MARTIN DOWEY: Boro’s charge deserve fans’ backing

And having cast my eye over their recent games I’m going to make the brave statement that they will be in the top five when the dust settles at the end of the season.

Boro are now a completely different animal from the team a few months ago that seemed content to throw away leads and demonstrate a huge lack of bottle.

The tactics are now set and there is an unbelievable focus among the side.

Not only that, the bond is there as well, which is great to see.

In fact I haven’t seen a togetherness in the camp like this since Boro won promotion from the NCEL when they included the likes of Tommy Adams, Denny Ingram and Tony Hackworth.

It was entertaining to walk across the car park at Farsley the other night when the players were shouting “Seadogs” at the top of their voices.

The fans at that game were also at their vocal best, really getting behind the team from kick-off to the final whistle.

The volume is finally being turned up by the supporters and hopefully that will come to a crescendo over the next week or two.

When I look back a couple of years to the must-win promotion game at Brighouse Town when around 800 fans made the journey west, that was the closest we have seen to the old days at the McCain Stadium.

The atmosphere that day was electric, as it used to be for the home games when The Shed got right behind Boro and ripped into the opposition.

As a young fan of Scarborough FC, the noise from The Shed used to give you goosebumps, so who knows how much it inspired the players.

The new Boro may now be at a slightly lesser level and 20-odd miles away, but the atmosphere among the smallish band of fans is still there.

The home games are coming thick and fast for Boro now and they are playing an attractive brand of football, which has forced them right into the mix.

At this moment in time it really is worth a look, and a lift in fan numbers could provide the lift that Boro need towards where they want to be.