Blues lose battle
had picked up the physicality in their defence and it was lifting the crowd. Unfortunately for Macc the last points of the half came from a drop goal from Evans 30 metres out.
Macc may have been trailing by 10 points at half time, but the game felt closer than the score line suggested. A sense of frustration could be picked up from the supporters as they knew a few chances had been missed during the half. Although the lead belonged to Billingham, there was a sense of anticipation amongst home supporters that the deficit could be overturned.
Anticipation turned into belief in the 47th minute. Sam Broster ran wide only to cut inside two defenders and left them clutching thin air whilst the try was finished under the posts. Returning skipper Tom Morton added the extras to make the score 14-17.
The pendulum swung again, but this time towards the away side as Martin Hopley scored the third try of the day for the away side. A wide cut out ball fell into the winger’s arms and he comfortably finished in the corner. Evans missed the conversion which left the score 14-22
In the previous game against Wirral, Macc started the comeback to victory in the last 10 minutes. The Priory Park faithful had all reason to believe it could happen again as Tom Morton in the 71st minute slotted over a penalty to leave it just a one score game.
Billingham combined great discipline, game awareness and good territorial play to close the game out. Most of the remaining minutes had been fought inside Macc territory which didn’t allow a chance to fall the home sides way.
After the final whistle, it was a great sight to see the whole crowd stand up and applaud both sides who gave it their all. If this game can produce a positive going forward, it is that Macc is a team that can challenge anyone and has a loud and loyal supporter base that will keep going until the end. The next fixture is an away trip to Rossendale on the 7th December, which gives an extra week’s worth of training sessions to prepare for the next game.