There was nothing more than a drizzle in the air at Sincil Bank, but Cheltenham supporters are quickly finding out that the old adage — when it rains, it pours — is true.
The misfiring Robins sit at the foot of League One and the stats are damning. Ten games, no wins, one draw and nine defeats.
Perhaps even bleaker is this one. After Saturday’s drab 2-0 defeat at Lincoln, Cheltenham have now gone 10 matches and 15 hours without a league goal. The last time they found the back of the net was in May last season.
Draw another blank in Tuesday’s game against Fleetwood and they will equal the record for the longest run of games without a goal.
Cheltenham Town haven’t won or scored in their last ten matches in the league
A 2-0 defeat against Lincoln on Saturday provided further misery for Cheltenham supporters
On the basis of Saturday’s performance, which was watched in the stands by new manager Darrell Clarke, that is more than a possibility. ‘At the top end of the pitch, at the moment, the lads look to be lacking a bit of confidence,’ said caretaker boss Kevin Russell.
‘The game is won and lost in the top end of the pitch and the bottom end of the pitch and they are the two areas we have to get better.
‘We need that bit of devilment, end product when we get in good areas and at the moment that’s missing.’
The visiting supporters did what they could to rally the troops in Dambusters country. ‘Is today the day then?’, Mail Sport asked a group of Robins fans standing outside the ground. ‘Are pigs flying?’ chirped one grinning supporter. You had the feeling his smile wouldn’t last long. And so it proved after five minutes when Lincoln’s buccaneering right back Lasse Sorensen fired past goalkeeper Luke Southwood.
As the game progressed a few subdued renditions of ‘Come on Cheltenham’ echoed around the away end. Only one player in the starting XI — midfielder Elliott Bonds — had scored a league goal this year for the club, who are desperately missing Alfie May.
May was the scorer of that last goal against Charlton in May. It was his 67th and final goal in Cheltenham colours before he departed for the Addicks in the summer.
Without him Cheltenham lack direction, quality and hope in the final third. The mood soured further when Sorensen doubled the hosts’ lead in the 21st minute and there was no way back.
Darrell Clarke has been appointed as Cheltenham’s new manager as he looks to improve them
Furious cries greeted a late wayward shot from Cheltenham’s Nathan Butler-Oyedeji — one that was closer to threatening the houses surrounding the ground than the home goal.
‘The manager will have his own philosophy and how he wants to do things,’ said Russell. ‘But it’s going to be a battle, it will be tough.
Right now, that seems like the understatement of the season.
