The Silkmen fell to defeat at South Shields on Tuesday night in their penultimate away fixture of the 2025/26 Enterprise National League North season.
John Rooney made two changes from the side the started on Saturday afternoon away at Merthyr Town, resulting in victory for the Silkmen, as Luis Lacey and Luke Duffy returning to the initial eleven, taking the places of Kacper Pasiek and James Gale respectively.
It was the worst possible start to the evening as they conceded inside two minutes as Sean McGurk met a low cross from the right at the back post, which cannoned back off said post, returning straight back in to the winger’s path for him to simply tap home inside 120 seconds.
It was less than three minutes later that Macc found themselves two goals behind as Paul Blackett doubled the hosts’ tally, picking up the ball in a dangerous, central position inside the Silkmen half, cut the defence in two, leaving the centre forward through on goal to place beyond Ravenhill and give the title chasers a two goal lead inside five minutes.
Matters weren’t helped as Luis Lacey picked up an early booking on the ten minute mark for a shirt pull, before Ravenhill made himself big to prevent the Mariners from going three up inside fifteen minutes.
Having avoided a further set back, the Silkmen were eventually able to regain some stability around the 20th minute as Isaac Buckley-Ricketts delivered an inviting cross, which was only met by Shields’ keeper Jasper Sheik.
Paul Dawson pulled one back on the 25th minute as Buckley-Ricketts capitalised on a mix-up at the back for the home side, pulling back for the Skipper who slammed home the opportunity that was too good to pass up, allowing Macc to retain a hand in the game as we approached the half hour mark.
Hopes of a turnaround were quickly dashed though as McGurk grabbed his second and the Mariners’ third just six minutes later, with Sonny Finch intercepting a heavy touch, racing through on goal before unselfishly squaring for McGurk to swiftly reinstate the Mariners’ two goal lead.
The Silkmen weren’t for giving up though as Duffy drove forward once more at the heart of the South Shields defence, before placing an effort from the edge of the area just wide of Sheik’s far post.
Having already attained one assist, Finch then almost got in on the act with a goal for himself to put the game beyond all doubt before the half was over, though Ravenhill was on hand to impressively deny the lively winger.
Two minutes were added at the end of the half, though no further action ensued to affect the scoreline, leaving the Silkmen with a mountain to climb in the second 45.
One change was made at the interval by John Rooney as Kacper Pasiek took the place of Luis Lacey for the second half which once restarted, almost immediately required the attention of Rogan Ravenhill on two more occasions in quick succession to deny South Shields from putting the result beyond all doubt.
Shields thought they’d got their elusive fourth goal moments later as McGurk’s ball in to the corridor of uncertainty was met by Blackett at the back post, though again was kept out by Ravenhill, producing yet another impressive save.
Dawson looked to double his tally and halve the deficit with a speculative effort from an in-direct free kick at range, though his first time, hard-hit drive flew wide of Sheik’s upright.
It was just after the hour mark that the Mariners consolidated victory with a fourth goal courtesy of Sonny Finch, picking the ball up from a well-timed through ball round the corner from Blackett for the winger to sprint on to without breaking stride and smash beyond Ravenhill.
Four further changes ensued for the Silkmen, two either side of Rollin Menayese picking up a booking for a shirt pull mid-way through the second period, James Edmondson, Elliot Osborne, Josh Kay and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts were withdrawn, with Anjola Popoola, James Gale, Theo Chapman and Harry McHugh taking their places, the latter of which for his Silkmen debut.
Unfortunately, the impact of the changes were limited by the result effectively denying the Silkmen a way back in to the game late on, although half time substitute Pasiek did have an attempt on goal from a tight angle deep in to six minutes of stoppage time, almost flummoxing Sheik, though did just enough to prevent Macc grabbing a consolation second.
The referee signalled the end of the contest with the full time whistle, bringing a disappointing evening to an end in the North East for the Silkmen, requiring a reaction when we return home to the Leasing.com Stadium on Saturday afternoon to face Spennymoor Town, searching for a positive result to keep hopes of finishing in third place alive.
Attendance: 2,285
MOTM: Rogan Ravenhill
