Source: FOOTYMAD
Sturrock: 'It turned into an exceptional performance'; Simpson: '
Both Southend United's Paul Sturrock and Macclesfield Town's Gary Simpson had their say after a sensational Shrimpers first half performance at Roots Hall Tuesday evening ended in a 4-1 win. Sturrock: ' think tonight lady luck has shone on us' His side made sure that the Scottish born Blues boss Paul Sturrock celebrated Burns Night in style with four first half goals enough to hand Southend a 4-1 win over the hapless Macclesfield, and the faithful, and it really was the true Blue's with a 3,500 gate, seeing victory at Roots Hall for the first time since Saturday, October 30th!And his gamble to keep central defender Bilel Mohsni up front in place of less than fully fit top scorer Barry Corr was rewarded with a brace of goals that allows his side to visit Barnet at the weekend where another three points will see them on the edge of the paly-offs.However, he wasn't a totally happy Luggy. Sturrock told BBC Radio Essex: "I think there have been a lot of games that we could have won and should have won but made some dramatic mistakes that's cost us dear. I think tonight lady luck has shone on us with a couple of goals that we don't normally score. But, at the end of the day, it turned into an exceptional performance." S24 report on the game, with player markings, here:www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/shrimpers_strike_four_before_break_as_bilel_brace_bashes_silkmen_624997/index.shtml try { FB.Event.subscribe('xfbml.render', function() { var fbTags = $('.facebookLike'); for(var i=0; iretweet-->Simpson: Meanwhile, Silkmen manager Gary Simpson had to reflect on a bit of a hammering, only three days after an emotional afternoon at Moss Rose where his side played their first game since the tragic death of midfielder Richard Butcher. Simpson told www.mtfc.co.uk: "It was very similar to the Gillingham game really. (Lost 4-2). We started out well, but lost concentration at key times and they managed to put four balls into our box and score four goals. Three of them were down to bad individual errors and the fourth, well perhaps it was a bit unlucky because it took a few deflections and ended up in the back of the net. But we were well behind by then and the mistakes cost us."A slightly one-eyed view possibily, but managers tend to say similar things when they lose and the Town boss went on to accept his side could have been stronger defensively.He continued: "We had got back into it a bit, and we'd made their 'keeper work a couple of times, and won a few corners, but we were committed forward and they hit a long ball out and we were caught on the break. We didn't deal with that and they ran through us. But altough that knocked the stuffing out of us, we shouldn't have conceded two more so soon after."But even the most true Blue of the faithful would accept that recent events at the Cheshire club must have affected player's minds in some form.Simpson explained: "We spoke before the game that the second match would be harder than the first and there was a lot of flatness out there. We made too many mistakes, misjudging the flight of balls or jumping too early and being caught out. We had half a dozen players out there who simply weren't up to standard and you can't get away with that at any level of football."After apologising to the twenty-odd supporters who made the long trip down, the Macclesfield manager asked everyone at the club to "pull together then we will be able to get through this and achieve the results."
