The Silkmen’s second league game of the season and first on the road was one to savour, as a short trip to Leek Town resulted in a convincing victory.
Manager Danny Whitaker was forced into making two changes from the side that started the season at home to Clitheroe on Saturday – as the injured Neil Danns and Jacob Hanson were replaced by Tre Pemberton and Nicky Maynard respectively.
The Silkmen experienced a challenging opening forty-five minutes as they became accustomed to a new environment, surface and opposition, with Leek running on adrenaline from the off.
Macclesfield showed glimpses of the attacking prowess we know they are capable of, with Brandon Lee, James Berry and Neil Kengni all looking threatening within the first period.
The match was goalless at the interval however, with both defences dominating the first 45 minutes.
It was the hosts that were quickest out of the traps at the start of the second half, with Trickett-Smith posing a threat on multiple occasions before eventually getting the better of Pitaluga as he flicked on from a corner at the near post which had the beating of everyone in Macc colours.
Fortunately, it wasn’t long until the Silkmen were gifted an equaliser, as Josh Ryder sliced an attempt at a rushed clearance into his own net.
The tides quickly began to turn and with Leek on the back foot, Whitaker added more fire-power to his side with Tom Clare and Joe Bunney introduced in place of James Berry and Neil Kengni.
Macc’s determination to turn the game round was eventually rewarded when Nicky Maynard converted Tre Pemberton’s cross from close-range.
Now all Macclesfield, it was simply a case of damage limitation for Leek as the Silkmen only seemed to grow stronger in their attacking presence.
Just as Leek looked to have managed to keep the deficit to one, Laurent Mendy drove forwarded and created space for a shot which was spilled by Booth and Maynard was on hand to slam home the rebound to make sure of all three points.
The Silkmen ended the evening top of the table, having taken a maximum six points from the opening two league games
Macclesfield FC: Pitaluga, Pemberton, Lee, Fensome, Cowan, Mendy, Kengni (Clare 69), Curran (Bower 85), Maynard, Duffy, Berry (Bunney 69)
Subs not used: Fryers, Grimshaw
Attendance: 2024
By Will Jones.
