Silkmen defeated in Cheshire FA Senior Cup quarter-final against Crewe Alexandra
Three first half goals and two in the second half saw Macclesfield eliminated from this seasons Cheshire Senior Cup at the Leasing.com Stadium.
The League Two side who currently sit fifth put pressure on Macclesfield and scored two goals in the first 25 minutes through Connor Evans. Tunde Owolabi halved the deficit nine minutes before half time finishing off a solo run striking the ball low into the goal.
With three minutes of additional time to play in the first half, defender Sam Heathcote had the ball in the back of the net, but his effort was ruled out due to offside. Crewe extended their lead once again and the referee blew for half-time.
Crewe started the second half quickly scoring once again this time through Lewis Leigh who scored from 10 yards out. Evans nearly completed his hat trick from the half-way line as his lob just went over Conor O’Keefe. Two minutes later Crewe added a fifth goal taking the game out of reach for Macclesfield. With 11 minutes left Nathan Beca headed a cross from Shay Watt to score a consolation goal late on.
Despite the loss there plenty of positives for the Silkmen to take away from the game with the introduction of younger players for example Shay Watt and Tobias Pearson both made their first senior appearances for the club. Head of Football Development Mark O’ Leary was pleased to see some BTEC Academy players have an impact on the game: “They were absolutely brilliant, Jamie started the game and played the full ninety and when Henry and Shay came on, I thought they were superb in what they did.
“Henry technically is a gifted player and Shay is exactly the same and put a hell of an assist in for Nathan’s goal so all over its brilliant.”
Macclesfield return to league action this weekend when they take on Bamber Bridge Saturday Leasing.com Stadium.
By Luke Johnson
