Southport are the biggest surprise package of the division and their manager Liam Watson undoubtedly deserves the award for manager of the season after what has been a quite amazing campaign for the unfashionable Merseyside club. Port were actually relegated after the end of last season, finishing 21st in the table but the demise of Rushden & Diamonds handed them a reprieve and they made sure that they full advantage of it. Watson hardly had a great squad of players at the start of the season but managed to instil in them real belief and togetherness along with the determination not to get beat, whatever happens. They actually struggled to get going in August but a 2:1 win over Barrow in early September proved the turning point and the team won all but two of their next eight games and all but five of the next 16. They staged some amazing comebacks, especially away at Gateshead in October when they were goals down with less than 20 minutes left but scored three times to win 3:2. The defence was working superbly as a unit, the midfield was closing down and working hard to protect the back four and Tony Gray was gobbling at the half chances that fell his way. The striker was transfer-listed and expected to leave for Droylsden in the summer but the failure to sign a new striker kept him in the club and he repaid the faith in brilliant fashion. Before too long Southport were flying high in the play-off zone and Watson was finding it harder and harder to keep everyone grounded. Southport looked particularly adept to winning games away from home and set a new club record of nine consecutive wins on the road in November by beating Stockport 1:0 in a game in which they played with ten men from the first minute on. The wheels fell off a little bit in late December and early January as Fleetwood humiliated them 6:0 at their own ground and Lincoln and Cambridge enjoyed comfortable wins too. However, the players were made of sterner stuff and bounced right back up in February and March when they won six out of nine games to move back into the top five. A 2:1 win at York suddenly made it all too likely that a play-off spot is theirs but just then the pressure got the better of the players and they failed to win any of their next five games, letting some comfortable leads go to waste, and their hopes died as a result. That disappointment will only be a footnote though as Watson and his men showed that even the most modest clubs in this league could prosper if they are organised well and take their chances.
