Ending the season on a high

You could be the 12th man on Sunday

A season of many ups, and even more downs, is finally drawing to a close. Thankfully, survival was secured last weekend when we took Gillingham down to a 2-1 defeat at Glanford Park, so Sunday’s game can be played without the added pressure of playing for League One football next term.

Of course it’s not just any normal end of season game. Doncaster Rovers are our rivals, and a rival who have gotten the better of us far too often in recent times. I’m pinning my hopes on Neal Bishop firing the lads up ready to do battle. Something we’ve severely lacked in recent derbies is guts and determination.

An extra incentive going into the game is a win would actually see us leap frog Donny in the table, leaving us finishing the season in at least 14th position – a pipe dream back in October, when relegation looked a formality. The Iron could mathematically finish as high as 11th, but some serious goal scoring would need to come into play, along with the teams above us losing heavily too. I’ll take 14th please Sir.

Donny will probably class their season as a bit of a flop after coming down from the Championship last year, with ambitions of an immediate return amongst the fans and staff alike. They were most recently sat in the play offs at the beginning of March, but an inconsistent run has seen them drop to mid-table with nothing riding on the last game of the season, other than bragging rights over their rivals.

This is the most positive I’ve felt heading into a derby about my team doing what’s needed to get the three points in quite a long time. The pressure that was lifted after securing safety last weekend, added to the fact we’ve been on a pretty decent run of form, should be enough for me.

The Gillingham game was the last of Theo Robinson’s loan spell, as there was a clause in his contract to stop him from facing his parent club on Sunday when he joined us. Whether he’s played his final game for the Iron remains to be seen, but after an impressive loan spell, and hardly being first choice at Rovers, you wouldn’t bet against us signing him permanently in the summer.

Yesterday it was announced that we have been giving planning permission to begin work on our new 12,000 seater home. Work is expected to begin in July, with the stadium being ready just 12 months later. The only remaining obstacle for the Iron and North Lincolnshire council will be their need to appease the Highway Agency’s concerns over access to the ground, and flooding. This will almost certainly be resolved within the next month or so, with the club not looking like they are worrying too much about this – as they’ve already offered fans who purchase season tickets the chance to have first dibs on their seat when we move in ready for the 2015/16 season.

On that note, the club have released the standard, and early bird prices, for season tickets next season – The Iron’s last full season at Glanford Park. The rates are as follows, and go on sale tomorrow:

MAIN STAND/CLUGSTON STAND

EARLY BIRD (PRIOR TO 31/05/2015)
ADULT – £360                              
PER GAME: £15.65 | SAVING PER GAME: £6.34 
SENIORS/18-21/STUDENT – £228      
PER GAME: £9.78 | SAVING PER GAME: £5.08 
UNDER 18 – £150                      
PER GAME: £6.52 | SAVING PER GAME: £4.47 
UNDER 16– £60            
PER GAME: £2.60 | SAVING PER GAME: £3.39 
UNDER 12* – FREE

FROM 01/06/2015
ADULT – £372                              
PER GAME: £16.17 | SAVING PER GAME: £5.82 
SENIORS/18-21/STUDENT– £234        
PER GAME: £10.17 | SAVING PER GAME: £4.82 
UNDER 18 – £156                        
PER GAME: £6.78 | SAVING PER GAME: £4.21 
UNDER 16 – £66                       
PER GAME: £2.86 | SAVING PER GAME: £3.13 
UNDER 12* – FREE

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All that’s left to say is safe travels to all Scunny fans heading up the M180 on Sunday to Donny, and let’s hope the boys do us proud.

Up the Iron!