Shots blasted by merciless Macc
ABRACE from Danny Rowe and a ninth goal of the season from Kristian Dennis ensured a convincing victory for Macclesfield over Aldershot at the EBB Stadium.
Rowe kicked off the scoring on three minutes by starting and finishing a neat counter-attacking move, before he doubled his tally on 41 minutes with a terrific solo effort.
Aldershot’s Jake Gallagher was sent off on 55 minutes for a reckless challenge and Dennis added to his eight goals with a tidy finish midway through the second half to make it three.
John Askey made one change to the side that lost to Barrow as Rowe replaced the injured Paul Lewis. New boys Lindon Meikle and Fisayo Adarabioyo were on the subs bench.
Macclesfield took an early lead when Rowe collected a misplaced pass and quickly found Chris Holroyd on the right.
Holroyd made a pacey run toward the box before turning Jack Saville and then squaring the ball across the box to Rowe who blasted it into the roof of the net to make it 1-0.
Aldershot were the next to have a chance on goal when Sam Hatton crossed in for Charlie Walker, but his header was comfortably held by Shwan Jalal.
Half an hour into the game George Pilkington picked up a harsh yellow card for a foul where it looked like he cleanly played the ball.
On 37 minutes the Silkmen could’ve doubled their lead when Dennis was put through on goal, but his shot was parried by Phil Smith and Saville scuffed out his second effort.
They ensured they were in total control at halftime though as four minutes later the visitors grabbed a deserved second in sublime fashion.
Jack Sampson found Rowe in the left corner of the pitch.
He appeared to be boxed in by two Aldershot defenders but in one move he turned the pair and burst into the box along the touchline before squeezing the ball past Smith at a tight angle.
With the home fans venting their frustration, Aldershot almost grabbed a goal back before half time when Dan Walker’s header narrowly went wide.
Those frustrations then boiled onto the pitch in the second half when Gallagher saw red for a reckless lunge on Rowe.
Minutes later Sampson had a good opportunity to grab his first goal of the season but his shot from the edge of the area was well blocked by Cheye Alexander.
The visitors were making the extra man count and they should’ve gone 3-0 up when Danny Whitaker shot straight at Smith when through on goal.
Whitaker made amends moments later as he turned provider for the third with a deft chipped ball over the Aldershot defence to Dennis, who brought the ball down with his first touch and blasted it into the far bottom corner across Smith with his second.
Macclesfield then played out the remainder of the game with Sampson having the best chance to make it four.
The forward was set up by debutant Meikle who collected a deep Whitaker cross and found Sampson patrolling the edge of the area, but his shot was just inches wide.
Adarabioyo then made his Macclesfield debut, coming on for the goalscorer Dennis during the final ten minutes.
There was almost a chance for former striker Matthew Barnes-Homer to grab a goal when he capitalised on a mistake from Pilkington but opted to pass rather than shoot, which was ultimately intercepted by David Fitzpatrick anyway.
That turned out to be the last significant opportunity of the game, with Macc running out convincing 3-0 winners after a dominant performance.
Jalal, Halls (Cowan 86), Pilkington, Diagne, Fitzpatrick, Holroyd, Whitaker, Whitehead, Rowe (Meikle 67), Dennis (Adarabioyo 82), Sampson
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