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Tide is turning

Mike Glendinning
13/ 2/2008

THE ROTTEN luck that has dogged Macclesfield Town in recent weeks may finally be turning.

That’s the view of manager Ian Brightwell, who was understandably elated after watching his side hold out for three points that never looked on the cards at Morecambe.

Dozens of chances were spurned in the recent home defeats to Lincoln City and Sammy McIlroy’s Shrimps.

But the manner of Saturday’s victory, courtesy of Franny Green’s late winner, suggests that luck may finally be on the Silkmen’s side.

"It was a bit frantic at times," admitted Brightwell.

"Sometimes you’ve just got to win ugly. We came away with the three points and that’s the main thing. We’ve been bright and upbeat after that win.

"We needed to defend for our lives at the end and we did so and I was delighted because we’ve deserved much more over the last three games."

While Macc’s performance, in which they created a mere fraction of the number of chances wasted in recent weeks, wasn’t a vintage outing, the three points were more than welcome as Macc had slipped to an uncomfortable place in the bottom six.

"Against Lincoln we had 25 attempts on goal and we were guilty of missing far too many," added Brightwell.

"We’ve just got to get the ball in the net.We rode our luck on Saturday, they bombed everything at us in the last five minutes but we held on and got the three points.

"Now we’ve got to go on from here. We’ve played well enough recently, and should have scored more, but not got the result.

"It is frustrating that it’s happened a lot over the course of this season, especially in home games.

"I know they can do better. We’re in our current position because of the points we’ve got and we know we should have a lot more points than we have."

"It’s nice to get the tide turning. We’ve performed well enough and things should hopefully turn around for us now."

While many doubted the quality and abilities of the side Brightwell has shaped, the mood in the camp never faltered.

Brightwell and assistant Asa Hartford maintained their ethic, although Saturday’s win was more about toiling away than pretty passing moves.

"We’ve played some teams, certainly during December, that we’ve outplayed without getting the luck. I’ve tried instilling in the players’ heads that we’re doing the right things and if we keep doing them we will get results."

Although Macc have just two matches remaining against teams currently in the top eight, he added: "Everyone is there to be beaten, we go into each game looking to impose ourselves on them. It’s important to make it about us and what we do."