Just back.

Two goals worth the entrance fee. The second was good but the first was a Wow! Absolutely superb volley that flew into the top corner. Brilliant.

Altrincham were poor and barely troubled us apart from a little flurry in the first ten minutes. They were there for the taking but the question was whether we could finish them off. Didn't look like it first half and again, we squandered many good situations but you felt it was only a matter of time. Didn't take long in the second half but it was a special goal that broke the resistance. For a while after that they were wobbling but we couldn't apply the coup de gras until late in the game when JMD kept his cool and planted the ball in the same top corner as McAtee earlier when a mix up gave him the chance. He finished it expertly.

Thought the two new lads fitted in seamlessly but to be fair they had very little to do defending. Both looked cool on the ball but I was very impressed with Amos. Excellent passing and movement from the back and looks very mobile. His passing was crisp and precise and I think he may have been my MOM. Impressive.

Thought Coke and Fox were very good in midfield and Sousa again looked good until the final third. When Max came on for him, the quality of the crossing went up immediately and I hope he can stay fit and get a run of games.

A game we never looked in danger of losing but tougher tests to come.

Mcatee is the son of god

I was getting worried about you Ginny, bit late with the just back thread. Did you go for a swift half after to celebrate the win?
Couldn't listen to the game this afternoon so been waiting for this. Pleased to hear good things about the new guys and a very welcome 3 points

Agree with all of that mate. Two very special goals.
Coke had his best game in a Town shirt by a very long way. So good were he and Fox together that we didn't miss Clifton.
Special mention to Shaun Pearson for his lung busting 70? yard run fairly late on. He and Waterfall make a very good pairing at centre back. Altrincham weren't a patch on the side that played us back in October.

We played against a very poor team and we still looked average , wake up and smell the coffee we are a mid table team area best , don’t sugar coat a 2-0 win against a poor side as great win and we are back.

Apart from two absolutely great strikes we was average and below . I have seen better on a Sunday morning at Bradley

Very welcome three points - we all needed that.

First half was a bit nondescript although Town always looked the better team.  The Altrincham goalkeeper's leisurely manner and their defenders throwing themselves to the ground when under threat didn't make for a great spectacle.

Obviously, the whole thing got a lot more interesting in the second half (and their goalkeeper got his just desserts).  Two fab goals.  The new players didn't look bad, either.

McAtee was my man of the match - very dynamic and I loved his goal.  I wouldn't say he's the son of God, but he does have a habit of rising again when he's on the ground and you think all is lost.  He usually manages to come away with the ball, too.  Love to watch him play and he adds something very special to the team.  (Also loved Shaun's little foray into their half - he seemed to be going for goal, too - brilliant stuff).

Quoted from buckstown

I was getting worried about you Ginny, bit late with the just back thread. Did you go for a swift half after to celebrate the win?
Couldn't listen to the game this afternoon so been waiting for this. Pleased to hear good things about the new guys and a very welcome 3 points

The other lads I went with went for a beer and I very nearly went myself but not been too well over the Christmas break, so took a slooow walk home. Not quite back up to speed yet but getting there.

Quoted from wekeepdreaming

We played against a very poor team and we still looked average , wake up and smell the coffee we are a mid table team area best , don’t sugar coat a 2-0 win against a poor side as great win and we are back.

Apart from two absolutely great strikes we was average and below . I have seen better on a Sunday morning at Bradley

Suggest you keep in that dream state mate.

Listened to commentary and we sounded decent and create alot of chances. UTM

Quoted from ginnywings

Suggest you keep in that dream state mate.

You obviously watch different football to me

Quoted from wekeepdreaming

You obviously watch different football to me

Doubt it. Different interpretations of where we are right now maybe.

We are rebuilding and today we looked to have 2 more decent players to add to the mix and a third ready to give it a go.

We'll see how the season pans out.

Difficult to judge progress today against such a poor side.
One excellent and one brilliant goals took the pressure off

You can only play the game in front of you and I was nervous about today, especially when the team was announced. Bold call by Hurst to throw Smith in at the deep end in an unfamiliar position but I thought played very well. I did worry early doors that 2 debuts in our back 4 was going to be disastrous as Altrincham seemingly got past our defence and into the box with ease 3 times in the first 7 minutes.

As the first half wore on and we became a bit more patient, the signs were there that we would be victorious today. If it wasn't for a great save that their keeper knew nothing about we would have been 1-0 up at half-time but I think our start to the second half surprised Altrincham and what a goal by McAtee who just seemed to lurk outside the area and got himself into the right place to smash home the attempted clearance.

