The Wrens saw off a very good, competitive Hall Road Rangers at Kirklington Road with two unanswered goals, to set them up for a bid to take that run into double figures when they visit Bottesford Town in a Toolstation UK Northern Counties East Premier Division fixture this weekend.
Seven of those nine matches have been won, and the remaining two only drawn after opponents Worksop Town and AFC Mansfield notched late equalisers, so Rainworth will head into North Lincolnshire full of confidence, especially after moving up to fifth place in the table and, at long last, having erased their negative goal difference.
Victory at Bottesford would complete Rainworth’s first league double of the season, having beaten the Poachers 3-2 at home in the early weeks of the campaign.
But Denton and Poulter both cautioned against any complacency in their post-match comments following Tuesday’s victory.
Looking back at that match, Denton said he was happy with the final result, adding: “We knew it would be really difficult, and they’ve come here and given us a good game, but we’ve been really professional, we’ve tried to keep the ball as best we can, gone long when we’ve had to, and mixed our game up.
“The lads have shown a great attitude to win the three points, and keeping our run going is brilliant for us. While we knew Hall Road were a very good side, we also know what we’ve got in our dressing room, so we weren’t unduly worried, it was about how we set up and took our game to them.”
Looking forward to the trip to Birch Park on Saturday, Poulter said he expected a similar contest against a big, strong, physical side, and that Rainworth had to be ready for an aerial bombardment.
He added: “Tonight Hall Road caused us a few problems, but I never had any moment when I thought we would concede. I just thought our resilience, application and determination came to the fore.
“Nine games unbeaten speaks for itself so we will just go on doing what we do, quietly slipping under the radar as we move up the table.”
Rainworth will be without midfielder Liam Royles who suffered a broken ankle during last Saturday’s 3-2 win over resurgent Barton Town, and forward Luke Walker, who sustained an off the ball ankle injury on Tuesday night after apparently turning awkwardly.
They also lost central defender Josh Ross to injury on Saturday, and he was left out of Tuesday’s side as a precaution but is expected to be fit. However, Brad Wilson, who came on as substitute on Saturday and played the full 90 against Hall Road, did so well that his manager will have a dilemma when choosing the side for Saturday.
“We’ve won with a clean sheet tonight, so we will have a difficult decision to make,” ended Denton.