The Silkmen secured their third successive victory in the Enterprise National League North away at Hereford on Tuesday night at Edgar Street thanks to a Paul Dawson double.
John Rooney made just one change to the side that defeated Alfreton seven days prior at the Solana Stadium, with Luke Matheson taking the starting place of Lewis Fensome.
It was a cagey start to the affair at Edgar Street with each side cautious in not wanting to give the other an early opportunity to take the lead. James Gale was the main threat for the Silkmen in the opening stages, though the hosts were able to keep the target man at bay following a flurry of attempts on goal inside the first ten minutes.
Wide men Isaac Buckley-Ricketts and Luke Duffy almost combined on the fifteen minute mark when the former very nearly found the latter with a low cross which flashed across the face of the onrushing opposite winger, though couldn’t quite connect with the inviting cross at full stretch.
Paul Dawson almost forced an own goal from Kyle Howkins three minutes later when his dangerous cross was headed behind for a corner, though almost in to his own net at the near post.
Referee Jacob Viera stepped in to keep a lid on proceedings when James Edmondson was the most recent of a number of Silkmen players to be floored by the home side, before being abruptly ordered to return to his feet by the offender Lawson D’ath, which naturally wasn’t taken to kindly by the loanee midfielder, with Viera quickly regaining control before the situation could escalate.
Dawson was once again on the front foot just after the half hour mark, though couldn’t keep his rising effort on target before James Gale looked to spin his man and get a shot off on the turn, though was denied the opportunity in the depths of the danger zone.
Rogan Ravenhill’s first involvement came in the later stages of the half, as he was able to gather a low drive from Cormac Daly’s first real effort in anger for the home side.
Isaac Buckley-Ricketts piled the pressure on the Bulls right back Joseph James throughout the half, eventually forcing a mistake from the full back, reaping rewards for his relentless chasing, which earned the Silkmen a corner, though couldn’t convert despite a consistent flow of dangerous deliveries from Luke Duffy and James Edmondson.
It was goalless at the break with neither side able to find a breakthrough with work to do and messages to make the difference taken on at the interval.
It didn’t take long after the restart before the deadlock was broken as the Captain, who’d been at the centre of the action for the majority of the evening so far, rose highest to meet Luke Duffy’s on the money corner, heading home at the far post to give the Silkmen a vital lead.
Luis Lacey almost doubled Macc’s lead just five minutes later as his deflected effort looped over the top and landed on the roof of Richardson’s net.
Sam Heathcote instigated a stoppage moments later as he was taken ill during the game and despite initially insisting he was ok to continue, was soon after replaced by Rollin Menayese in the Silkmen’s first change of the night after 67 minutes.
Isaac Buckley-Ricketts had the best opportunity of all to put the result beyond considerable doubt as he was fed clean through, but couldn’t beat Richardson from close range.
The missed opportunity was very nearly punished as Matt Preston’s looping header came back off the far post from a deep Hereford corner, though the Silkmen survived the scare with twenty minutes to play.
Another change was made by John Rooney thirteen minutes from time as Lewis Fensome replaced Luke Duffy who was replaced as a precaution having picked up a knock.
The Silkmen faithful thought Macc had added a spectacular second nine minutes before the end as Luis Lacey’s free kick curled narrowly wide of Richardson’s far post, which looked very as though it had nestled in the corner from the away end to muted cheers.
A further change ensued with six minutes remaining as Kacper Pasiek was introduced in place of Luke Matheson to help see the game out in the closing stages.
The cautionary moves were somewhat discounted though as James Edmondson executed a perfectly timed sliding tackle to win the ball back and create a Silkmen counter attack led by Paul Dawson who drove forward alone before letting fly from distance which flew beyond Richardson and in off the far post to double his and Macc’s tally four minutes from the end of the regulation 90.
Two final Silkmen subs were made either side of a minimum of eight minutes indicated by fourth official Daniel Ellis, as Anjola Popoola and Theo Chapman replaced James Gale and Luis Lacey respectively.
Despite another late scare with Mikey Lane’s placed strike crashing back off Ravenhill’s far post for a second time, the result was wrapped up thanks to a gritty team performance and Paul Dawson double.
The Silkmen now look ahead to their third successive away fixture in search of a fourth successive win away at Buxton on Good Friday.
Tickets for the local derby remain available HERE in limited quantities with 1,000 away tickets already sold.
Attendance: 2,403
MOTM: Paul Dawson