McAtee and Maguire-Drew both have a lot of class and McAtee closing down their keeper which forced an error created that perfectly placed second. I really like Maguire-Drew, whilst he prefers to use his left, he's pretty handy with his right.

Taylor put in a very good shift today but the 3 players behind him really got at Altrincham in the second half. It was great to see the shackles come off at 1-0 and us play with confidence again. How did McAtee get taken down by two players and still manage to get up, run with the ball and get a shot away?

Pitch invader; what a plonker and probably the worst one I've ever seen. Had his moment on the BP pitch and didn't know what to do.

I actually thought that McAtee looked a bit rusty for most of the game and was far from his best. If he can score goals like that, I'll allow him the odd off day! Hopefully he didn't hurt himself too much when he stretched and trod on the ball. He seemed a little laboured near the end before he went off. Have to say, JMD was pretty poor in the first half but improved a lot in the second and that was a great finish from him.

The two full-backs did really well considering they've been thrown in at the deep end and are probably still learning the names of their new teammates. Burgess didn't get much chance to show what he's about. Another nice cameo from Wright as well. Not sure if he might prove to be more useful coming off the bench after Sousa has tired out their defenders.

It certainly feels good to get a win under the belt.

Quoted from HerveJosse

Difficult to judge progress today against such a poor side.
One excellent and one brilliant goals took the pressure off

We were better last week against the league leaders but didn't get the goals we probably deserved.

Was a patchy performance today, which is understandable given their penchant for theatrics and the bizarre ref who seemed to be making it up as he went along.

3 points, 2 stunning goals and a clean sheet. A Saturday night not spoilt again. Let's just enjoy that and forget the last couple of months for a night at least

Quoted from Dave Gilberts Left Peg

Mcatee is the son of god

Amen to that Brother 🙏🏻

Playing against a side who had no intention of attacking and looked to disrupt continuously. They were very poor

We controlled the game and deserved 3 points.

Coke my MOM. Thought he was excellent today

Great to win again. The new lads fitted in very well and are attack minded. Unfair to say Sousa can’t cross the ball when he placed a perfect cross on Fox’s head for him to inexplicably put it over from 5yrds……Sousa I thought had a cracking game and kept them on the back foot on so many occasions. Mcatee sublime and everyone put in a great shift. Special mention for Pearson, so pleased he came back. Like the Halifax home game he again made some excellent forward runs, just brilliant. All in all a great afternoon and my drive back to Yorkshire will be a happy one. UTM!!

Quoted from jamesgtfc

Pitch invader; what a plonker and probably the worst one I've ever seen. Had his moment on the BP pitch and didn't know what to do.

Probably would’ve got a 3 year contract and game time last season

Great to get a win and a clean sheet but Altrincham were dreadful, possibly worse than Dover.

Very impressed with Andy Smith, excellent with the ball and an improvement on Sears. Amos very steady and more progressive than Crookes. Same issue as ever with Sousa, fantastic in possession but no end product. Is Max ready to start?

Giles Coke my MoTM for a very steady performance. Goals were amazing both scorers would run him close.

If Fox had buried his header Sousa would have had an assist. Can we not praise him for that or shall we just write him off and say he has no end product ffs? He’s getting better, can we try and encourage him ffs.

Lots of negativity aimed at those who don’t think it was the best performance but I have to agree really. First half we didn’t look like we had any real plan. Felt like the sort of game where it was just going to be something out of nothing to nick it and we did that twice.

New guys did well. Not much going down the right hand side of the pitch today but Smith isn’t a full back so unlikely he was going to be bombing on all game like Efete. He did well considering he was just covering and Amos did ok too.

Middle of midfield lacks something definitely. Coke was improved again today so the last two games where he’s completed the 90 mins I’ve been impressed which is a step in the right direction.

Both goals absolutely superb and worthy of winning any match.

Echo again what’s already been said. McAtee has played a lot better than he did today but he was still my MOTM.

Quoted from oochiad

If Fox had buried his header Sousa would have had an assist. Can we not praise him for that or shall we just write him off and say he has no end product ffs? He’s getting better, can we try and encourage him ffs.

Sousa is very frustrating at times but he definitely didn't run up blind alleys and look to do everything himself today. It will have been tough for both wingers today as they will have only met their defensive partners yesterday.

