The PAUL MULLIN column

WHAT a week! Ending Crawley Town's unbeaten run with a 4-0 win was the perfect way to start our recovery and avoid a hangover from the Stevenage defeat.

Then to follow that up with a good performance and three points at York City was superb.

I might have got the only goal, but I thought the back five, including Jon Kennedy, were the ones that truly inspired the win.

They were superb and got us a good result against a side who, to be honest, I'm a bit surprised have had the poor start they've had because they began well on Tuesday night.

The sending off obviously had a big impact on things though, and in the second half we found more space against 10 men.

Personally, it was good for me to pit my wits against two experienced campaigners like Steve Davis and Chris Brass.

Steve is very good in the air and strong, but I enjoy those sorts of contests and it was nice to come out of it with a goal, especially a poacher's one.

I likened my finish to Mexican ace Hugo Sanchez, who was famed for scoring with overhead kicks. John Coleman said it was more like Dirty Sanchez. Okay, it was a bit of an exaggeration, but it did the job.

I get the feeling we're going to be getting a few one-nillers on the road, but that's got to be better than last year.

Having already matched the number of away wins we recorded last season is a big boost to the side, although I don't think we were always as bad as some of the away results suggested.

But now I think we're better equipped to win away from home.

One reason is the acquisition of Ian Craney. I'm just learning to play alongside him and one of his strengths is that he pops up in difficult areas for defenders, and having him in the side means we've got a good chance of winning by nicking the odd goal here and there.

We got 11 draws on our travels last season, and if we could have turned just three of those into wins then it would have made a big difference to our league position.

I can't see that being a problem this season because we've had much more disciplined performances, both home and away.

And it's important that we take the confidence of a valuable win at Bootham Crescent into Saturday when we entertain Woking.

They haven't got off to the best of starts, but they are a strong side and not to be underestimated.

All the games in this league will be closely contested because I can see already that the standard's much better than last year.

IT'S a shame that my strike partner Lutel James had to miss out on representing St Kitts and Nevis in their World Cup qualifiers.

But if he keeps doing what he's doing then he's sure to get another chance, and their forthcoming game against Mexico in October isn't a bad one to aim for.