Inexperience costly in Cup
CARABAO CUP SECOND ROUND GRIMSBY TOWN ............ 0 MACCLESFIELD ............. 0
Grimsby won 5-4 on penalties DARYL McMahon admits the inexperience of some of his Macclesfield Town may have been what cost them during their Carabao Cup exit to Grimsby Town last week.
Macc were knocked out of the competition at the second round stage after losing 5-4 on penalties at Blundell Park, after the game finished 0-0 after 90 minutes. The Silkmen have a young squad at their disposal, and McMahon feels that may have played a part.
“The players have learnt a lot. We’ve come here again and put in a really good performance; we’ve kept a clean sheet and we haven’t lost the game in normal time,” he said.
“However, some of the players have been in an environment that they’ve never been in before.
“The lads have had to face a penalty shootout in front of a decent crowd.
“The dreaded walk you’ve got to make from the half-way line and the horrible feeling of losing, it’s all something that the players will learn and grow from.
“We had some really good opportunities in the first half, Grimsby had their’s in the second. I thought our build up play was terrific, and we moved the ball around very well,” he said.
“We couldn’t get the goal in the first half and they had one cleared off the line by Fiacre Kelleher after the break, but I thought we dominated the ball against a good side.
“I think it was a case of both teams trying to win the game. However, I said to the boys at the end that when you have so much dominance in a game, you have to find a way to turn it into goals.
“I say that because you can’t expect to have the same control after half time, so you have to be clinical when you’re on top.”