Haslam back with a bang in AFC stroll

CHESHIRE FOOTBALL LEAGUE ONE AFC MACCLESFIELD . 3 W DIDS & CHORLT ..... 0

AFC Macclesfield were comfortable winners on Saturday after defeating West Didsbury & Chorlton Reserves.

There have been some managerial changes at the club over the last couple of weeks which has seen Ed Haslam re-installed as sole manager.

Haslam re-signed three players prior to the game, bringing back in Jordan Gregory, Josh Roberts and Adam Ledgar.

The manager threw Gregory straight into the starting line-up and he started quickly taking control of the midfield and Macclesfield started to dictate the play.

Within six minutes of the start, centre forward Nath Jackson was played in one on one with the West Didsbury keeper and maintaining his composure, rolled the ball under the on rushing keeper to make it 1-0.

Macclesfield pushed for a second but couldn’t immediately double their lead. It took another half hour to collect their second. Nath Barber delivered the ball into Gregory, who chested the ball to Chris Allen who curled the ball into the bottom corner of the Didsbury net - a brilliant finish.

Macclesfield remained on top with Callum Evans putting his stamp on the game, but it remained 2-0 at the interval.

Into the second half and West Didsbury started quickly knowing they’d have to score first to remain in the game, but Scott Wright and Sam Williamson were outstanding at the heart of the Macclesfield defence, negating any threats from West Didsbury.

Around fifteen minutes after the restart, Macclesfield put the game out of sight when Jackson grabbed his second and Macclesfield’s third, with a calm finish.

West Didsbury started to press again and was awarded a free kick on the edge of the Macclesfield box. The ball was struck and seemingly heading into the top corner, but captain for the day, goalkeeper Nick Ward, pulled off a stunning save to keep the game at 3-0. There were more opportunities for Macclesfield to see off West Didsbury, but they couldn’t increase their advantage. It was another great performance.

A special mention must go to Chris Allen who completed his first 90 minutes in over a year since a bad leg injury. He played as though he hadn’t been away and put in a great performance after his long layoff.

AFC Macclesfield’s next home game at All Hallows is in the Cheshire FA Amateur Cup against Vauxhall Motors on 21 October 2017, with kick-off at 3pm.