The Silkmen battled their way through near monsoon conditions to a 2-0 victory away at Alfreton Town last night, the score settled by goals from Isaac Buckley-Ricketts and James Gale
John Rooney made two changes to the side that beat Hereford by the same margin on Saturday afternoon at the Leasing.com Stadium with Lewis Fensome and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson taking the starting places of Luke Matheson and Anjola Popoola.
It was immediately clear that the weather would be a significant factor in the progress of the evening as from minute one, the conditions impacted the ability for both sides to display their quality and carry out their intended game plans, though already mindful of a tricky night ahead.
Challenges went flying in early on with the soggy surface lending itself to well executed slide tackles, though the first to be mis-timed was punished as Kieron Freeman was shown the game’s first yellow card, leaving James Gale in a heap on the deck.
Lewis Fensome was alive to the threat posed by the hosts in the opening stages as the full-back cleared Billy Fewster’s low cross away from danger on his return to the starting XI.
Isaac Buckley-Ricketts similarly showed signs of promise from the off, as his low cross from the left narrowly evaded a number of onrushing mix of blue and red shirts rushing in to the area to meet the cross in attempts to clear and convert respectively.
Luke Duffy was the first to test Alfreton goalkeeper Charlie Casper as his powerful drive across goal was tipped over in caution with the Silkmen’s intentions clear inside the opening ten minutes.
It was Buckley-Ricketts who found the break through mid-way through the half, cutting in from the left in trademark fashion before letting fly, and his well-struck effort found it’s way through a number of bodies inside the area and in to the far corner.
Elliot Osborne went in to the book not long after Buckley-Ricketts’ opener for a late challenge in an attempt to recover the ball from a deep lying midfield position.
James Edmondson led the charge as the Silkmen went in search of a second before the break, but saw his low cross well held by Casper between the posts.
One minute was added at the end of the half, during which neither side were able to further affect the game in the challenging conditions, leaving the Silkmen with a slender lead at the interval.
Luke Duffy was the first to test Casper after the restart, just as he was in the first half, though again the Alfreton number one came out on top from the ongoing duel between the two.
Alfreton half time substitute Josh Clackstone came close to pulling the home side level minutes later when his free-kick, which he managed to get up and over the wall effectively, dropped just over Ravenhill’s crossbar, though the Silkmen shot-stopper had the effort covered comfortably.
James Gale was a handful for the reds’ backline as he posed a physical challenge to contain, playing largely with his back to goal occasionally managing to spin his man before getting a shot off, just as he did just before the hour mark, though saw his attempt well blocked by Cummings on that occasion.
Alfreton weren’t for giving up on their quest to get level as Ravenhill had to have his wits about him to deny Lewis Salmon an equaliser at his near post.
It was end-to-end stuff at the Solana Stadium in the second half as Paul Dawson then connected cleanly with a ball laid back to him from inside the area, which stung the palms of Casper, unable to double the Silkmen’s lead as yet.
It was Gale though who did just moments later as he was set perfectly by Isaac Buckley-Ricketts to charge on to a well-weighted through ball before lashing beyond Casper at his near post to ensure all three points would return with the Silkmen to Macclesfield.
A triple change was made by Rooney in the aftermath of Gale’s insurance policy strike as Anjola Popoola, Rollin Menayese and Theo Chapman took the places of scorer Gale, Luis Lacey and Luke Duffy for the closing stages.
Five minutes were added at the end of regulation time, during which the score remained settled as the Silkmen fought their way to another hard earned three points in Derbyshire.
Following back-to-back victories, Macc now have a seven day recovery period due to Southport’s progression to the Semi-Final of the Isuzu FA Trophy, before heading to Hereford for our next Enterprise National League North fixture away at Edgar Street next Tuesday evening.
Attendance: 683
MOTM: Isaac Buckley-Ricketts
