As Storm Jocelyn whistled around Boundary Park, bringing with it any number of amber weather warnings, Micky Mellon and his team sent out a blue and white warning to the rest of the National League that Oldham Athletic are coming to get them with an assured performance and deserved victory against third placed Barnet.

James Norwood was outstanding once more, topping his performance with two goals from the penalty spot.

He seemed even more of a threat than he has for most of the season and that is in no small part due to the architect in midfield, making his full debut, Tom Conlon, who was also superb in the middle of the park.

Conlon always wanted the ball, was always looking to make something happen and was unlucky not to score when his pearler of a free kick came back off the woodwork.

When he couldn’t get us on the front foot, he would ensure possession was kept with his outlet often being Josh Lundstram, who seemed to be much more confident in and out of possession with Conlon alongside him.

In defence, we looked more comfortable with a natural right wing back on the pitch and Sai Sachdev had a very solid debut there, contributing to a deserved clean sheet.

I especially enjoyed how the likes of Nathan Sheron, Liam Hogan and Shaun Hobson were willing to put their bodies on the line and throw themselves in front of the ball to stop Barnet from scoring to extend the long spell since any opposition scored against us in the league.

Mat Hudson also, of course, deserves plaudits for that too after another couple of fine saves.

With Andrew Dallas still to come after signing on loan from Barnsley for the rest of the season on Monday, and this victory moving us up to fifth in the league and firmly inside the play-offs, the only way is up.

However, there are still 18 games to go of the regular season and plenty more points that need to be won. We need to continue this run of league results and keep adding points to the board to finish as high up the table as possible.

As Mellon said, once again, after the victory, we are still a work in progress and he still wants to see more improvements. That mentality of always striving to be better is great to hear.

With a run of games coming up against sides in and around the relegation spots, this next few weeks will be important to our ambitions of the play-offs and ultimately promotion.

Woking are the first of those on Saturday and I, for one, can’t wait!