Blues end long wait for home victory
NATIONAL LEAGUE 2 MACCLESFIELD ............ 34 CALDY ............................. 27
ALEXANDER HANNAH ACCLESFIELD responded from an opening day defeat with a 34-27 win at home to Cheshire rivals Caldy.
The Blues also ended the long wait for a home win that stretched from April 5th 2014, to September 12th 2015. It was fitting that Macc did it in a near full Priory Park as the club threw a successful family fun day, concentrating on the blossoming mini/junior section.
Both sides exchanged penalties early on, Jack
MLavin adding three for the visitors and Lewis Barker for the hosts.
The first try came on 10 minutes when scrum half Jordan Brookes offloaded brilliantly for winger Josh Fowles to beat a few men on the way to the line.
Caldy responded on 20 minutes, lock forward Tom Sanders crashed over from close range, leaving the score at 10-10.
Macclesfield regained the lead on the half hour mark. Elliot Brierley scoring a fantastic individual try as he beat numerous opposition defenders on his way to the line, Lewis Barker added the extras.
The Blues were dominant at the set piece throughout the first half and this really gave them the platform to attack the Caldy back line. Mills, Moss, and Gadd were shining in the dismantling of a big Caldy pack.
The front row boys were certainly earning their crust in front of a packed out Priory Park.
The Blues burst out of the blocks for the second half. Matt O’Regan hit a fantastic line to grab a score on 50 minutes and extend the Macc league.
Caldy bounced back 5 minutes later as Lavin added the try and conversion to make it 24-17.
A spell of heavy Caldy pressure followed but the Blues defended brilliantly and turned attack into defence, Franky Barker finished the move and secured the win.
Caldy added a try late on and both teams exchanged penalties, Macc get the five-point win and Caldy come away with a losing bonus point.
MACCLESFIELD:
1 Marshall Gadd, 2 Sam Moss, 3 Elliot Mills, 4 David Marwick, 5 Ben Jones, 6 Mike Finnemore, 7 Ryan Parkinson, 8 Franky Barker 9 Jordan Brookes, 10 Lewis Barker, 11 Rhodri Mayor, 12 Tom Eaton, 13 Elliot Brierley, 14 Josh Fowles, 15 Matt O’Regan 16 Paul Millea, 17 Tom Mantell, 18 Harrison Lewis, 19 Philip Laing, 20 Jamie Anthony
15 Ben Elliot, 14 Paul Sellwood, 13 Forbes Edwards, 12 Thomas Banks, 11 Nicholas Royle, 10 Jack Lavin, 9 John Broxson 1 Colin Campbell, 2 Christian Jones, 3 Derek Salisbury, 4 John Collister, 5 Thomas
CALDY:
Sanders, 6 John Weir, 7 Nyle Davidson, 8 Stuart Cross 16 Nathan Rushton, 17 Louis McGowan, 18 Adam Kelly, 19 Benjamin Jones, 20 Andrew Soutar
MACCLESFIELD TRIES:
Josh Fowles (9), Elliot Brierley (28), O’Regan (47), Franky Barker (66) Lewis Barker (9, 28, 47, 66) Lewis Barker (7, 78)
Tom Sanders (20), Jack Lavin (51), Andrew Soutar (74) Jack Lavin (20, 51, 74) Jack Lavin (3, 80)
Andrew Taylorson
CON: PEN: CALDY TRIES: CON: PEN: REFEREE: ATT:
279