Frustrating Fax
MACCLESFIELD Town dropped out of the National League play-off places after a frustrating 1-0 loss to Halifax at the Moss Rose.
The Silkmen were unable to build on their impressive consecutive victories over Tranmere Rovers and Chester in recent weeks against a Halifax side that had turned around their appalling early season form by going eight matches unbeaten prior to Saturday’s clash.
An entertaining firsthalf saw Macclesfield squander a number of early chances before Halifax had the ball in the back of the net through Jordan Burrow, only for his well-taken header to be ruled offside.
The Shaymen were the more vibrant of the two sides in the second half with Macclesfield struggling for fluidity in possession, and the Silkmen were made to pay when Shaun Tuton’s strike secured all three points for the visitors.
The defeat saw Macclesfield fall to seventh in the National League, one point behind fifth-placed Eastleigh.
Both sides started the game with serious intent and Macc could have scored seconds after kickoff when Andy Halls steamed down the righthand side to set up Kristian Dennis, who couldn’t quite get a clean shot away.
Halifax instantly countered and Tuton’s marauding run led him within clean sight of Ritchie Branagan’s goal, but the Macclesfield keeper was able to tip the striker’s effort round the post.
The Silkmen’s first meaningful effort came shortly after when Danny Whitaker’s driven strike
PWD L F A Pts Cheltenham 28 17 9 2 53 19 60 Forest Green 27 17 4 6 48 28 55 Grimsby Tn 27 14 10 3 54 22 52 Dover Athletic 29 14 7 8 50 40 49 Eastleigh 26 14 6 6 44 33 48 Woking 29 14 5 10 51 36 47 Macclesfield 30 15 2 13 45 33 47 Tranmere 29 12 8 9 40 32 44 Lincoln City 29 11 9 9 43 38 42 Gateshead 27 12 5 10 36 42 41 Wrexham 27 12 4 11 47 38 40 Braintree Tn 24 11 7 6 29 20 40 Bromley 27 11 5 11 49 47 38 Southport 28 10 7 11 31 39 37 Aldershot Tn 29 10 5 14 34 44 35 Chester FC 29 9 7 13 36 45 34 Barrow 28 9 6 13 36 53 33 Guiseley 28 7 10 11 28 45 31 FC Halifax Tn 28 7 7 14 41 60 28 Boreham Wd 28 6 9 13 24 30 27 Altrincham 26 7 6 13 23 40 27 Welling Utd 26 6 6 14 22 36 24 Torquay 27 4 8 15 31 55 20 Kid’minster 26 2 8 16 24 44 14 from range forced a smart save from Sam Johnson.
John Askey’s men attacked with real purpose in a frantic opening ten minutes and threatened again when Dennis picked out Danny Rowe in the box, but the winger’s audacious, left-footed volley flew over the bar.
George Pilkington missed a great chance to open the scoring for Macclesfield just before the half-hour mark.
The centre-back found himself unmarked in the six-yard box from a corner but failed to hit the target with a header that Johnson could only watch creep wide.
The let off seemed to spur Halifax into life and they came close to capitalising on Macc’s inability to deal with their pressure on three occasions just before the break.
Nicky Wroe’s low, curling effort from just outside the area left the outstretched Branagan helpless as it struck the post, before Sam Walker hit a half-volley over from close range.
The Shaymen’s flurry of chances culminated with a thunderous header from Burrow that found the top corner of the net. However, the striker was denied his goal by the linesmen’s flag to the dismay of the vociferous travelling support behind Branagan’s goal.
As the heavens opened at the start of the secondhalf the game started to slip away from Macc, who failed to ignite any threatening passages of play and let a rejuvenated Halifax canter forwards with ease.
An increasingly discontented Moss Rose crowd urged the Silkmen on as they witnessed Halifax dominate a less hectic second period.