CHELTENHAM manager Martin Allen was delighted to leave the Galpharm Stadium with something to show for his struggling side’s efforts.
While still bottom of the table, the Robins ended a 16-match run without a win last Saturday against Hartlepool and after a midweek success over Tranmere, the 2-2 draw against Town earned them their seventh point of a very productive week – and left them only a point behind Hereford.
With a squad ravaged by injuries, and reduced to 10 men for the final half hour after Josh Low’s dismissal, Allen was full of praise for his battlers.
“For me it is a fantastic point,” said Allen.
“By the end we were pretty much down to nine players because David Bird’s calf strain meant he really couldn’t run.
“From early on we were repeatedly having to make substitutions and rearrange the team and in the end we had players playing out of position all over the field – it was quite bizarre!
“The boys have run themselves into the ground, they have defended stoutly and valiantly, and it was a great performance from the whole team and it just shows what a thoroughly great group of players I have got.”
And Allen, who was his usual animated self in the technical area, was more than satisfied with Cheltenham’s week.
“If you had told us at the start of the week that we would have two wins behind us and come up to Huddersfield and get a draw we would have taken it,” said Allen, who had been one of the contenders for the Town hotseat back in December.
“Huddersfield have got some quality and they have some very dangerous players, so this was a terrific result for us.
“We made some good decisions out there and, as the whole team was disrupted, I thought we were terrific from start to finish.”
And Allen also promised to have a look at the incident that led to midfielder Low being sent off for what appeared to be a stamp on Tom Clarke.
“I want to see footage of the incident and the referee’s report first, but it would appear that Josh Low stamped on a player,” said Allen. “What happened was very costly for us and I will deal with the matter internally if it does turn out it was a stamp.”
