New signing Luke Duffy came off the bench to secure an opening day triumph for the Silkmen on Saturday afternoon in Bradford.
The game began as you would expect, with Macclesfield looking the more likely team to open the scoring in the first 10 minutes of the contest.
And the early Silkmen pressure paid off in the 13th minute after 30 passes Laurent Mendy made a mazy run through the midfield and accurately found the feet of Alex Curran.
The Macclesfield number 10 then turned his marker and made no mistake by slotting the ball past the oncoming Bradford goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
The one goal advantage enabled Mark Duffy’s men to settle into a rhythm and control the game as they desired, and had another chance through Curran in the 24th minute, but his cushioned half volley whistled narrowly wide of the post.
Curran continued to be the main threat for the visitors, and looked for his brace multiple times towards the end of the first half, the latest of which was a well blocked shot from just inside the box.
Kane Drummond had a brilliant chance to double The Silkmen’s lead just before the interval, but he decided to square the ball to Tom Peers, who unfortunately lost his footing and with that the chance fizzled out
Macclesfield went into half-time with a well deserved 1-0 lead, a score line that flattered their opponents somewhat.
Mark Duffy began the second half by replacing Neil Kengni with new signing Luke Duffy and he made an immediate impact during his cameo.
Alex Curran turned provider to set up Duffy’s debut goal, with some lovely footwork on the right hand side, before clipping a cross over to the back post where the new man was waiting to nod home his first goal for The Silkmen to make it 2-0 with 20 minutes to go.
Macclesfield looked for the third goal to wrap up the game and very nearly did through Peers, who was set up by Duffy with a lovely cross, but the Macclesfield number 9 couldn’t quite steer his header on target.
Peers had another very similar chance a few minutes later. This time it was Drummond who provided the accurate delivery, and although Peers’ header was on target this time, it didn’t seem to trouble the Bradford shot stopper
There was a slight cause for concern in the last 20 minutes for The Silkmen, when Tre Pemberton was forced off due to an injury. The Macclesfield right back was brilliant all afternoon and all Silkmen fans will hope he will return as soon as possible.
But on the whole it was a positive afternoon for Mark Duffy and his players as the referee brought an end to a brilliant first afternoon back in the Non Premier League.
The Silkmen welcome Matlock Town to the Leasing.com stadium on Tuesday for the first home game of the new season, and Mark Duffy and his players will want to build on Saturday’s victory and gain some momentum for a busy start to this season.
By Kallum Bates
