Lamps energy lights up the fans DAVIDMADDOCK

IT may not yet be spring but something is stirring down Goodison way.

They are the first green shoots of hope, an undeniable fresh sense of optimism breaking through the dead ground of a miserable midwinter... and the lifeless wasteland this stadium had become under Rafa Benitez.

That hope was visibly noticeable even before kick-off, the faces outside the famous old ground illuminated once more with genuine smiles and laughter that lit up the mizzle of another murky Mersey match day.

If that sounds fanciful, then the sense of a new beginning around the place was given a full-throated voice precisely 63 minutes into this fascinating FA Cup contest.

The songs that suddenly sprang around Goodison suggested there was something to believe in once more, after the soul-crushing relationship with a soulless brand of football from the previous coach they were never going to accept.

An old favourite was wheeled out, voiced with real belief for the first time this season…”And it’s Ever-ton, Ever-ton FC”, they sang, finally believing in the words of the song.

Then a new one. “We’re on the march with Frankie’s Army…” That hope again, a