Silkmen closing in on the crown
MACCLESFIELD Town can potentially clinch the National League title when they welcome Leyton Orient to the Moss Rose this weekend.
The Silkmen are on the brink of earning promotion back to the Football League after a fantastic campaign which leaves them top of the table.
They were set to make the trip to Boreham Wood on Tuesday as the Express went to print, and could win the league this weekend depending on how other results go.
Macclesfield head into their crunch week on the back of a 2-2 draw at Ebbsfleet United on Saturday.
The Silkmen had led 2-0 thanks to goals from Nathan Blissett and Tyrone Marsh, but Ebbsfleet staged a comeback through Danny Kedwell and Dean Rance, while Blissett was also controversially sent off for clash with defender Dave Winfield – who appeared to body check
‘It was a tough last 10 minutes, but the boys dug in so it’s probably a great result’
the Macc frontman. Askey was furious with the decision to send off Blissett, but praised his players for managing to dig in with 10 men and earn the point
“I thought at 2-0 we were coasting and then they’ve got the goal from a penalty.
“Our goalkeeper was saying that it wasn’t a penalty but I’ve seen them given,” he said. “I’d have been disappointed if it was us that didn’t get a penalty for that, but then the sending off has completely changed the game.
“It’s even worse when you see it again, it was a terrible decision.
“The sad point is that we can’t change the result as it might have been different. How can you send someone off for that. You’re away from home and 2-0 up and then the momentum changes and it becomes very difficult to get out and to get pressure on when you’ve got 10 men.
“Our players worked hard all game because the pitch was poor and difficult to play, so we’re happy with the point in the end and we’ll see at the end of the season whether it was a good point.
“Some of the things that happened were out of our hands so I can’t ask for more from the players and I can’t be too hard on them as it was a good point away from home and it keeps us moving.”
Macclesfield defender Jared Hodgkiss was also satisfied with the point, and admits it was difficult once his side were reduced to 10 men.
“It was a tough last 10 minutes, but the boys dug in so it’s probably a great result,” he said.
“The conditions were against us a bit so we’ll take the point. It was a tough place to come to so I think a draw is a good result, and I’ve said to the lads that it might be a massive point for us come the end of the season.”