Did we see the finished product last Saturday? The transfer window has closed, and although Paul Mullin was absent, there were promising signs that the January arrivals might bring the consistency we’ve been striving for this season.

A 3-0 win over a side which is on an unbeaten 15-game run, and just won away to the side in second place in the Championship, is obviously significant, yet in some ways, it was less memorable than a few of our closer-run home games. Oddly enough, I think that’s a good thing.

Quite often games at The Racecourse have featured periods of play where we’ve hit the heights and looked like we which could sweep opposition away; unfortunately, we’ve not been able to sustain that quality for ninety minutes, leading to some edgy wins and disappointing dropped points.

That erratic nature is borne out by the statistics of the season so far. Somehow we’ve contrived to be both the highest away scorers and the second lowest home scorers in the division! The obvious explanation – that we have more space to hit teams on the break away from home – doesn’t really explain this discrepancy because teams haven’t tended to park the bus when they come to The Racecourse.

The first goal tends to come easily for us – in 30 games only three opponents have kept clean sheets against us, yet we’ve only gone on to score a second 15 times. Put simply, we’ve scored in 90% of our games, but only got a second in 50%.

Although Dean Keates’ side was criticised for a perceived lack of goal threat last season, they went on to add another in 71% of the games in which they scored. This season, that percentage is 44%.

Saturday felt different though: we achieved a consistent, low-key excellence, and defeated an in-form side with ease. After about 15 minutes there was an air of inevitability about the way we wrested the initiative away from them, imposed our own style on the game rather than react to theirs, and took control. We scored first, and pushed on for the second. At 2-0, a score which usually makes me break out in a nervous sweat, I felt relaxed. It was in the bag. 

When did I last feel that air of tranquillity in a home game at The Racecourse? I’m tempted to be facetious and say 1978! Realistically, though, the 2-0 win against 10-men Bromley was probably the only time this season.

Ever since we dropped into the National League, we’ve been theorising on the best type of player to bring in to help us return to the Football League. 

Some say we ought to bring in hardened non-league players who know their way around the division and can grind out a result on a soggy Tuesday in Braintree. Others suggest quality is the key, and the more good players you can mould into a team the better. 

I fall into the latter camp, and I saw early signs of that approach coming to fruition for Phil Parkinson on Saturday in the way we were getting the little things right. That extra level of quality, that perfect weight on the pass, the spotting of a clever run, were present. 

Doing the little things right has a positive cumulative effect; as Dean Saunders complained at the end of his first season as manager, getting each successive pass slightly wrong has a negative cumulative effect. By incrementally improving the quality of the squad, we’ll hopefully enjoy massive rewards.