Blues fightback falls just short

MACCLESFIELD suffered defeat in their first away of the season at Chester.

The Blues were fresh from a convincing home victory over Wharfedale on opening day, whereas Chester had suffered a heavy defeat away at Tynedale.

It was the visiting side who took the lead with their first attack, Sam Broster touching down in the corner.

But jubilation was short lived as the home side took over and dominated the remainder of the half as the Blues appeared to be outskilled and outenthused, a stylish brand of offloading and running rugby put into effect.

Three tries were run in by the home side and ex-Sale FC fly half Liam McGovern kicked an extra three points to lead 22-5 with 35 minutes on the clock.

Sean Green finished from a Mike Craven offload, Andy Baston’s powerful break fed centre Freeman Payne and Ross White also got on the score sheet.

It was only when Billy Robinson’s audacious offload out of the tackle was latched onto by Brendan Berry, who broke through the Chester line, that a blend of patience and power by the Macc forwards led to the evergreen Chris Jones touching down.

That score meant it was 22-12 at half time, and gave the visitors something to build on in the second, which could not have been more diverse from the first.

Giles Heagerty described this as the game of two halves and few in the ground could dispute that statement.

After the break The Blues spent 49 per cent of their possession in the Chester ’22, as wave after wave assaulted the home try line. A number of driving mauls were foiled as the Chester forwards repeatedly timed their sack to perfection and defended what felt like endless phases, with penalty after penalty being conceded but no Macclesfield points accumulated.

The Referee clearly hadn’t read the script, contentiously adjudging Franky Barker to be holding on despite Tom Ford, the Chester number 8, appearing to go off his feet from the side and not allowing Barker to play the ball just short of the line.

When Broster appeared to sythe through the home kick chase, Nico Nyemba was adjudged to have taken out a man off the ball despite that man not appearing to be near enough to tackle Broster.

The home fans would say good call no doubt, one of those you are happy to take but might protest if it was against you.

The visitors ate away at the Chester lead, with a try created by full back James Hampson – making his first start for the club – and finished by Tom Davenport, youth and experience combining. Then Danny Lomax slotted three points from the tee to tie the game 22-22.

Another interesting referee decision, but equally questionable tactical decision by the lively Sam Broster, led to a penalty under the sticks which McGovern put away with ease to lead 25-22 with 14 minutes to play.

The game ultimately culminated in an incredible 16-phase attack from the Priory Park team’s own line, with numerous half breaks and gainline carries as the lads rallied to attempt the snatch the win.

They had worked their way just short of the line and Nyemba broke the line to go under the sticks to put the travelling fans into raptures – only for the referee to bring play back for a forward pass by Dave Marwick.

The Blues dug deep in the second half, and the blend of old heads and youthful exuberance were equal in their refusal to give up.

It might have been easy to float out of the game but Macclesfield did anytihng but.

And with the likes of Ryan Parkinson and Lewis Barker missing, the Blues on the pitch gave an outstanding account of themselves in that second period.

“It really was the clichéd game of two halves,” said coach Heagerty.

“We had game plan but it took us 40 minutes to start executing it and it’s one of those funny ones where you score very early on in the game and it becomes a bit of a curse, and maybe we took our foot off the gas a little bit.

“You have to say that Chester were obviously coming off the back of a hiding last week, they had a bit about them, they got in the game and we were far too passive defnsivley we missed far too many tackles and we just capitulated a little bit I think.

“You could see throughout the back end of the half we started to get back in the game. We talked at half time, regrouped a bit and second half we came out and executed things well, almost perfectly.”

RUGBY NOTES FROM CLUBMAN

THERE were mixed fortunes for the Macclesfield sides in week two of the 2017/18 campaign with the 1st XV going down in a close fought game at Vicars Cross to a motivated Chester outfit (who I cannot recall beating Macc in league encounters over the years) with a score line of 25-22 to the home side.

Only a wayward pass in the closing stages of the game, when Macc should have scored, was the difference between the sides, but at least a bonus point was gained as we look forward this weekend to the visit of a Blaydon side relegated alongside us from National 1 last season.

They will seek their first victory after defeat at the hands of a promising Tynedale side in the North East ‘Derby’ at their Crow Trees Ground by 33-12 in front of a big crowd.

I stayed at Priory Park to watch the Lions, who hosted Preston Grasshoppers, and an entertaining game was initially dominated by the Lions who took a12-5 half time lead.

It was the visitors who pulled ahead after the break to eventually win with a late try to record a 15-12 win and leave the Lions without victory after their first games.

Macclesfield’s third team fielded a 14-man team away at Rochdale with a good mix of youth and experience. Despite being a man down, Macclesfield initially controlled the game, dominating possession in the Rochdale half with a solid scrum and discipline, with Thomson making an impact from 8 and Gleave coming close to scoring on occasion.

Rochdale made use of the extra man once in the first half with a simple ‘catch-draw-pass’ down the line to score (7-0), a tactic they should have used more throughout the game.

Two breakaway tries by Rochdale after the break enabled them to get home by 19-0 but, nonetheless, an impressive display from the youngsters which shows promise for things to follow.

The fourth XV, after a blank first week, entertained Oswestry Seconds and ran out