Home tie guaranteed after Workington win
MACCLESFIELD .............. 2 WORKINGTON ................. 0
MACCLESFIELD secured a second-place finish on Saturday afternoon after their final home game of the season saw them string together a 2-0 victory over Workington AFC.
A first-class finish from Alex Curran on his return start was paired with Dan Sweeney’s injury-time tap-in to guarantee a home tie in the semi-final of the play-offs and, should they get there, the final.
Manager Michael Clegg made two changes to the side that saw Kane Drummond snatch a 1-0 victory away at Atherton Collieries last Tuesday, with Dan Lafferty and Sweeney dropping to the bench to make way for Alex Curran and Tunde Owolabi.
The visitors were without captain Connor Tinnion after the midfielder picked up two yellow cards in their 3-0 defeat away at Marine last week, but were compensated in the form of the league’s top goalscorer, David Symington.
Macc began confidently, controlling possession and making their opponents do the majority of the chasing.
Their first chance arrived after four minutes where Drummond did well to latch onto the end of Luke Duffy’s dangerous ball from the left but Jim Atkinson caught the firsttimed effort at the back post comfortably.
The Reds ‘keeper has been at the club since 2019 and made the headlines after scoring from his own area against Morpeth Town after just 10 seconds, before going on to make a penalty save later that game.
The game came to a standstill on the six-minute mark after Owolabi had been shoved over the pitch-side advertising board and into the Moss Lane Stand.
The Belgian was down for around three minutes before dusting himself off and returning up-top.
The Silkmen’s pressure soon paid off after Curran fired the hosts ahead.
After Tre Pemberton split the Workington backline with a darting run, the full-back pulled the ball back for Curran on the edge of the area who made no mistake in stroking home an opener. After having been absent through injury for twoand-a-half months, his celebration showed what it meant to him.
The Reds – playing in yellow – sought a response through star-man Symington, who found himself in on goal after his run got the better of Sam Heathcote.
A sweetly-placed finish saw the ex-Carlisle United man get the better of Ollie Byrne, but his celebrations were cut short once he spotted the linesman’s raised flag.
Macc continued to dominate in the visitors’ half, working the ball around nicely while patiently waiting for that opportunity to make a break-through.
That break-through soon arrived in the form of Duffy who was picked out on the edge of the D by
Drummond, hitting a first-timed curling effort towards the far post, only the wrong side of it.
After being left head-inhands and pondering about how close his effort was, the 25-year-old had evidently brushed it aside three minutes later after he attempted to lob the Workington ‘keeper from the halfway line in classic John Rooney fashion but, despite leaving Atkinson scrambling towards his goalmouth, his effort didn’t quite dip in time.
The Silks entered the interval with a slender lead.
Following the break, Macc reappeared hungry for a second but Atkinson didn’t make it easy for them.
After Drummond entered the area, he clipped a powerful effort towards the top corner from a tight angle but a very strong hand from Atkinson denied him access. The 29-year-old was called into action yet again when Curran went for placement from inside the area, but a fast reaction from Atkinson allowed him to hold the effort.
Clegg’s first change of the afternoon saw Sam Perry slot into midfield to replace Curran.
This was soon followed by the introduction of Dan Lafferty after Heathcote was forced off through a knee injury as a result of falling victim to Steven Rigg’s late challenge.
The visitors then found an opportunity attempt to reach a leveller, with a loose ball in the area being claimed by Jordan Little, whose effort beat Byrne but wasn’t enough to get the better of Paul Dawson who had anticipated the effort, allowing him to nod it off the goalline to protect his side’s lead.
A switch-up in attack then saw Sweeney come on to replace Owolabi with 10 minutes to go.
And that tactical change proved successful after Sweeney doubled the hosts’ lead in the second minute of injury time.
A fast counter-attack saw Macc outnumber the Workington defence, with Drummond finding himself in on goal before unselfishly squaring it to Sweeney who rolled home his first goal of his second spell at the club and secure success for the Silks. 3,821