Pride intact as Blues bow out
MACCLESFIELD’S relegation to National League Two was confirmed at the weekend, despite a plucky display against Plymouth.
Macc were lifted by their recent run of good performances after a nail biting home victory over Loughborough Students, and then a dominant but valiant loss at Birmingham Moseley last week, while second-placed Plymouth were going for 10 wins in a row.
An early maul try from the visitors by Daly and numerous forward momentum phases gave the impression this may be a regulation win for the South Coast outfit. But the home side have been in deeper holes this season and hit back with a bit of magic from Elliot Brierley after a massive maul, side stepping two defenders and finishing from the edge of the ‘22.
Brierley arguably had his best game of the season and was a strong contender for man of the match along with the energetic and spirited scrum half Nick Allsop.
The Blues were starved of possession for long spells by the visitors but showed good defiance and structure in their defence.
Attacking opportunities were rare and The Blues were often pegged back if they did get their hands on the pill.
Rare ventures into the opposition 22, first by Elliott Millar-Mills supported by two latching team mates and then from big carries by Ollie Parkinson and Myles Hall, were both squandered.
Despite much ball, Macc didn’t look under too much pressure until Plymouth went ahead again through Strong.
Macc responded not long after though when captain and number 8 Ryan Parkinson got good go forward via a Parkinson peel and moments later a penalty was awarded that Lewis Barker dispatched from 35 metres out to claw three points back, making it 10-14 at half time.
Plymouth looked a bit stronger after the break, targeting the collision in the carry, and spreading their phases from wing to wing, finding some joy in the wider channels at times. But it was the Cheshire side who went into the lead after Matt King chased down his own kick, after a nice move by the backs off scrum ball.
This appeared to swing the momentum and saw Plymouth’s discipline deteriorate, this being one occasion, in a season where the Priory Park side have received very little help from the officials, they would have admit referee Ben Blain was very much on the ball with the final pen count 19-9 in favour of the Blues.
It wasn’t without foundation though.
The visitors proved cynical in defence and set piece and breakdown, with tempers flaring when Lewis Barker was clotheslined, Blain preferring to keep his cards in his pocket this time.
Macclesfield were enjoying far more possession in the second period, with plenty of red zone threat.
A series of scrums for the home team on the opposition five metre line came to nothing except a yellow card for Albion, before a strong attack into the Plymouth final third resulted in a further three points from Barker’s boot (18-14 with 12 to play).
But as has been the case so many times this year, it came down to one mistake.
Fly half and long time servant to the club, Tom Eaton dropped a pass right at the feet of winger Wedlake-Milcam who ran it in under the posts to make it 18-21 with eight minutes to play.
The Blues dug deep and were cheered on tremendously by the home support, and spent the entirety of the remaining time in the Plymouth 22 having multiple set piece opportunities to snatch victory.
A 14-phase final push for the line was ended when Billy Robinson was isolated at the bottom of a ruck.
The Blues will kick themselves for not converting the two major red zone opportunities – conversion is such a big part of being successful in this league, and more performances like the last two might have ended in a finish higher up the table.
But it was a sterling effort all the same, and visitors to Priory Lane have been treated to some fantastic rugby lately.
The way the travelling side celebrated you would have thought they had just won in the final of the Champions Cup so they clearly knew they had been in a game and, despite losing, that should be a feather in the cap of Cheshire’s currently top ranked team.
An Ionians win against Cambridge means Macclesfield will be playing National 2 rugby next season, and Giles Heagerty (who was quick to thank the fans for their unwavering support this season) and his lieutenants will turn their attention to structuring a squad to try and bounce back at the first attempt.
That won’t be easy with the likes of Sedgley Park, Leicester Lions, Stourbridge, potentially the big spending Sale FC not to mention Hull or Blaydon too – but it promises to be exciting.
MACCLESFIELD:
Lomax, Hall, Brierley, L. Barker, King, Eaton, Allsop and Mantell, Millea, Millar-Mills, O. parkinson, Marwick, F. Barker, Parfitt, R. Parkinson. Replacements: Moss, Robinson, Finnemore, Smith, Broster
Powell, Wedlake-Millcam, Squire, Strong, Crosscombe, Skinner, Shepherd and Norton, Cowan-Dickie, Keast, Collier, Holmes, Cooper, Daly, Williams. Replacements: Nixon, Freestone, George, Hallet, Setter
PLYMOUTH: