AC Mack
Striker
Player ratings:
McLaughlin - solid as always and made a couple of important saves. He's vital to our hopes of doing well, you feel. He takes the pressure off with crosses, distribution is reasonably good and as I say can be relied upon to make a few saves when needed. 7.5.
O'Nien - continues to do a job out of position and was solid enough again in the main tonight. 6.5.
Ozturk - he keeps cementing his position as first choice centre back with Willis. He easily seems good enough for League One, winning his battles, playing it simple at times but knowing when to be a no nonsense centre back. 7.
Willis - won his battles like on Saturday, but unlike the weekend he was much more assured on the ball. He's particularly impressive in the air as he has a very good leap. 7.
McLaughlin - I hope left back doesn't become an issue but it's our weak link at the back at the moment. McLaughlin is clearly uncomfortable playing there, being reluctant to use his left foot. He had a steady game but we get put under pressure in that area of the pitch due in large parts to his distribution and general awkwardness. 6.
Leadbitter - quieter than Saturday I thought but solid enough defensively and got us moving forward a little bit. They played some good football and played around our midfield at times. 6.5.
Power - he's a good combination with Leadbitter in the sense that he gets further up the pitch and can defend that area better. When McGeouch replaced him there was more space in the centre of midfield to attack because both our midfielders were holding. Power didn't have too much influence tonight but was steady. 6.5.
Maguire - I'm probably going to say the same thing about Maguire every time he plays. He gets really involved which is a big positive, but he does so many strange things, especially the several touches thing. He showed some good close control at times and was always there is an out ball. 6.5.
McGeady - the difference on the pitch again in terms of outfield players due to his superior quality. They constantly had to double up on him as they were scared of him, and like Maguire he provided an out ball and could be relied upon to keep it in the main. Took his goal well. 7.
Gooch - couldn't trap a bag of cement tonight I'm afraid and was rightly hooked. Possibly his first overall poor performance of the season. 5.5.
Wyke - led the line well and as I hoped/expected he would Las season. Put himself about, won plenty in the air, showed good feet at times and the all important goal. Keep this up and he'll be a regular. 7.
Subs:
Grigg - a hell of an improvement from Saturday. Worked hard, linked up well with others at times and went close to scoring. He can even have a rating tonight. 6.5.
McGeouch - as I said earlier, bringing him on opened the midfield up a bit too much; I'm not sure he and Leadbitter are the best pairing. Having said that, McGeouch is a good player to bring when defending a lead. He didn't do anything of note with the ball.
Embleton - had no time, played a good cross field pass.
Bit of a strange one for me tonight as I was on my own, although I met a friend in the ground. A quick pint in The Cemetery as last season, and I tried the Wainwright as the Landlord was off. Easy place to get to and away from.
Ross - well done for keeping changes to a minimum. Three wins in a row is a good turnaround, however we didn't play particularly well again tonight. It was a 'get the job done and move on' kind of performance. I'd like to see a bit more fluidity in our play, but that's for another time if and when we stop winning. Certainly the formation makes a lot more sense compared to what we were trying to do at the start of the season, and most of the players know their roles well.
Crowd - good atmosphere and good turnout. Some of our fans are a bit smelly unfortunately.
Referee - good in the main except for a small spell in the second half where he lost it a little bit. They had a few half hearted penalty shouts but they never looked like being given. The female linesman came away from our end pretty unscathed too.
Rochdale - the best footballing side I've seen this season, comfortably. The long haired wide man (Rathbone?) and the number 8 in the centre stood out, as did goalscorer Camps a bit. But to be fair they all knocked it around well, including the right back who I think was only young. They created chances too, it wasn't just possession for possession's sake, they had some intent. They didn't do as much second half and ended up creating chances with headers from crosses, and there was one time their possession became overkill a bit as they were passing it between defenders and goalkeeper in the final minute of injury time. However, if they play like that each week they'll win plenty of games and get some plaudits. I hope they do well and don't change their style.
