Manager John Rooney was “disappointed” with his Silkmen side’s performance as they were held to a 1-1 draw against 10-man Anstey Nomads in the Emirates FA Cup Fourth-Qualifying Round at the Leasing.com Stadium on Saturday.
Danny Elliott’s late header saw the Silkmen earn a replay on Tuesday night after Corey Grantham’s first-half strike sent the Nomads ahead, who had manager Conrad Logan and substitute Ruben Gill sent off. The winners of the replay will advance to the first-round proper.
Following full-time, Rooney reflected on the result in an honest assessment.
Rooney told Silkmen TV: “I’m pleased with the draw in the end. Our performance was nowhere near the levels we have been seeing in recent weeks. We started the game okay, we got a penalty, we know Dany missed it, but after that we looked all over the place at times.
“We told the lads before the game how they were going to play and how to nullify their threat, and we just didn’t do it. We knew they were going to go direct to the striker and get runners off him, and we didn’t deal with it.
“Going the other way, we didn’t create enough chances to do what we usually do, but we know that the FA Cup is about, they came here and showed that they wanted it more than us, and up until the last 10 minutes they deserved to win the game. As I said to the lads in there, they knew we weren’t happy with the performance, but they found the way to go and get the equaliser late on.
“I know it’s not ideal, a replay again, but it’s football, it’s the FA Cup. The main thing is we got back into the game, Danny scored a header and we’ve got a chance to put it right on Tuesday, that’s the pleasing thing about football, there’s always a chance to put it right. Fortunately for us, we went and got the equaliser so we can hopefully put ourselves in the hat come Tuesday.
“I thought Adan (George) did well when he came on, we knew we needed a goal so we changed shape and got two strikers up there which worked as Adan set Danny up so it paid off in the end, but overall, we didn’t create enough chances, it was a frustrating day but I’m pleased with the goal late onto take us to a replay on Tuesday.
“We’ve got a tight-knit group who want to put it right. The lads have always shown me they will run through a brick wall, and I think I saw that late on, we huffed and puffed after Danny’s goal, we didn’t really have any clear cut chances but we got into their final third a bit more, but the lads know that’s not their level.”
Attention now turns to a replay in Leicestershire on Tuesday, as the Silkmen aim to reach the first-round proper.
Rooney added: “We haven’t lost the game. We’ve lost one game in 16 games so we can’t get too downbeat on it. We’ll still be in the hat on Monday, but we need to make sure we are still in the hat properly on Tuesday evening.
“Fingers crossed we can go there on Tuesday and get a positive result.”
