A late Luke Duffy goal helped Robbie Savage’s Silkmen pick up a big three points on the opening day of the season over Worksop Town.
In a game with few chances, it took until the 89th minute for the deadlock to be broken as new addition Justin Johnson was freed down the right to deliver to Duffy to stab home from close range.
The Silkmen were initially denied the winner by the linesman’s flag, but after discussions with the referee, Tom Clare was adjudged to not be impacting play from an offside position and the goal was awarded.
Duffy was one of Robbie Savage’s main outlets in forward positions and should have scored moments prior, but his shot hit the side netting from close range after strong work from Johnson and Clare.
The hosts had much the better of the play for large parts of the first half with Aleks Starcenko coming close on two separate occasions within the first half hour, but couldn’t find a way past Max Dearnley in the Silkmen net.
Efforts from former Silkman Hamza Bencherif and centre half partner Luke Shiels were the only other chances that The Tigers came up with, but a resolute defensive display from Macc kept the hosts at bay.
It was a courageous display from The Silkmen backline with Paul Dawson, Laurent Mendy and the returning Sam Heathcote dealing with Worksop’s long ball approach comfortably.
In a game where many could have considered it the hardest possible start, a win over last season’s Semi Final opponent got us off to the best possible start ahead of welcoming Prescot Cables on Tuesday night.