Silkmen sink Mariners in table-topping clash
MACCLESFIELD secured a crucial three points on Saturday afternoon after coming away with a slender 2-1 victory in a top-of-the-table clash against Marine AFC.
The triad of goals all arrived in the opening 45 minutes, with Tunde Owolabi’s early opener being paired with a composed strike from John Rooney, before Josh Wardle halved the deficit on the very stroke of halftime.
Taking charge in his first game since joining the Silks two weeks ago, manager Michael Clegg made two changes to the side that were victorious against Ilkeston Town previously, with Joe Hilton and Sam Perry both earning respective debut starts.
A lively start saw chances at both ends arrive early, the first of which immediately called Hilton into action in order to deny Harvey Gregson’s drilled effort inside the area.
Down the opposing end, Rooney was able to pick out Laurant Mendy from a corner but, despite connecting well, the captain’s headed effort glanced just over the crossbar.
But just three minutes later, Macc were able to take the advantage following a piece of excellence from Owolabi.
After Perry headed an attempted clearance back towards the edge of the area, Owolabi spun his man before poking an intelligent outside-of-theboot finish past Bobby Jones to break the deadlock.
Marine then wasted no time in starting their search for a leveller after Finlay Sinclair-Smith spotted Hilton off his line, but his lobbed effort from a tight angle was well caught by the Silkmen ‘keeper who did well to recover.
Macc had a huge opportunity to double their lead after Neil Kengni stormed down the right flank in acres of space before getting the better of the only white shirt in sight, but when faced one-on-one with Hilton, his frustration was made evident after the conclusive effort soared over the bar.
Five minutes later, an equally huge chance was squandered again but from the visitors this time, after the ball dropped inside the six-yard area for Wardle, but his first-timed effort was launched over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
And they soon paid the consequences, with the hosts being able to benefit from their subsequent attack.
Admirable footwork from Drummond to turn his man inside and out allowed him to play square ball back to Rooney, who threaded a side-footed effort through the legs of Harvey Gregson and past the outstretched glove of Jones to give his side a comfortable lead with five minutes of the half remaining.
However Macc weren’t to enter the interval completely untroubled, with Wardle being able to pull one back for the Mariners.
Following an inswinging corner from the left, Wardle’s initial headed effort was clawed away by an outstanding fingertip save from Hilton yet, much to the goalkeeper’s misfortune, Wardle was able to unleash a thunderous rebound into the roof of the net from close range to half the deficit in the last kick of the first half.
It was the Silks who were back out from the break on the front foot, with Rooney looking to reinstate their two-goal lead but couldn’t trouble Jones after his drilled effort couldn’t make it past Gregson.
Clegg was then forced into making a double change Mendy and Tre Pemberton had taken to the surface with respective injuries.
The pair were replaced by Sam Heathcote and Lewis Fensome, however Fensome was only able to make it through three minutes of play before he too was forced off through injury.
The centre-half was replaced by debutant Dan Sweeney, who returns to the Silkmen after departing in June of last year to join Spalding United, before joining Alvechurch on loan where he scored four goals in six games.
The game had appeared to have lost any real momentum, with both sides appearing content with either holding or chasing possession.
The game followed this same cycle for the closing 10 minutes, including the seven minutes of stoppage time in which the Silks did their best to play out the clock and consequently securing the victory.
Macc will now look forward to Saturday 9th
March, where they will return to Isuzu FA Trophy action.
The side have now made it to the quarterfinals where they will host Southern Central Premier