But it didn't work out like that. We travelled to Peterborough just a few days later and, despite scoring early through Tommy Mooney, came away with nothing. Worse than that - Ken Charlery finally managed to score against us.

If Peterborough was bad, Gillingham was grim beyond belief. Leading at half-time after Keith Scott had again managed to find the net with a wayward cross, we were annihilated in the second half. Sure, we had long spells of pressure after two goals early in the second half had forced us out of our shells but Gillingham could've had a hatful on the break. Andy Hessenthaler ran the show, dictating the game, organising his side, scoring a crucial goal, reminding us that we'd been missing a midfield general all season. And, just to rub it in, we gifted Steve Butler a goal right at the death. They had an interview with David f***ing Bellotti in the programme as well...

Walsall was a minor, if unbelievably dour, improvement. That midfield general arrived from an unexpected source, Richard Johnson winning his first 'man of the match' award since the first game of the season as we played a more patient game. We stifled the play, took all the pace out of things and won it with an early strike from (yep, him again) Tommy Mooney. It was very, very dull. It also, in my opinion, represented our best chance of coming away with the three points we needed. The same applied to the game against Bristol Rovers which, if anything, was even more mind-numbing. But we were winning and we were joint second.

Millwall was magnificent. The solid, combative nature of the side stopped the home side's attacks at conception, while we released the ball into dangerous areas to create numerous first half chances. We were playing as a team and we were playing to our strengths - at last.

And then it all went pear-shaped. Had Kevin Phillips' goal not been disallowed against Bournemouth, I have very little doubt that we would've won that game. The story of the season might've been very different (if I had to look for a turning point, that would be the one - it caused us to lose faith in tactics that had been working). As it was, we were the ones who went behind and found ourselves unable to break down a resolute Bournemouth side. And, in context, the goalless draw down at Plymouth a couple of days afterwards did us very few favours.