The Silkmen continued their unbeaten run in pre-season on the road at Warrington Town on Tuesday evening, with first half Macc goals from Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and a trialist.
John Rooney rotated his squad for the midweek fixture with only Christian Dibble retaining his starting place from Saturday’s win against Wolves at the Leasing.com Stadium. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, Paul Dawson, Theo Chapman, Luis Lacey and Carlos Dos Santos came back in to the fold from the off alongside five trialists.
The hosts had the first opportunity of the evening inside 120 seconds with the Yellows’ skipper Alex McNally’s downward header directed on target, though was simple for Christian Dibble.
Having been active early on, Dibble required treatment just before the 15th minute mark, though was fortunately able to continue despite momentary concerns for his fitness.
The Silkmen shot-stopper was called upon once more to claim a looping header from the Ewan Bange, who was a focal point for the Yellows as a target man.
Trialist wearing 23 found himself in behind the Warrington defence on more than one occasion early on, but was also caught out by the offside flag in doing so on each of those.
The hosts continued to have the lions share of the chances in the opening stages as Jack Goodwin’s speculative effort flew just wide of Dibble’s far post.
It was somewhat against the run of play in fact that the Silkmen then took the lead on the half hour mark with their first real effort in anger on goal as Cameron Borthwick-Jackson nodded home Luis Lacey’s in-swung corner from close range.
It wasn’t without a response though from Town as they asked questions of Dibble once more, firstly through Reece Daly, whose fierce effort was well held by the big man between the posts before punching clear a cross as far as Jordan Scanlon, who blazed over from the edge of the area.
Theo Chapman had Macc’s best chance since the opener, glancing a header wide at the back post, which in turn was punished as Scanlon then levelled for the Yellows three minutes before the interval, finding the bottom corner with a half-volley after Macc failed to clear their lines.
The Silkmen’s lead was almost immediately reinstated though as trialist wearing 18 capitalised on a similar communication breakdown at the back for Warrington, allowing him the opportunity to power home in to the far corner from inside the area.
Macc retaking the lead proved to be the last action of the half, with alarm bells still ringing from Town’s equaliser, Rooney no doubt welcomed the opportunity to reinforce the importance of not switching off, though also praise the positive reaction to conceding.
Two changes were made at the break with goalscorer Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Christian Dibble replaced by Sam Heathcote and a trialist goalkeeper.
Town winger Reece Daly had his second attempt on goal of the evening shortly after the break, though couldn’t keep his attempt down directly from a free-kick, sailing well clear of the crossbar.
Rooney opted to make nine changes on the hour mark which saw the departure of Carlos Dos Santos, Luis Lacey, Theo Chapman, Paul Dawson and five trialists, in turn introducing Luke Duffy, Fin Shrimpton, Tom Wilson, Lincoln McFayden, Elliot Osborne, Jon Ustabasi, Ammar Dyer and trialist wearing nine.
It wasn’t long after the changes were rung that Warrington found an equaliser as Lewis Earl buried a header from a corner to restore parity for a second time midway through the half.
Shortly after his introduction, Ammar Dyer was on the receiving end of an overly rash challenge, which left the full back requiring treatment and was subsequently withdrawn as a precaution, which saw trialist wearing two rejoin the action for the final ten minutes.
Elliot Osborne had Macc’s best chance to re-take the lead late on, driving forward through the heart of the Warrington midfield before blazing over from distance.
With no further action at either end, the evening ended level, ensuring Macc retained their unbeaten run in pre-season, though the overwhelming feeling was one of disappointment having not managed to win the game.
MOTM: Christian Dibble
