side when we played them, so it's about what we do on the day”.
In the meantime, Ryan is looking for his side to continue the form in the league that they showed on Saturday, and begin to pick up more points.
“The performance we put in against Ashton Athletic was a lot better than we were putting in around November time, so there is no way we are going to be panicking.
“It's been hard not playing many games, but everyone is in the same position and at this stage of the season we have still got a lot of games to play.
“As long as we have luck with injuries and suspensions, we will be able to pull our way up the table”.
