I HAD a very enlightening conversation this week with a mate of mine who is an Accrington born Manchester United fan.

He is under 40 and as such has only really witnessed success for his football team and is a now a tad distraught about their current plight to the point of ultimate denial in claiming United can still finish the season with two trophies.

I tried in vain to convince him of a deeper football relationship between fan and team built up over years of frustration and disappointment.

It was only at the final whistle of this Saturday’s victorious trip to Cheltenham that I started to feel sorry for him. My point is that to fully enjoy the most magnificent of highs gained by a victory in football you surely must have had to experience the crushing blows and devastation of an away defeat at Bedlington Terriers.

This Saturday was one of those highs with a magnificent Stanley performance topped off with a rare goal from our Captain Luke Joyce.

He is a fantastic player who is a wonderful asset for our club and he thoroughly deserved his goal.

With three more points in the bag the league table makes for much better reading.

In the end my pal actually won the argument with one simple statement: “Stanley staying in the football league for so long is like Untied winning the champions league for seven years on the trot.”

You know what, he has a point.