Surely after a bad run what matters is a win and 3 points.  Just enjoy that instead of moaning about the performance

Quoted from LondonMariner43

Surely after a bad run what matters is a win and 3 points.  Just enjoy that instead of moaning about the performance

Of course. But having just listened to PH interview, he clearly thought we could and should have been more clinical.

Quoted from MuddyWaters

Of course. But having just listened to PH interview, he clearly thought we could and should have been more clinical.

There were some very good chances today:

Taylor put through one on one but Thompson was straight out to get the ball from his feet.
Pearson header just before half time that forced a brilliant save followed by another header on target from the next corner.
Another header from a corner blocked on the line.
Fox heading over from 8 yards out.

And no meltdown, thank fk

Quoted from dicko995

And no meltdown, thank fk

How was the shopping trip?

Quoted from oochiad

Unfair to say Sousa can’t cross the ball when he placed a perfect cross on Fox’s head for him to inexplicably put it over from 5yrds……Sousa I thought had a cracking game and kept them on the back foot on so many occasions.

It wasn't perfect it was too high hence why Fox was under it and it went over,his end product was unfortunately the same this game as ever, zilch.

But I agree he had a good game, won the ball in the middle and dragged us up the pitch, always open to receiving the ball, they couldn't get it off him in the middle of the park. Definitely got them on the back foot but In the final third nothing really came off for him though, again.

As ginny said, the moment Wright came on the quality of crosses went up a noticeable notch.

Been, back and just had tea.

A dominant performance against a very poor Altrincham team. However, perhaps just what we needed.

I won’t repeat the opening post on this thread, as that nailed the feedback. However, we created opportunities and had the ball in dangerous areas at least 20 times and that final ball or the lack of threat from Taylor (who did play well, held the ball up superbly and did his job) was still missing. That’s why we have lost some games 1-0 when it’s been close imho.

3 points off play offs despite a poor run. Foundations are there if we can sign a quality forward into the squad at this level to support Taylor and Mcatee

I did see some confidence return today in the last 15 as well and that counts for a lot hopefully

Thought amos was good to say not played for ages , smith steady enough , we had to beat them thought they looked perhaps the worse team we seen , should have won by more but soon all our chances will go in & hope it's next week we owe bromley bigtime after there antics in away game

Quoted from wekeepdreaming

We played against a very poor team and we still looked average , wake up and smell the coffee we are a mid table team area best , don’t sugar coat a 2-0 win against a poor side as great win and we are back.

Apart from two absolutely great strikes we was average and below . I have seen better on a Sunday morning at Bradley

You know very well you havent, now stop telling fibs and finish your Din Dins

First half we were a bit edgy and rushed things, crowd were very quiet and you could feel the nerves.
Second half kicked off and we went after them, upped the tempo, passed better and it was only going 1 way.
Altrincham were poor, very poor tbh but we played some decent stuff and Coke n Fox bossed the midfield, in fact Coke was superb, even had a couple of decent forward runs carrying the ball..
Smith, Impressed me, Amos, really good and I may say a potential upgrade on Crookes but MOM has to go the Macatee, there's goals then there's that goal, wow, just wow ..
All in all, gets back to winning ways and let's hope we can kick on from here and it's not just a flash in the pan .. UTM ⚪⚫

First and foremost an important win and 3pts

A decent performance and deserved win against a team who are clearly in a bad run themselves. Altrincham rarely threatened us

Thought the 2 debutants did well.

And 2 fantastic goals worthy to grace any match.

But we still look someway off being a promotion team

Whilst we get into some good areas at times and promising situations we lack that clinical finishing required to win games regularly.

We aren't going to conjour up moments of individual magic like today every game

Quoted from barralad

Agree with all of that mate. Two very special goals.
Coke had his best game in a Town shirt by a very long way. So good were he and Fox together that we didn't miss Clifton.
Special mention to Shaun Pearson for his lung busting 70? yard run fairly late on. He and Waterfall make a very good pairing at centre back. Altrincham weren't a patch on the side that played us back in October.

Alty weren't any good in that game until we went a man down to be fair.

If anyone thinks there is anything wrong behind the scenes I think today should answer that question though we where a bit hit and miss and clunky the effort and application was good against a team with no real quality who just came to break up any momentum we tried to get.

We did try and pass the ball sometimes we did it well sometimes we could have done it much better. We made some snap decisions in the final 3rd when more composers was possibly required and though they weren’t a credible threat we defended well. All in all we looked like a team trying to find our way which after such a bad run I guess we where.

Two good debuts, two excellent strikes and 3 points in the bag. Bigger tests ahead but a good win to try and get us back on track.

