JUST like one swallow doesn’t make a summer, one good performance doesn’t signal a turn in form, but the signs at Chorley’s wonderfully-named Victory Park were good. Let’s not pull any punches here, it was one of the best performances put in since we beat Harrogate Town and more importantly, it was a significant improvement on the defeat to Curzon Ashton seven days earlier.

The point was a good one, but more importantly we looked solid defensively. Chorley caused us problems, particularly the high balls in to a sizable attack, but we coped with it. In previous weeks and months, we might have succumbed but we didn’t and that is good progress.

Utilising a 4-3-3 formation to greater effect than in previous attempts, not only did we look more solid through the middle but I also thought our attacking movement posed a lot more problems than it has in recent times. If we had been a bit sharper in front of goal, we could have easily won the game and I don’t think anyone, bar maybe Matt Jansen, could have complained if we’d had brought the points home with us.

There were quite a few shout outs for decent performances. Firstly, I rather like new goalkeeper Ed Wilczynski. He’s been solid so far and what I really like is he doesn’t take risks. With a little less physical stature than Peter Jameson, it’s noticeable he has a preference to punch rather than trying to catch when challenged. I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea but if he can continue to punch clear in the way he did on Saturday, he will take some pressure off his defensive colleagues.

Another shout goes to the two full backs. David Ferguson looked at home at left back but, for me, the real star of the show was Josh Falkingham at right back. Chorley’s left winger Jake Cottrell was well built in all dimensions, quite possibly with foundations; even the Chorley fans were asking Falkingham if he wanted ladders! Yet, despite the considerable variation in size, Falkingham dealt with him admirably.

Meanwhile, going forward, I thought the front three of Mark Beck, Stephen Thompson and Nathan Cartman worked really well together. When we’ve utilised 4-3-3 previously, we’ve not looked too convincing going forward. On Saturday, that wasn’t an issue. While Thompson and Cartman seemed to get all over the place, the important thing for me was they managed to get close enough to Beck to provide good support, ably assisted by Dave Syers breaking from midfield.

It appeared there had been a lot of hard work during the week on our shape and it was great to see it pay off. Having felt quite despondent after the Curzon Ashton game, I’m feeling a bit more positive now (oh the joys of being a football fan!). If we can take the performance at Chorley and apply that in the coming months, who knows where it could take us?

While most will appreciate that we’ve had a tough run of games over the last three months, the fixture computer has provided us with a reasonable run of fixtures between now and the end of the season, starting with Altrincham at Blackwell Meadows on Saturday. We put in a nervous performance on the opening day of the season although I don’t think anyone will have thought that Alty would be rock bottom when we played them again. Hopefully, Saturday’s game will be a lot more straightforward than August’s and the three points will be ours.