IT’S THE FORM OF CHAMPIONS
MACCLESFIELD TOWN are reminding me of Lincoln City. Last season, the Imps made a habit of scoring late goals. Forest Green were going to go 12 points clear before Luke Waterfall and Sean Raggett scored to win the game. Over Easter weekend they beat Torquay with a dramatic winner and did the same at Gateshead a few days later. Even in the FA Cup they scored in the final minute against Burnley. When you’re playing with confidence and you’re top of the league it’s amazing what happens. Macc did exactly that against Woking on Friday when Danny Whitehead struck to steal the points in the 94th minute. On Tuesday night, Nathan Blissett scored a winner in stoppage-time to beat Gateshead. It’s no fluke it keeps happening.
Spirit
What could have been two points from two games, turned into six. Here’s the thing that stood out – they don’t panic. That’s massive. John Askey has a philosophy to pass the ball and, as I’ve said before, if they do win the title then they will probably be the first in a long time to do it playing, primarily, on the deck – even though since Blissett has come in they do go slightly more direct. They weren’t great against Woking and they fell behind. But they kept calm and eventually got going. They just haven’t had a blip, like most people would think they’d have. Any team winning games in the last minutes believe they will always get the chance. Winning becomes a habit. Although Danny Whitehead’s winning goal was quite comical. Tyrone Marsh thought he’d scored only for the ball to hold up in the mud. The Woking defender had his hands on his head and turned away thinking it’s in. But it stopped before the line and Whitehead was on the scene to put in. At the time, I thought someone might get back to clear off the line. I didn’t expect the ball to stop dead though. My main thought was Woking keeper Nathan Baxter sliding back to grab the ball and his momentum taking him over the line. I can’t explain it, but when teams have momentum behind them they get the rub of the green. Then they’d have come off the pitch and seen that Sutton’s game had been abandoned while they were winning. The players would be thinking, ‘What a day we’ve had’. I’ve said before that I don’t think Askey gets the credit he deserves. All managers talk about budgets but it’s fair to say theirs is tight – definitely not as good as some clubs pushing for promotion.
Momentum
He only had three contracted players at the start of the summer and it’s how quickly he gets the players playing how he wants. Good Friday was a prime example of how they’re not stuttering. They just keep winning. Things haven’t been easy off the field with late wages and a transfer embargo. While you have concern they could pick up injuries, you often find those with smaller squads are more together. I’ve been in big squads where cliques happen. When you’ve been dropped it’s almost human instinct to want the manager to be wrong, the team to lose or the player who has replaced you to have a bad game. It puts you in a better spot to knock on the manager’s door on Monday morning. But in a smaller squad you know you’re going to get an opportunity and you feel like you can make a difference. I’ve been really impressed. They lost heavily against Fylde and haven’t been defeated since. They beat rivals Aldershot one weekend, kept their foot to the floor, and beat Tranmere in their next game. They’ve got real momentum at the minute. Late goals win you league titles. You have to say. It’s theirs to lose right now.