John Rooney reviews Saturday’s statement victory over Enterprise National League North leaders South Shields at the Leasing.com Stadium.
Speaking to Silkmen TV after the game, Rooney immediately paid tribute to the way in which three points was secured insisting “I couldn’t be any prouder of how the lads dug in”
In regards to the tough opposition faced, the Manager was quick to add “South Shields are a top side, it’s clear to see why they’re twelve unbeaten”, equally confessing “at times they were hard to deal with” but once again praise his astute defence recalling “I don’t think they really had a clear cut chance”
Eluding to the unfamiliarity of not dominating possession for the majority of the afternoon, Roons referenced “There’s games where we’ve dominated the ball for large parts, been the better team by miles and either come out with a point or nothing”, Saturday was in fact the opposite, owing to “the way we’ve worked for each other today”
The gaffer gave a mention to the effectiveness of his substitutes, notably Luke Duffy for his improvisational defensive duties towards the end recognising “the part they played, taking information on board and carrying on the job. You look at Duffs at the end, your winger heading balls away in your box” summarising it as “a real team performance”.
Rooney greets one of several effective substitutes Brandon Lee at full time.
Comparing the back-to-back wins against Leamington and South Shields, John described them as “two very different games, it was very one sided on Tuesday night but today we stood up to pressure really well” Once again praising the back four for it’s solidity, labelling them as “outstanding, all of them to a man”
Rooney also highlighted the camaraderie and togetherness in the dressing room after three wins on the spin, sharing “everyone is buzzing in the changing rooms, even the lads who haven’t come on, it was another big win for us”
On breaking the Mariners unbeaten run, the Manager also paid tribute to the quality of the opposition, reminding everyone “they were sixteen unbeaten before now, so it’s a massive win, it’s something that twelve other teams in our league haven’t managed”
Equally, paying attention to how the Silkmen are beginning to put together a run of our own “I think we’re starting to click aswell, we’re in really good form. “I think you can feel something around the place, but we’ve got to carry on that momentum in to our next few games. They’re doing really well at the minute, we’ve dominated most games we’ve been in bar today so to come away with three points is brilliant”
Acknowledging the importance of our ability to adapt adding “you’ve seen a different side to us today, we’re not a soft touch, we’ve got a bit about us and you need that in this league”.
As a nod to the tough nature of all of our opponents, Roons realises “it’s a relentless league, its tough, we’re going to go to places where they’re going to put it on us and I couldn’t be happier with how we’ve dealt with that today”
Looking ahead to a historic Emirates FA Cup First Round Proper tie against AFC Totton at the Leasing.com Stadium on Saturday, it was clear to see what the aim was as he concluded “it’ll be a great day, its one we’re all looking forward to”. With attention only paid to one game at a time he assured supporters that “we’re looking at Totton, what they’re about, seeing how we can hurt them and where they might try to hurt us too”.
An emotionally charged mention and thank you was given to the Silkmen faithful as he finished by saying “they were outstanding, doing their best to get us over the line, they’re our twelfth man, I couldn’t ask much more of them. I know what they’re about from when I was younger, I know what they’re going to give us all the time but today especially they were outstanding”