McLaughlin - solid as always and made a couple of important saves. He's vital to our hopes of doing well, you feel. He takes the pressure off with crosses, distribution is reasonably good and as I say can be relied upon to make a few saves when needed. 7.5.
O'Nien - continues to do a job out of position and was solid enough again in the main tonight. 6.5.
Ozturk - he keeps cementing his position as first choice centre back with Willis. He easily seems good enough for League One, winning his battles, playing it simple at times but knowing when to be a no nonsense centre back. 7.
Willis - won his battles like on Saturday, but unlike the weekend he was much more assured on the ball. He's particularly impressive in the air as he has a very good leap. 7.
McLaughlin - I hope left back doesn't become an issue but it's our weak link at the back at the moment. McLaughlin is clearly uncomfortable playing there, being reluctant to use his left foot. He had a steady game but we get put under pressure in that area of the pitch due in large parts to his distribution and general awkwardness. 6.
Leadbitter - quieter than Saturday I thought but solid enough defensively and got us moving forward a little bit. They played some good football and played around our midfield at times. 6.5.
Power - he's a good combination with Leadbitter in the sense that he gets further up the pitch and can defend that area better. When McGeouch replaced him there was more space in the centre of midfield to attack because both our midfielders were holding. Power didn't have too much influence tonight but was steady. 6.5.
Maguire - I'm probably going to say the same thing about Maguire every time he plays. He gets really involved which is a big positive, but he does so many strange things, especially the several touches thing. He showed some good close control at times and was always there is an out ball. 6.5.
McGeady - the difference on the pitch again in terms of outfield players due to his superior quality. They constantly had to double up on him as they were scared of him, and like Maguire he provided an out ball and could be relied upon to keep it in the main. Took his goal well. 7.
Gooch - couldn't trap a bag of cement tonight I'm afraid and was rightly hooked. Possibly his first overall poor performance of the season. 5.5.
Wyke - led the line well and as I hoped/expected he would Las season. Put himself about, won plenty in the air, showed good feet at times and the all important goal. Keep this up and he'll be a regular. 7.
Subs:
Grigg - a hell of an improvement from Saturday. Worked hard, linked up well with others at times and went close to scoring. He can even have a rating tonight. 6.5.
McGeouch - as I said earlier, bringing him on opened the midfield up a bit too much; I'm not sure he and Leadbitter are the best pairing. Having said that, McGeouch is a good player to bring when defending a lead. He didn't do anything of note with the ball.
Embleton - had no time, played a good cross field pass.
Bit of a strange one for me tonight as I was on my own, although I met a friend in the ground. A quick pint in The Cemetery as last season, and I tried the Wainwright as the Landlord was off. Easy place to get to and away from.
Ross - well done for keeping changes to a minimum. Three wins in a row is a good turnaround, however we didn't play particularly well again tonight. It was a 'get the job done and move on' kind of performance. I'd like to see a bit more fluidity in our play, but that's for another time if and when we stop winning. Certainly the formation makes a lot more sense compared to what we were trying to do at the start of the season, and most of the players know their roles well.
Crowd - good atmosphere and good turnout. Some of our fans are a bit smelly unfortunately.
Referee - good in the main except for a small spell in the second half where he lost it a little bit. They had a few half hearted penalty shouts but they never looked like being given. The female linesman came away from our end pretty unscathed too.
Rochdale - the best footballing side I've seen this season, comfortably. The long haired wide man (Rathbone?) and the number 8 in the centre stood out, as did goalscorer Camps a bit. But to be fair they all knocked it around well, including the right back who I think was only young. They created chances too, it wasn't just possession for possession's sake, they had some intent. They didn't do as much second half and ended up creating chances with headers from crosses, and there was one time their possession became overkill a bit as they were passing it between defenders and goalkeeper in the final minute of injury time. However, if they play like that each week they'll win plenty of games and get some plaudits. I hope they do well and don't change their style.
