One swallow doesn’t make a summer: Nostell boss Darren Holmes says his side still have a lot to do after the dramatic turnaround in form
Darren Holmes has warned his Nostell Miners Welfare side not to get carried away as there is still a lot of work to do in their survival battle.
Wednesday night’s exceptional 2-0 win at Albion Sports lifted Nostell off the foot of the Toolstation NCEL Premier Division and up to fourth bottom after a dramatic upturn in form.
The result sunk Retford United to the bottom ahead of tomorrow’s encounter between the two sides.
Looking back at collecting seven points out of a possible nine, Holmes told Non League Yorkshire: “I’m over the moon.
“I had confidence in all the lads. We have put a decent squad together and we are still a few short from where we wanted to be at the start of the season.
“But the Albion Sports win capped a nice week.
“It’s the best week that I’ve had since I have been at Nostell.
“We had a good run just after Christmas, but these kind of results can make your season snowball.
“Nobody would have backed us not getting relegated last year.
“Everyone was looking again this year and to say we had ten or eleven games away from home, everyone has stayed together and pulled together and we’re here coming out of the back of it.
“I think we have proven people wrong, but one swallow doesn’t make a summer as they say.
“There’s still a long way to go and we need more results so we can’t get carried away.
“We are in no doubt that we’re still in a dogfight.
“We have Retford tomorrow which is a huge six-pointer and we want the same performance as Wednesday night.”
Two first half goals from Jermaine Moyce and Joe Walton earned Nostell the three points at Throstle Nest in midweek.
Nostell have to survive a mountain of pressure in the second half, but they managed to hold on and Holmes was very proud.
“We knocked the ball around well and defended well as a unit,” he said.
“Everyone worked hard and we finished our chances in the first half.
“We have always said that if we can finish our chances and get our noses in front that we can stay in front.
“We have not done that in past games. We have missed our chances and other teams have scored at the other end and it has been a struggle.
“We were under siege for a lot of the second half, but we were away from home and Albion Sports were eighth in the league.
“They are a good side as they’re quick, very mobile so they were always going to do that and we expected that.
“We went in at half-time 2-0 up and we knew we would be up against it in the second half.
“Everyone worked their socks off which I was really pleased to see.”
Holmes expects to have a full squad for the trip to Retford, who haven’t won in the league since August.
He added: “Retford will probably feel exactly the same as we felt last week.
“They are fighting for their survival. They’re going to want three points on Saturday and it is going to be a massive game for both of us.
“It’s a relegation game still.
“I think it will be a tight game. Whichever team defends the best will probably end up winning the game.
“We’re looking forward to it. We have had three good results and everyone is buzzing.”