Toolstation NCEL Division One
The goals have been flying in from all angles at Selby Town.
Twenty-three times to be precise as Selby – who host Swallownest on Tuesday night – have got back to their old swash-buckling ways that served them so well in 2017 and 2019.
The likes of Joe Dale and Liam Flanagan were the main orchestrators during those years – with Chris Jackson, Brad Freer and Sam Cable being among the fellow front-man at various points.
Flanagan remains an integral part of the attack but Harry Clapham and Flynn McNaughton are the new guys on the block who are in red hot form.
The trio are displaying exciting form that has put Selby in the top five after seven games and Christian Fox agrees his attack is just as good as the forward-lines of yesteryear.
“I think it is fair (to say the forward line is as good as it was a couple of years ago),” Fox told Non League Yorkshire.
“I think it is up there (with those years) .
“You have pace, technical ability and a lot of teams at any level can’t deal with pace because it is hard to defend against.
“It is a massive strength.
“What we did have (in 2017) was a few players who were new to the league and teams didn’t know a lot about.
“Flan is a name now as he’s been around a while and people know him.
“Harry Clapham has come into this level and not a lot of teams know much about him.
“There’s Flynn as well and it works in your favour sometimes when they are quality players.
“So there’s those three and we have Streety (Josh Street) and Graz (Gracjan Klimczak) to come off the bench so we have strength-in-depth which is another thing you need at this level, especially with all the midweek games and injuries.”
Selby have won four out of their opening league fixtures – the only defeat is Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Harrogate Railway.
The form is totally different to the disaster of the aborted 2020/21 campaign which saw them win only once before the season was curtailed.
Fox puts the change in form down to team spirit.
“I think the quality of the players is the main factor,” he said.
“I said to the lads before (the Selby game) that it seems different this season and we have no egos and everyone is working hard for each other.
“They’re a great bunch of lads.
“You need that camaraderie and team spirit to be able to do something and I think that’s the other main part.”
Selby were unfortunate not to take a point home from Harrogate.
The Robins were beaten by a goal five minutes from time following a tight affair with limited chances.
Fox admitted Selby could not have done much more due to how strong Railway were defensively.
“We played them in the last game before the third lockdown and they sat in and tried to hit us on the counter attack,” he said.
“We knew how they are hard to break down and there wasn’t a lot of space in between.
“We got a bit of joy down the sides and we chatted about that at half-time to see if we could do more of what we were doing well in the first half.
“There were only two or three phases of play where we managed to get a shot at goal.
“I was happy with the second half performance and it looked like it was going to end as a boring 0-0 draw.
“There’s not much more I’d have done (to change it).
“We made a tactical change in the second half and that’s where we got a bit more joy (with a couple of chances).
“We changed the formation a little bit and that’s what we have been tinkering with since the start of the season because we have the players to do that now.
“It is basically players playing closer together and occupying those central areas.”
The crowds have been flocking to see Selby play at home and a large attendance is expected for the visit of Swallownest.
Fox is thrilled to see the fans turning out in force.
“It is great to see and we were hoping it would be the case,” he said.
“But they’re only going to come if we’re winning games and playing entertaining football.
“It works hand in hand but hopefully the crowds will continue to grow.”