Danny demanding Silkmen response
THE Silkmen were looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season as they entertained Tadcaster Albion in the FA Trophy as the Express went to press.
Witton Albion emerged victorious at the U Lock It Stadium when they played host to Danny Whitaker’s side last week, winning 1-0 and ending the Silkmen’s winning start to the Northern Premier League West Division.
After a first half that was dominated by the defences, the home side broke the deadlock in the 64th minute when Joe Duckworth fired home from close-range.
Despite enjoying a number of guilt-edged chances to restore parity, Witton ‘keeper Ollie Martin was in fine form – making a string of phenomenal saves to preserve his side’s lead.
Macc were due to face Tadcaster at the weekend but the game was postponed as a mark of respect to Queen Elizabeth II.
The tie was rescheduled for midweek with Whitaker calling for a response from his squad.
“We were bitterly disappointed. You don’t go into games of football to lose the game, you are going out to win at all costs,” he said.
“I said to the players afterwards, it’s how you bounce back now, it’s how you react, regroup and go again because that’s all you can do, pick yourselves up and go again, come out fighting.
“I thought in the first half we were okay in certain aspects, though we only had the one real chance in the first half.
“We didn’t create enough but we weren’t under any serious pressure or threat during that first half and we changed a few things and came out for the second half and started very brightly. We were on the front foot, moving the ball around, getting down the sides and putting them under serious pressure.
“But at the end of the day that doesn’t matter now because we’ve lost the game.
“We were very reactive in the first half instead of being proactive and looking to really pick up those second balls in the middle of the park and just stop them playing.
“We sat off them in certain instances and that made it a little bit easier for them to have a bit of control, but then they didn’t really threaten our goal on that side of it.
“We know we are a fit team and we will come on strong in the second half – whether that’s them thinking ‘well, we won’t go full at it for the first half, we’ll stay in the game, stay in control and try to put the teams that we’re playing against under pressure, try to score, obviously, and then look to open up even more as they tire in the second half’, I don’t know.
“We spoke before and after the game about starting at a high tempo, getting on the front foot and really putting them under pressure. We did it in certain instances but just not enough.”
Whitaker was disappointed his side didn’t test the keeper enough.
“It was just decision making. When you do get into those areas it’s that final ball, either linking up to play the extra pass or getting down the sides and then putting crosses in from the byeline which are harder to defend than deeper ones.
“That’s all it is really, because we got into some good areas but then it was decision making and bodies in the box, the desire to get in the box and score.
“We’d started the second half very well, on the front foot, causing them serious problems.
“We didn’t create too many openings off the back of that but we were putting them under serious pressure and you could only see one team going on to win the game – but unfortunately, decision making in both boxes determines who wins the game sometimes. Poor decisions in our box led to their goal. That’s the downside. It’s recognising danger and ‘what if’.”
The players responded to conceding the goal but fell short in their search for an equaliser.
“We did have a couple of really good chances, so it’s not like we fell into our shell and didn’t create anything. We did go back at them and on another day we will score with the chances we created,” he said.
“Nicky Maynard has had a fantastic chance, you’d have put his house on him to tuck it away and the keeper’s got something on it. Lewis Fensome has a free header at the back post late on, a diving header and the keeper’s come out of nowhere and made an unbelievable save.
“Andy Owens also had a fantastic opportunity – he’s just got too much on it and it’s gone over. You look at that and from that perspective we have created and we’ve still put them under pressure.
“But if desicion making in both boxes is not quite on it you are going to fall short.”
Despite not being at their best, the Macc boss still felt his side were worth a share of the spoils.
“I’d say we deserved a point on the balance of play – first half, there was nothing in it, Marcelo had one save to make and we’ve created a few half chances,” he said. “Decision making, if it was a lot, lot better, might have allowed us to create a few more.
“And then second half we’ve come out totally on top, created a couple of really good opportunities and then obviously the sloppy goal – I thought it was lazy in all aspects.
“Firstly to give the foul away, that was really soft and we should be working harder to stay on our feet. Then the ball into the box should have been dealt with by the defenders but they couldn’t because Marcelo has made a decision, but then in the second phase after that, we should have dealt with it a lot better.
“But we can’t do anything about that now.”