Chances missed
MACCLESFIELD lost their chance of reclaiming the top of the National League after suffering a hard fought 2-1 defeat at home to Eastleigh on Saturday afternoon.
The Silkmen gained hope of at least one point after a late goal from Danny Whitehead, but ultimately Mark Yeates’ brace was too much to handle.
Remaining one point shy of Dover with 33 points at top, manager John Askey was disappointed with the errors being made: “The first one is a mistake, the second one is a blatant handball before it has gone in, but we had enough chances to win the game.
“It’s disappointing but I thought we played well. In previous years when we’ve gone a goal or two down we haven’t had anything to come back at teams with, but I thought this time we looked as though we could do something.”
Just after ten minutes had passed, Whitehead went down inside the box following a contention for a loose ball with Eastleigh goalkeeper Ross Flitney. Referee David Richardson reacted slowly, but despite cries from the Macclesfield players, nothing was given.
After a first-half with the away side being the dominant force, Scott Wilson received the host’s biggest opportunity in the 42nd minute when he was set up through on goal by Ryan Lloyd. Wilson manged to round the advancing Flitney, but was forced too wide and the upcoming shot got cleared off the line.
Moments later a long ball found Elliott Durrell open at the far post, but this time Flitney reacted quickly and prevented the midfielder from opening the scoring.
With the following corner being cleared, a misunderstanding between Silkmen goalkeeper Shwan Jalal and captain Jared Hodgkiss invited Yeates to slot his side in the lead from 20 yards.
Macclesfield came back after the break with hopes of improving their poor first 45 minutes, but instead Yeates doubled the lead with a driven finish
eorge Pilkington ended up in a three on one situation, with the Eastleigh man getting his second goal of the game after finishing nicely from a narrow angle.
The remainder of the match belonged to Mac- clesfield, with Wilson even finding the net only to be ruled offside.
Just before the closing, Whitehead found the back of the net with a long range drive that beat Flitney, but it was all too late as Eastleigh saw out the victory.
Macclesfield ‘created enough chances but it just wasn’t meant to be’ on Saturday, according to Askey.
He said: “We had two one-on-one’s and should have scored four or five really. Apart from the two goals I don’t think our ‘keeper has had a shot to save.
“The main thing is getting in those positions, but obviously he is disappointed not to score them. It wasn’t just Scott (Wilson), we had numerous chances that on another
‘We looked a bit leggy but once we got into the game there was was only one team in it’
day would have gone in.”
And Askey believes it was just an off day, as his players showed good signs of why they have been flying so high this season.
“We need to get one or