Quoted from Perkins

You know very well you havent, now stop telling fibs and finish your Din Dins

Yes I have and I have played in better teams.

We are poor , accept it

Quoted from wekeepdreaming

Yes I have and I have played in better teams.

We are poor , accept it

On Bradley pitches?

Quoted from wekeepdreaming

Yes I have and I have played in better teams.

We are poor , accept it

Do tell all, can't wait. Yawn

We created 2 or 3 good chances in the first half but in reality it wasn't up to much

Great start in the second half with what could be goal of the season and after that I thought we showed some good stuff similar to how we played earlier on in the season.

If I had to pick a man of the match my vote would go to Amos, for someone who has hardly played a League game in his career and not played for weeks he looked assured and always looked to pass the ball and did so really well.

An okay performance against dire opposition, made all the better by two moments of magic.

I can’t really add much more to Ginny’s excellent summary, other than to say that perversely there’s a part of me that wishes those two stunning goals were 5 yard tap-ins.

We won’t score goals like that every game, and if I can be critical of anything today in what I thought was a really good performance on the whole, it’s that we don’t seem to be getting away many shots from inside the box and haven’t for some time now.

Altrincham surprised me, not just in terms of how poor they were, but how they came with the sole intention of being frustrating, cynical and nothing else. Having seen how well they knocked the ball about at their place, I was hoping for a good game of football today but they didn’t deliver on their side of the bargain today. I thought they were better than the account they gave of themselves today.

New lads both did really well I thought, especially in terms of distribution. For once I thought we were excellent in midfield and both Fox and Coke were superb - Coke giving a performance I had honestly wondered if he still had in him.

All in all, a decent day at the office under the circumstances.

Quoted from wekeepdreaming

We played against a very poor team and we still looked average , wake up and smell the coffee we are a mid table team area best , don’t sugar coat a 2-0 win against a poor side as great win and we are back.

Apart from two absolutely great strikes we was average and below . I have seen better on a Sunday morning at Bradley

No u haven't

I wondered if their cynical, time wasting, ‘professionalism’ was brought on by their lack of realising how poor we’ve been? When we played them their manager was full of compliments for us, and understandably so at the time. Perhaps he believed that the run we are on, a woeful run, still wasn’t worth the risk of trying to knock it about against us.

Quoted from ancientmariner54

No u haven't

Yes I have , and they was under 8’s

Quoted from arryarryarry

We created 2 or 3 good chances in the first half but in reality it wasn't up to much

Great start in the second half with what could be goal of the season and after that I thought we showed some good stuff similar to how we played earlier on in the season.

If I had to pick a man of the match my vote would go to Amos, for someone who has hardly played a League game in his career and not played for weeks he looked assured and always looked to pass the ball and did so really well.

It was a great start to the 2nd half and it looked like the players where enjoying themselves again!

Quoted from wekeepdreaming

Yes I have , and they was under 8’s

You must be 9 then as you clearly aren’t old enough to have had any English lessons

Quoted from wekeepdreaming

Yes I have , and they was under 8’s

That explains a lot. Behave at school tomorrow and listen carefully when the teacher is explaining basic grammar and punctuation.

Quoted from wekeepdreaming

We played against a very poor team and we still looked average , wake up and smell the coffee we are a mid table team area best , don’t sugar coat a 2-0 win against a poor side as great win and we are back.

Apart from two absolutely great strikes we was average and below . I have seen better on a Sunday morning at Bradley

what an absolute whopper,you my friend are a shoe in for twit off the week,and probably for a few weeks after that,unbelievable

Here's the match report from the BBC. Have I missed something about the stadium naming rights? Seems we moved to the Cleethorpes Stadium or maybe the reporter is doubling up and working for both the telegraph and BBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59918968

Quoted from buckstown

Here's the match report from the BBC. Have I missed something about the stadium naming rights? Seems we moved to the Cleethorpes Stadium or maybe the reporter is doubling up and working for both the telegraph and BBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59918968

Interesting system we played, too. Although I think at times Pearson bombing about in midfield was about right.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/Mg1yYFT/ABB34233-1564-49-F2-86-AD-52-FA050-A9428.jpg[/img]

Quoted from Poojah

Interesting system we played, too. Although I think at times Pearson bombing about in midfield was about right.

[img]https://i.ibb.co/Mg1yYFT/ABB34233-1564-49-F2-86-AD-52-FA050-A9428.jpg[/img]

I always look forward to seeing the formations/players thrown together by BBC Football.

