Macc pegged back by the ten men of Ashton
NORTH WEST COUNTIES PREMIER DIVISION ASHTON ATHLETIC........ 1 MACCLESFIELD .............. 1
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MACCLESFIELD FC retained their three-point lead at the top of the NWCFL Premier Division by claiming a share of the spoils at Ashton Athletic on Saturday.
After Tom Clare had been forced to withdraw from the starting eleven due to an achilles injury, the first period was fairly uneventful.
The best chance of the half unquestionably came within the first two minutes, when James BerryMcNally slid the ball past the home ‘keeper - only to see it cannon off the inside of the far post.
Debutant Luis Morrison then headed an Aaron Dwyer corner straight at James Aspinall in the 20th minute and although Macc were dominating possession at that stage, the Ashton defence remained resolute.
Macc were forced into a reshuffle four minutes later when Jacob Hanson suffered a hamstring problem and was replaced by Rodney Ajayi - yet this did not alter the dynamics of the game, with Kielen Adams rifling the ball into the side-netting moments later.
The hosts then started to apply pressure of their own, with Ben Pierce making a brave stop to deny Dale Korie-Butler and in the 34th minute the Macc ‘keeper pulled off a stunning save to deny Christopher Bandell’s venomous shot across the face of goal.
Skipper Ben Cartwright and substitute Lewis Boyd then had opportunities to give Ashton the lead, yet the two sides went into the interval all-square on the back of a fairly flat first period.
The second half began in much the same manner as the first had ended, yet in the 52nd minute Matthew Reid was dismissed for an off-the-ball incident.
Macc’s numerical advantage then acted as a catalyst for a sustained period of pressure on the
Ashton goal. In the 57th minute Berry-McNally sent a pinpoint cross into the area - yet Dwyer’s goalbound header was turned around the post by Aspinall.
The visitors continued to press and would gain their rewards in the 64th minute when brilliant work by Aaron Dwyer down the right saw him lay the ball off to Kielen Adams - who made no mistake from close-range.
Danny Whitaker’s side then went in search of a second goal and were desperately unlucky not to secure it in the 73rd minute when Berry-McNally’s thunderbolt drive was acrobatically tipped over the bar by Aspinall.
The match was ultimately to be decided in a remarkable thirty seconds of play in the 82nd minute. It started when Dwyer launched another run down the right and after cutting inside, squared the ball to Adams who didn’t connect cleanly with it - allowing Aspinall to make a last-gasp stop.
Within seconds, the home side launched a rapid counter-attack that saw Ethan Beckford round Ben Pierce, before slamming the ball into the back of the net to restore parity.
Although Macc would lay siege to the Ashton goal in the closing stages, it proved to be too little, too late for The Silkmen who had to settle for a solitary point.
MACCLESFIELD FC:
Pierce, Hanson, Sekouba, Shead, Morrison, Mendy, Dwyer, Berry-McNally, Sanogo, Maieco, Adams. Subs: Fleming, Hodgson, Ajayi, Coker, Grimshaw.