The Silkmen secured back to back victories in the Enterprise National League North with a 2-1 victory against Darlington at Blackwell Meadows on Saturday afternoon, courtesy of a Danny Elliott brace.
John Rooney made just one change to the side that took all three points from our last game against Brackley Town at the Leasing.com Stadium, which saw Cameron Borthwick-Jackson return to the side in place of the injured Lincoln McFayden.
It was a fairly slow start to proceedings in the North East with minimal chance for both sides in the opening phase, though the Silkmen quickly asserted their authority on the tie by controlling the tempo and the possession in the first fifteen minutes.
Adan George thought he’d grabbed the opening goal of the afternoon when Luke Duffy deftly brought down a ball over the top before squaring for George who rifled in to the roof of the net, only to see the flag up adjacent to his position.
Having been denied the first of the afternoon by the flag seconds early, the hosts immediately struck the first blow, capitalising on a mix-up at the back and took the opportunity to catch a not yet reset Macc side slightly off-guard, resulting in Dylan Stephenson rounding the stranded Christian Dibble before slotting home in to an empty net after sixteen minutes.
Ammar Dyer sought revenge shortly after when George Wilson’s pull-back, initially intended for Adan George, found its way through to the full-back who attempted to cheekily chip goalkeeper Bobby Jones in the Darlington goal, though the dinked effort landed on top of the net, covered by the man between the posts.
Mark Beck, who was a focal point for the hosts caused the Macc back line a number of issues with his strength and arial threat, often the target of long balls towards the box, and in this instance almost doubled Darlington’s lead as he managed to prod beyond Dibble with the ball falling kindly to him after brief pinball on the edge of the Macc box, though couldn’t keep his effort on target at full-stretch.
Tom Henson also had a relatively straight forward chance to put the hosts two up, though couldn’t keep his headed attempt down which was only ever rising over Dibble’s crossbar.
There was an extended pause in play just before the break with Darlington a goal to the good as George Wilson required treatment for a knock to the face amidst challenging for the ball, which forced him off before the interval and was replaced by Danny Elliott.
After three additional minutes, primarily for the most recent stoppage, the hosts went in to the break one up with work to do for Macc in the second 45.
Elliott immediately made his presence felt inside the Darlington area after the restart, as he backed in to the defence before going to ground, with penalty appeals ensuing though not given by referee Lewis Dawson.
It wasn’t long though before Danny made his mark on the game as he returned to the scoresheet in the 51st minute, much to his and all associated with the Silkmen’s delight as he calmly rolled home off the far post from Luke Duffy’s through ball, opening his account for the new campaign with a first goal since December of last year due to a major injury lay-off.
Ethan Fitzpatrick thought he’d restored the hosts lead as his curling effort left Dibble rooted to the spot and could only watch the ball cannon back off his far post ten minutes after Elliott’s leveller.
Having weathered the storm of Darlington biting back, dangerously, Elliott had quickly got back in the groove and picked up where he left off last season, determined as ever with his sights firmly set on another goal and got just that as he positioned himself perfectly to latch on to Ammar Dyer’s pull back and slide home from close range to turn the game on it’s head and double both his and Macc’s tally for the day.
There was more defensive work required following Danny’s double with Darlington once again looking to peg Macc back, though were unable to thanks to courageous shifts from Tom Wilson and Sam Heathcote in the centre of defence to deny the Quakers any hope of drawing back level.
John Rooney made his second change of the afternoon with four minutes to play as Matty Apter replaced Adan George to make his Silkmen debut having been announced as a new signing for the Club just hours before kick off.
Christian Dibble ensured he and his defensive associates remained firmly switched on in the closing stages with the hosts piling on the pressure in the search for an equaliser, and made himself big with a minute of regulation time remaining to prevent the locals from bursting in to celebration.
Five minutes were added at the end of the 90 with Macc managing to cling on to all three points thanks to a remarkable defensive performance from all in blue in a moment of need in the dying seconds of the game to ensure the Silkmen headed home and in to the second part of their Bank Holiday weekend double header joint top with leaders and next opponents Hebburn Town at the Leasing.com Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
Attendance: 1,524
MOTM: Danny Elliott
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