The Silkmen battled their way to a 4-2 victory away at Worksop Town on Saturday afternoon thanks to two goals a piece from Luke Duffy and D’Mani Mellor.
John Rooney named a side more closely resembling the one that dispatched Oxford City at the Leasing.com Stadium last Saturday as opposed to the selection that fell to a narrow defeat at Woking in the Isuzu FA Trophy on Tuesday night as James Edmondson was replaced by Elliot Osborne in the startling line-up.
Just six minutes in to the afternoon the home side capitalised on a sluggish Silkmen start as Lewis Whitham produced a piece of individual brilliance, cutting inside and firing beyond Dearnley from the edge of the area, instantly alerting Macc to the task at hand.
Paul Dawson almost found himself on the scoresheet for a third time in as many weeks as his guided header back across goal from Luke Duffy’s deep cross cannoned back off the post with eleven minutes on the clock as the Silkmen immediately went in search of a leveller.
That equaliser came just three minutes later as the roles were reversed with Dawson providing a well-weighted through ball for Duffy to latch on to and smash beyond Lewis Forshaw on the half-volley to restore parity.
The equally in-form Paul Dawson and D’Mani Mellor both came close to turning the game on its head within ten minutes of Macc’s initial response, though were both unable to make a difference to the scoreline.
Sam Heathcote, a consistent rock in the centre of defence alongside Rollin Menayese, had his work cut out, battling continuously throughout the afternoon with Worksop target man Jordan Burrow, exchanging firm but fair blows which each eventually required them both to receive treatment midway through the half.
It was just before the half hour mark that Luke Duffy struck again to spin the game in Macc’s favour, firing low and hard beyond Forshaw allowing the Silkmen to soon assume the ascendancy.
In amongst a physical battle across the pitch, Luke Matheson and Sam Sanders were next to collide, causing another stoppage and Sanders, who came off worst from the accidental altercation to be replaced by Bailey Gooda just before the break.
The Silkmen headed in to the break one goal in front after eight minutes of additional time, though recognising their work was far from done with Worksop desperately wanting revenge.
That vengeance was soon sought as Burrow, who’d been a thorn in the side of the Silkmen defence all afternoon popped up with a prodded finish from close range five minutes after the restart to peg Macc back and level proceedings with the majority of the half still to come.
Max Dearnley was alive to the threat posed by wide man Whitham as he attempted to replicate his impressive first half strike from distance, though Dearnley was equal to the danger second time round,
The hosts then thought they’d got themselves in front seven minutes after their equaliser, only to be denied by the referee’s whistle for a foul in the build up.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson took the place of Luis Lacey in a like-for-like change on the hour mark as the Silkmen looked to freshen up their options for the closing stages.
In a similar vain, fellow full-back Luke Matheson was switched out for Lewis Fensome six minutes later with the new pairing looking to nullify the threats from out wide and provide fresh legs going forward.
Josh Kay’s strike from the edge of the area was the first in anger since the score was levelled as Macc began to look like the livelier outfit of the two with twenty minutes to play.
Isaac Buckley-Ricketts thought he’d won it for the Silkmen with fifteen minutes to play, turning home Luke Duffy’s low cross from point blank range, only to be denied by the offside flag.
It wasn’t long before that evasive third goal was eventually sourced by D’Mani Mellor on 79 minutes, getting the final touch on Elliot Osborne’s inviting delivery from a dangerous free-kick.
James Edmondson entered the fray in the aftermath of Mellor’s magical moment, replacing Isaac Buckley-Ricketts after an impressive shift out wide.
Mellor then made sure of the the points for the Silkmen as Paul Dawson threaded the eye of the needle to leave Mellor one-on-one with Forshaw, unfazed by the pressure, the front man calmly rolled the ball between the legs of the goalkeeper to add his second and Macc’s fourth to all but confirm back-to-back league victories for Macc.
Josh Kay and Luke Duffy were both replaced by Mikey Stone and Carlos Dos Santos in stoppage time as John Rooney looked to sure things up, swapping tired legs for fresh in the dying seconds before the points were confirmed as the Silkmen’s by the final whistle.
A trip to Peterborough lies in wait for Macc where they’ll look to make it three from three in the Enterprise National League North, in which we are currently situated 9th.
Attendance: 1,110
MOTM: Luke Duffy
