Montano hits the ground running

Photo: Alan Howarth

FOCUSED . . . Cristiano Montano looks to bring the ball under control with a Macclesfield player behind him.

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ATHLETIC 4 MACCLESFIELD 1
CRISTIAN Montano boosted his chances of featuring in Athletic’s starting line-up come the start of the season by scoring two strong goals against Macclesfield.

The flying winger benefited from a pair of perfectly-timed through balls — the first from equally-impressive Jonson Clarke-Harris, the second from substitute Jose Baxter — in the second half.

Those goals were in addition to an Adam Rooney penalty, which cancelled out an earlier Scott Boden opener for the Conference Premier side, and a late Baxter free-kick which cannoned off crossbar and Silkmen goalkeeper Rhys Taylor before hitting the net.

Though Athletic were not always pretty in the ‘virtual pink’ away kit, at the very least the wealth of attacking talent on show will have maintained manager Lee Johnson’s selection headache.

The boss recently alluded to a few players surprising him with the quality of their efforts on the training field. It isn’t too much of a stretch to imagine Montano falling into that ‘unexpected’ bracket, given that he only started three times under Johnson’s charge last term.

“Last season was a write-off for me,” admitted Montano, who netted twice in the whole of 2012-13 after signing right on the eve of the campaign following overseas trials. “I didn’t have a pre-season as I was all over the place, travelling here and there. I came here unfit. Once I started finding my feet again I got injured. To pick myself up was hard work, mentally.

“I’m injury-free now and I’m working hard at the training ground. Hopefully I can earn my place in the team, because there is a lot of competition.”

Rooney has yet to rectify his contract dispute with Swindon but it is hoped he will become an Athletic player before the first Sky Bet League One fixture at Stevenage.

His partnership with the physically-imposing teenager Clarke-Harris up front in the first half caused problems for the Macclesfield defence.

Clarke-Harris was the more eye-catching of the two, bumping off defenders and earning the penalty by drawing a foul off ’keeper Taylor.

That equalised Boden’s opener before half-time, a neat strike which was slightly deflected beyond the reach of Mark Oxley.

The introduction of Sidney Schmeltz and Anton Rodgers at the break lifted Athletic, and an excellent pass from Clarke-Harris set Montano in for the goal which gave his side the lead. The winger hit the ball across goal with his left foot and it went in off the far post after a touch from an outstretched Taylor.

The same man netted again, this time with his right foot, after Baxter had set him in inside the full-back with his first touch after emerging on to the field as a substitute.

And Athletic’s top scorer of last season had a major hand in the team’s fourth goal late on, striking the free-kick which bounced down off the crossbar and in off the unfortunate Taylor.