ON OUR WAY TO WEMBLEY!
Macc and York head for Trophy final crunch
IT was the Buildbase FA Trophy’s turn to pull of some serious shocks as the underdogs found their bite to reach Wembley.
Magnificent Macclesfield won 1-0 at Tranmere to silence over 6,000 fans and reach their first cup final since 1997.
York City – battling for their lives near the bottom of the National League table – beat joint leaders Lincoln City 2-1 on aggregate as they return to the national stadium five years after winning the famous competition.
Acrackerjack from Ollie Norburn sent Macclesfield Town to Wembley after they overcame hapless Tranmere at Prenton Park in the FA Trophy semifinal second leg.
The Silkmen had Norburn to thank for ensuring they arrived in Birkenhead with the tie level at one apiece following last week’s first leg at Moss Rose, and he was the difference again, with a fizzing second-half strike in what was a tense encounter.
Rovers rallied in search of an equaliser, but their cutting edge was conspicuous in its absence allowing the visitors to see out the last 20 minutes.
Proud Macc boss John Askey said: “I couldn’t be more pleased for everyone at the football club. I just hope we can go and finish it off at Wembley.
“It’s a fantastic achievement for the football club. We always knew coming here that early on you’ve got to ride your luck a little bit. We dug in and we got stronger.
“We could have had two or three more, but it doesn’t matter how you get there as long as you get there – and we have.”
The opening 45 minutes was a largely forgettable affair, but six minutes before the interval, James Norwood sold his marker the wrong way before firing in a front post shot that was saved by the legs of Scott Flinders.
Kingsley James then had the freedom of the Tranmere penalty area when he received a free-kick from Luke Summerfield, but his downward header lacked venom and Scott Davies was able to collect. Norwood had another good effort saved by Flinders on the stroke of half-time, as the tie remained very much in the balance at the mid-way point. Urged on by an expectant home crowd, Norwood mistimed a volley from Adam Mekki’s header across goal, wasting an opportunity. Then on the break, Macclesfield raced down the other end before Norburn rattled the crossbar. But that proved to be merely a sighter, as in the 68th minute the visitors took the lead in the tie for the first time, when Norburn ricocheted the ball past Steve McNulty before firing left footed beyond Davies into the corner of the net.
Rovers brought on Andy Mangan in search of an equaliser, but they were lacking ideas and Macclesfield were able to see the game out comfortably, handing Micky Mellon the worst birthday gift imaginable.
He said: “I am gutted for everyone, that’s my initial emotion. It’s a hard one for us but I think we have to say congratulations to Macclesfield.
“Over the course of the two games they probably just edged it. It was going to take a goal like that to separate the two teams today. We all know about the trouble we have with wide players.
“When you needed that bit of quality out wide to get around people, we never had that today. That was glaringly obvious from today’s game.”