A clash to forget
MACCLESFIELD Town had an afternoon to forget after suffering an emphatic defeat to Maidstone United on Saturday.
Two goals from Zavon Hines, along with strikes from Alex Wynter and Joe Pigott were enough to condemn the Silkmen to defeat, despite a late consolation effort from Koby Arthur.
Assistant manager Steve Watson was disappointed with Macclesfield’s performance in the game, and says the players didn’t do their jobs.
“It was not good enough, from front to back. We worked on things all week and we knew the two wide men would come off their shape, we knew how they would play and how to exploit them and none of that happened,” he said.
“People haven’t done their job and Maidstone haven’t really had to do much to win the game. You never want to accept a home defeat but we would have if they’d come and played us off the park.
“Everything that happened was lacklustre, it wasn’t quick enough. We weren’t high enough up the pitch. Everything we worked on and planned for hasn’t come off.”
Maidstone made the breakthrough on 11 minutes. Hines received the ball on the edge of the box and fired it past Shwan Jalal to make it 1-0 to the visitors.
Maidstone then almost doubled their lead when his cross was met by Johan Ter Horst, but his header was over the bar.
The away side did eventually get their second goal of the match though, as Wynter put the ball in the net after connecting with a corner from Joe Reasons.
Macc had chances to get back on level terms as the half progressed, with the best opportunity falling to Ryan Lloyd, but he was denied by Lee Worgan.
Maidstone carried their 2-0 lead into the second half, but they thought they had been pegged back when Macc had the ball in the net shortly after the restart.
Scott Wilson headed home, but it was ruled out after the referee’s assistant raised his flag to disallow it for offside.
Silkmen boss John Askey turned to his substitute’s bench as he tried to get his team back on track, bringing on the likes of Gime Toure and Danny Whitehead.
It wasn’t to be though, as just after the hour mark Maidstone managed to add a third goal to their tally.
Hines was the man to get it, getting his second goal of the game when his deflected shot ended up in the top corner.
It then went from bad to worse for Macc as Piggott made it four for Maidstone when he fired the ball under Jalal from close range.
Despite trailing 4-0, Macclesfield continued to fight, and they finally got a goal on 80 minute when substitute Arthur slotted the ball past Worgan.
That’s how the match ended though, with the Silkmen on the wrong end of a 4-1 score line at the Moss Rose.
Macclesfield have dropped to 12th place after the loss, but the National League is extremely tight at the moment, with only three points separating them from top of the table Aldershot Town.
‘People haven’t done their job and Maidstone haven’t had to win the game’
They will now attempt to get back to winning ways when they make the trip to Torquay United on Saturday.
MACCLESFIELD:
Jalal, Kennedy, Fitzpatrick ( Whitehead 64’), Baba, Durrell, Lowe, Lloyd (Arthur 71’), Hancox, Burgess ( Toure 59’), Whitaker, Wilson. ubs not used: Pilkington, Marsh