Surprised how many turned out on such a miserable wet evening. Quality of support given was good and the lot behind the goal did their bit in chanting for Cornell,JJOT, vV and also Crooks during the game. We simply overwhelmed Macclesfield(Mfield) with our pressing game,tackling, covering and above all the togetherness of it all. One small incident summed up the 'resurgent' attitude during the first half. Whilst covering their left winger who was advancing rapidly towards goal, Shaun McWilliams (SM)slipped giving their winger a free run. SM picked himself up and ran after the winger, caught him with a fair tackle and cleared the ball. To give a speedy winger 30+yds and then catch him was rightly applauded. As so delicately pointed out Cornell was largely untroubled except for cracking drive by Rose which he somehow diverted over the bar. Once we had established midfield and with the defence looking secure we soon established a 2 Crooks goal lead! Then came Powells goal which he took well even finding time to nudge their sizeable centre half off the ball. Whatever KC said to him after the MK game worked as he scored with minimum of fuss. IMO it was the most impressive goal of the night. When Crooks got his third goal(our 4th) a gem in itself, some of our players just stood as in shock. SM even put his hands to his head as in "awe/shock". Then they all made for Crooksy in jubilation. As it was a 4 - 4 -2 formation Buchs had a much easier game and looked very much in control . SM at right back was excellent and I hope stays there for the time being. However I can see KC pushing SM into midfield with Facey regaining his place. This brings me to JJOT who had for him a relative quiet game but he cemented the midfield allowing Matt Crooks to cause mayhem further upfield. Foley was equally impressive (as Crooks) and he very much deserved a goal for his efforts. If only Crooks was available for MK! Bridges also did well causing their small right back problems. Looks to me we have found ourselves a left winger cum midfielder of some ability. Williams ran around all night for ever unsettling their defence - he was impressive in that respect. Powell also played his part particularly in the first half but he appeared to tire second. No matter his goal to me was excellent. Waters also did well making it difficult for their full back to disposses him. To my mind there is little to chose between him and Hoskins and it would have been interesting to see how Hoskins would have got on if called into action. Based on last night I would say we may need a replacement for JJOT - hope not but has yet to show the form he had last year. Our left midfield looks solved by Bridges and we certainly need a better and more accomplished player on the right. Two centre backs look fine and very commanding. Like everybody there I enjoyed Pierres goal at the end as we were worth 0-5 lead. Cornell appears to be adequate for L2 ; certainly streets ahead of their Goalie! I sincerely hope the result on Saturday does not undo all the belief gained from this victory. One last thing on Mfield - they were simply undone by our ultra positive approach and above all our pressing game so reminiscent of the Wilder era which simply overwhelmed them. Otherwise when given the chance their football was neat and controlled.
Always enjoy posts from those there Evers. The McWilliams recovery was picked up and highlighted on Noddy as an example of the attitude on the night, which had the excellent Smithy as summariser. On JJ, he has been off this season, but he will bounce back. Occasional short term loss of form is enevitable at any level, but the trick is to have others that are on fire at the same time. I have no doubt the real JJ will rise like a Phoenix within the next couple of games. As I always say, form temporary, class permanent Evers.