I think yesterday proved something we all knew, McAtee is the difference between this side being a mid table side or a play-off one. We’ve had some good players in Non League, Podge, Bogle, Disley, Townsend, Nolan all stand out but McAtee for me could well eclipse the lot in terms of overall impact on our game.

If only we could have 1 or 2 of those listed to compliment him..

Decent preformance with great goals against a very poor Altrincham team. Still a bit worried about the creativity but new fullbacks were decent although untested defensively after the first 10 minutes.
Fox worked hard and most of the team was 7/10 which is a massive improvement. Even Coke looked a lot better today. We still urgently need more firepower on the bench and pace up front.
We are very predictable but I guess very low on confidence.
We only really had Wright to bring on yesterday as a game changer. He was excellent but we need more options. Sousa still lacks end product and too often takes too many touches for me. he has potential for sure.
Bromley is a key game as with the exception of the early win against Wrexham and draw at Stockport we have had poor results against the top teams. This for me will be the test of whether we are on the move. Nevertheless a brilliant win and MacAtee was the catalyst yet again. utm

Hope their goalkeeper is alright after suffering multiple serious concussions during the game, all remarkably occurring when he was caught in no-mans land with his goal exposed.  The remarkableness of it all only out done by his powers of recovery, defying the laws of modern medicine and the human body.

Agree both on the influence of McAtee but also that he didn't seem quite in the swing of things too, certainly not to the levels that we perhaps expected from the first few months of the season.  The incident in the second half where he somehow managed to tackle two of their players whilst on the floor and subsequently fired a shot off the mark seemed to buoy him a little and he regained his swagger and high energy.

Maguire-Drew reminds me so much of Alex Rodman.  Not quick yet very adapt at carrying the ball long distances, loves a drop of the shoulder, has that nice habit of dangling the ball just far in front of his stride to draw the defender in before nicking it away yet also seems to hang onto the ball just too long on occasions.  I thought when Wright came on it was Maguire-Drew who should have been subbed, yet that just proves what I know.  Between those two and Sousa there's a hell of a lot of attacking intent on the flanks if we can get them firing/keep them fit.  

The problem for me still remains that it's a lack of a driving force from central midfield.  McAtee is practically moulded for that free role, starting off behind the striker, but he doesn't and shouldn't stay there.  He goes wide, he comes deep, he goes beyond Taylor at times....but it leaves a huge gaping hole between Taylor and everyone else.  None of the wingers are ones who will naturally drift inside and our midfield doesn't have that player who will push another ten yards on and pick the scraps up or play off Taylor.  Coke just won't do that, not at this stage of his career.  There were times on Saturday that were crying out for Fox to surge on a little more.  In the last two home games he's done it on two occasions, both of which I think he should have scored from headers (although not seen the replay from Saturday yet).  Had either, or both, of those gone in I think it could have given him the confidence to do it more.  If he isn't the one to push forward then we have to hope Clifton gets his chance centrally and takes it.  That said, I thought Burgess looked like he had attacking intent when he came on and certainly took up a more attack minded position.

The important thing is the win.  Then a clean sheet.  Both successfully gained and we have to hope it's given a solid foundation for a big run for the rest of the campaign.  We'll certainly face tougher and better opposition but as many have said before, you can only beat what's in front of you.

Hurst said Sousa felt his hamstring and that is why he went off. He also said that JMD got his second wind, which perhaps suggests it was him they were initially looking to replace.

Ah, must admit I've not heard Hurst's post game interview so that makes sense.

I guess if Sousa felt his hamstring he could be out for a week or so, hopefully not.  Could be Wright's chance to impress from the start.

In all truth we've not seen anywhere near enough from Wright during his current contract, with it expiring in the summer he really needs a consistent run of starts where he delivers to be in a chance of getting a new one in my eyes.  

Quoted from diehardmariner

Ah, must admit I've not heard Hurst's post game interview so that makes sense.

I guess if Sousa felt his hamstring he could be out for a week or so, hopefully not.  Could be Wright's chance to impress from the start.

In all truth we've not seen anywhere near enough from Wright during his current contract, with it expiring in the summer he really needs a consistent run of starts where he delivers to be in a chance of getting a new one in my eyes.  

If Wright gets his chance then I hope he takes it and is a success. Sousa can be an exciting player to watch but also very frustrating. For all his trickery Sousa never seemed to create anything but Wright put in 2 excellent crosses within minutes of coming on.