Foothold to safety after spirited win
FOLLOWING what seems to have been a very good pre-match lunch to put those who attended in good spirits the rugby that followed was, for Macclesfield, an excellent après event with probably the best performance of the season to date!
It put a smile on all supporters faces as the 1st XV entertained early season table toppers Hinckley and sent them home to the Midlands on the back of a 33-21 defeat.
That will give the Macc players much needed confidence now as we enter the fourth month of a long campaign which does not finish until the final Saturday in April 2019 when we entertain South Leicester at Priory Park.
Clearly, whilst we are by no means ‘out of the wood’ as yet, Saturday’s performance will give the squad and coaching team the energy to continue onwards and upwards as we approach the festive season.
Around Two North last weekend leaders Hull Ionians – where we travel to on Saturday – surprisingly came a cropper at Preston Grasshoppers 29-7 whilst Chester who are just behind them overcame Huddersfield in West Yorkshire to give themselves some space in the table.
Fylde beat Wharfedale in a high scoring game on the Lancashire coast and talking high scoring games they now seem to be a regular feature of this open and competitive league with Sedgley Park beating South Leicester in a game that saw sixty seven points scored. Elsewhere there were victories for Tynedale at Sheffield Tigers, Otley who beat visiting Stourbridge and at Huddersfield who beat bottom club Peterborough Lions 35-17.
All of which leaves Hull Ionians undisputed leaders on 54 points followed by Chester 49 and Huddersfield 44 but at the ‘wrong end’ of the table Peterborough stand and support the league on 12 points followed by Macclesfield now on 17 points but eight points behind third bottom South Leicester.
It is therefore vitally important that we take points from the remaining games of 2018 starting at Hull on Saturday and please note that the kick off at Brantingham Park is shown as 2.pm.so make allowances for that when travelling – directions later in this article.
Around Priory Park at the weekend the 2nd XV travelled to Vicars Cross and returned pointless from a high scoring encounter with Chester but the 3rd XV had a welcome 27-25 win against Stockport Seconds. The Fourth team who have played so well this season to date didn’t have a game so a few players made up the 3rd team squad to have a run out but those who run the 4th XV – namely skipper Ryan Brown and his vice captain– Jeremy Bostock have done a cracking job this season holding this team together as well as getting some good results. This XV contains a variety of players from the youngest (on Saturday one just 17) to more elder statesmen of the game and it is always the lowest side in the clubs teams that suffers with ‘cry offs’ from above as I know only too well from my playing days. It has been suggested that the club needs to have a serious look at lower XV’s and perhaps embark on a ‘recruiting drive’ to bring some new faces to Priory Park. It is not that long ago in my early days at Macclesfield that we turned out six or seven fifteens on a Saturday including Vets & Colts but I somehow doubt that we will reach those heights currently but we can live in hope. Games for Saturday: 1st XV v Hull Ionians (away, 2pm)