Champs given run for their money
LANGLEY CC 1st XI entertained champions Ashley at the weekend and lost out in a close finish.
Skipper Alex Berzins won the toss and elected to bat on a slow damp wicket.
Robin Smith and Paully Morgan opened the batting, as usual the former motored along whilst Morgan was more subdued.
The score reached 45 when Morgan 9 was caught at slip. Chris Pattison joined Smith and was very unfortunate as Smith misjudged a single and Pattison 3 was run out. Zak Howdle 2 soon followed as he was trapped LBW and when Smith 53 was caught in the deep Langley were 72-4.
Neil Pennington hit a quick 15, Tom Potts 1, Ben Tyler 19 and Matty Betteridge 12 before David Frame 8 was caught in the deep as Langley were all out for 134.
In response, Ashley crashed to 30-5, Mushtaq 0 was superbly caught by Betteridge at gully off Cartwright, skipper Berzins then claimed 4 wickets with a mixture of half volleys and full tosses. Shah 1 was caught at square leg by Frame, Baig 9 drilled a catch to mid on where Morgan took a good catch, Wimbury 0 was LBW and Baig 8 drove to Potts at mid off.
Butt and Guley rallied, taking the total to 66 before Betteridge trapped Butt 19 LBW. The little paceman then bowled Davenport 0.
Langley looked set for victory when Guley 45 was stumped by Smith off Tyler with the score 92-8.
This proved Langley’s last success as Jibran 20no and Subhani 28no took Ashley to success.
Berzins 4-28 and Betteridge 2-20 were pick of the attack.
Langley finished third, their highest ever position in the pyramid.
Langley 2nd were left disappointed as Mossley conceded.
TWO goals from Eoin Doyle and a Keshi Anderson strike confirmed all three points for Swindon Town in what was a disappointing display from Macclesfield.
The Silkmen rarely threatened and they were made to pay for their lack of creativity on a tough afternoon in Wiltshire.
The first chance of the game fell to Lloyd Isgrove when his shot from outside the area was saved comfortably by Owen Evans in the centre of his goal in the 8th minute.
Macc struggled to gain a foothold on the game early on, their opening chance fell to Fraser Horsfall who fired into the side netting at the back post from Conor Kirby’s deep cross.
Swindon dominated the ball and Macc were really chasing the game, but a rare Silkmen attack provided another halfopportunity for the visitors.
Ironside did well to head back to Corey O’Keeffe who was charging in from the left hand side, however he shanked his volley well wide of the goal.
The Robins’ goal had been coming and it finally arrived in the 37th minute through Keshi Anderson.
Michael Rose whipped a ball across the face of goal to Doyle whose shot was parried by Evans, but the ball fell to the feet of Anderson who made no mistake in tapping in from a couple of yards out.
Doyle was again the man threatening the Macc defence and he doubled the hosts advantage in first half added time.
Jerry Yates cut the ball back to Rob Hunt who found the striker on the penalty spot and he lashed the ball into the top right corner. him out from his corner but the skipper flicked his header over the bar and into the stand behind the goal.
The Robins made their possession pay and they grabbed their third in the 76th minute.
Anderson controlled superbly in the box and he backheeled to Hunt, the midfielder found Doyle on the edge of the box who stroked emphatically past Evans.
The hosts were good value for their win as the Silkmen struggled to really trouble goalkeeper McCormick with Swindon dominating possession throughout.
“We’ll watch the game again and we’ll get ready for Newport on Tuesday where we go again,” said McMahon.
“We know we will have these games in the season, where we’ll be like a rabbit in the headlights because of our young group.
“The crowd, the stadium and the size of the club can sometimes get on top of you and I think that shook us a little today.”
MACCLESFIELD:
Evans, Welch-Hayes, Vassell, Kelleher, Horsfall, O’Keeffe, Harris, Kirby (Ntambwe 45’), Osadebe, Archibald (Gnahoua 45’), Ironside (Gomis 77’). Subs not used: Charles-Cook, Cameron, Stephens.