As is a saying in football, the scoreline doesn’t always tell the full story of a fixture, and in manager John Rooney’s eyes, this was applicable after Macclesfield’s 1-0 defeat at home to National League side Halifax Town on Saturday, July 19, where the 34-year-old thought his side were the more impressive.
“I thought for 90 minutes we were outstanding, I thought we were easily the better team.
“We had clear-cut chances, but the only thing that was missing was putting the ball in the back of the net.
“I told them (the team) how well they played, but it’s just that little bit of detail missing.
“I know their (Halifax’s) keeper pulled some ‘worldie’ saves off, but I thought the lads’ (Macclesfield FC’s) effort was outstanding,” said Rooney.
Considering the separation in ability on paper with the visitors playing in a division above the Silks, Rooney felt as though the team are in a ‘good place’ having put in a good performance against the Shaymen.
“It felt like a proper game before the game, it felt like we were going into a league game almost.
“To say they’re (Halifax) a league above us and got to the playoffs in that league last year, for us to show what we showed today, shows we are in a good place at the moment.
“Listen, we haven’t won the game, but against a team in the league above us, we gave them a run today, and we were by far the better team.”
With fitness and returns from injury a key focus point of any side’s preseason campaign, the Macclesfield boss was happy to get 90 minutes into a few of his players’ legs, whilst welcoming back ‘big’ players to the side.
“Luckily, today we got some lads doing 90 (minutes) and we had three lads back, who will be a big part of our team.
“We had Jo (Josef Yarney) back, Rollin (Rollin Menayese) fully fit, and Daws (Paul Dawson) back in there, and they will be three big players for us this year.
“You could hear them from the side(line) because they are so vocal, and I think that helps the team, and it was a big plus for us as well that we got through the game unscathed.”
Macclesfield return to the Leasing.com Stadium for an under-the-lights Tuesday night fixture on July 22 against Connah’s Quay Nomads, kick-off 7.45 pm.
By Ben Grundy
