The Silkmen fell to defeat at home in the Enterprise National League North for the first time in 2026 on Tuesday evening at the hands of table toppers AFC Fylde.
John Rooney made two changes to the side that turned over Kings Lynn Town at the same venue on Saturday afternoon with Rollin Menayese and Luis Lacey returning to the side in place of Kacper Pasiek and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts.
Lacey had the honours of the first chance of the evening having come back in to the starting XI, drilling a first time effort high and wide of Zac Jones’ upright.
Josh Kay entered the book early on for delaying the restart from a free kick on two occasions in quick succession, leaving the midfielder with minimal room for error before the end of the night.
There was otherwise little to split the sides in what was a tactical game of chess as we approached the midway point in the half.
It was then from out of the blue that the opener came courtesy of Jon Ustabasi, whose deflected effort found its way through a crowd of bodies and in to the far corner to give Fylde the lead after sixteen minutes.
Josh Kay tried his luck from range as the Silkmen sought an equaliser, though his off-balance effort flew wide of the mark. In a similar fashion, Paul Dawson let fly from distance, resulting in the same outcome after very few chances were split between the sides for the majority of the first 45, with a moment of brilliance appearing to be the likely option as the half way mark fast approached.
Luke Duffy came close to levelling proceedings in the final few minutes of the first half, holding fire on an initial shot to evade a body thrown in the way by the Fylde defence before seeing his low drive well held by Jones.
D’Mani Mellor also came inches away from drawing level as his deflected looped towards the target with Jones back-pedalling, sparing his blushes as he managed to tip over at the vital moment.
The equaliser eventually came seconds before the whistle as the Silkmen’s pressure began to tell as Paul Dawson exquisitely brought down a corner on his chest before producing a brilliant overhead kick which dropped stunningly in to the top corner!
With the score all square at the break, the Silkmen had responded brilliantly having seemingly beeen unable to find a way through a well drilled Fylde side, though Macc refused to roll over as they headed in to the second half with momentum in their favour.
Luis Lacey was full of energy as he danced his way through the Fylde defence soon after the restart, but Jones was equal to his eventual low effort, prior to Cameron Borthwick-Jackson being alive to the danger as the visitors responded, blocking a low drive from the edge of the area.
It was end to end stuff at the beginning of the second half as the Silkmen broke at pace through Luke Duffy who laid off for Dawson, allowing the ball to run for Kay whose shot was again blocked by a yellow shirt.
Down the other end once more, Ravenhill was called in to action to deny Tom Whelan, pushing his dipping effort on to the post with a mere fingertip as Fylde looked to reinstate their advantage.
There was no clear favourite as the half progressed with the Silkmen perhaps just edging proceedings as Kay provided a teasing cross from a tight angle which looped just over Jones’ crossbar.
Elliot Osborne was later booked for a blatant pull back as Fylde looked to break at speed, though the Silkmen couldn’t do anything to prevent a ball over the top, which reached danger man Danny Ormerod, who sent a half-volley whizzing past Ravenhill’s right hand in to the far corner to retake the lead.
Ravenhill almost instantly prevented Fylde from doubling their lead as he was forced to tip away substitute Luca Thomas’ first time effort from inside the 18 yard box.
James Gale replaced Elliot Osborne for the Silkmen as they added to their attacking intent with a second front man for the remaining 25 minutes.
Fylde’s first goalscorer Ustabasi then added his second and their third with twenty minutes to play as the Silkmen failed to clear their lines as he latched on to a low ball across the face of goal which he fired first time in to the roof of the net.
James Gale, looking to make an impression on the game since his introduction, flashed a cross in to the danger zone but it was comfortable for Jones as the Silkmen searched for a way back in to the game.
A further two changes were made by John Rooney as Luis Lacey and Rollin Menayese were replaced by Kacper Pasiek and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts respectively with just over fifteen minutes left on the clock.
Fylde added a fourth with twelve minutes to play as Danny Ormerod caught Rogan Ravenhill off his line from just inside his own half, floating a well weighted effort over the keeper and in to the gaping Macc goal, extending their lead to three.
Luke Duffy looked to get Macc back in to it moments later but blazed over from the edge of the area as the we entered the final ten minutes of regulation time.
A final two changes were made five minutes from time by Rooney as Luke Duffy and James Edmondson made way for Carlos Dos Santos and Mikey Stone.
Another five minutes were added at the end of the standard 90 with the final whistle not coming soon enough for the Silkmen on an evening to learn from at the Leasing.com Stadium.
Attendance: 2,790
MOTM: Paul Dawson
