BROWNE ON THE BALL: Freak or a streak? Why can Boston United do it on a cold, wet Tuesday but not at home on a Saturday?

If you look back through to season to date, Boston United’s goalless stalemate with Worcester City and 1-1 draw with Kidderminster Harriers will hardly be the matches which make you whoop with delight or hide behind the sofa in stomach-tightening embarassment.

In the grand scheme of things, both were pretty forgettable contests, even if Kidderminster’s subsequent rise to become title challengers may offer you the briefest moment to think ‘actually, not a bad result after all’.

So why am I picking out those two games to blather on about?

What on Earth do they have to offer in any sense of debate about the campaign so far?

Well, you may or may not believe it but those two games are the only times the Pilgrims have ended a Saturday home match with anything to show for their efforts this season.

Yep, from their eight Saturday matches at the Jakemans Stadium so far this season, the Pilgrims have lost six times, drawn just twice and won exactly as many times as they have at Fylde’s new ground.

That’s one point every 3.5 National League North matches and a county cup defeat to Spalding United.

Barely promotion-winning form.

But under the floodlights it’s a completely different situation.

Victories against Tamworth, Alfreton, Bradford Park Avenue, Curzon Ashton and now Chorley mean that they had a 100 per cent record at home on a Tuesday.

Throw in Boxing Day’s draw with Gainsborough, played on a Monday, and United look like world beaters in midweek.

Basically, Boston have been like all the pubs in the City of London so far, cracking in the week but just not the same at the weekend.

It would be great to come upa with a clever answer for why this is so, such as Jay Rollins is a vampire or hates vitamin D.

But that’s just not going to stick, is it?

I suppose you could argue that the midweek slog following a day at work takes its toll on players (after all, Boston have been beaten at Witton Albion and Harrogate in both their Tuesday night away games).

But when half the United squad make similar length journeys for a home game after putting in a shift then that doesn’t really stand for much.

And it’s not like all the home games on a Saturday have been woeful either.

Some desperate goalkeeping kept Brackley’s lead in tact, Stalybridge scored with their only shot on target in a game where they United did everything but put the ball in the net and had Dion-Curtis Henry had a few first-team games under his belt then the FC United result may well have been different.

When Sunderland thrashed Crystal Palace 4-0 the other week it was the first Premier League match Jack Rodwell had started and won in 1,370 days, almost four years, and a total of 39 matches.

Sometimes - like tossing a coin and coming up heads again and again - weird streaks just happen.

Now Boston face back to back Saturday home games against Darlington 1883 and Nuneaton.

Tough challenges but, like Rodwell has shown, winless streaks can be ended emphatically.