Macclesfield FC were left frustrated as they had their lead at the top of the Northern Premier League West division cut to just three points as 1874 Northwich made the relatively short journey back to mid-Cheshire with all three points as Mackenzie O’Neill’s goal after less than 60 seconds of play was enough to give the greens all three points.
The game wasn’t even a minute old when O’Neill followed in after goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga had parried Joe Woolley’s header. It was quick thinking from the former Wigan Athletic academy player as no Macclesfield defender reacted to the save from Pitaluga, they stood like they were playing a game of musical statues and someone had just paused the music.
O’Neill then had two more chances to add to his goal inside the opening 20 minutes of the game. The first saw him get on the end of a long free kick but was to put the effort wide of the goal. While the second saw a poor clearance from Pitaluga fall straight at his feet, however, his effort went straight into the grateful hands of the young goalkeeper.
Macclesfield meanwhile were reduced to half chances from distance as James Berry and Neil Danns both fired over Tony Aghayere’s goal. It was a mark of how well 1874 Northwich defended to ensure that the hosts couldn’t work a killer ball into their penalty area.
Last season Josh Quarless was a menace for many sides in the Northern Premier League for City of Liverpool, this season he has swapped the purple of City of Liverpool for the Green of 1874 Northwich and, he should have made it 2-0 on 36 minutes when Fenton Green burst out of the visitor’s defence before working the ball over to O’Neill who whipped the ball to the back post only for Quarless to head wide of the target.
At the interval Macclesfield manager Danny Whitaker and his mentor, Sammy McIlroy must have really got into their players at the break because they came out with more urgency to their play and could have been level on 49 minutes when Danns struck an effort from the edge of the area which rattled the woodwork and left Agheyere rooted to the spot, the ball must have rebounded off the keeper as the referee gave a corner. From the resulting corner, Laurent Mendy headed the ball straight at Agheyere.
They really should have been level on 67 minutes when Agheyere dropped a cross at the feet of Danns, and both he and Nicky Maynard saw their shots blocked just in front of the goal line before Maynard put the ball over the bar and into the Star Lane End of the ground.
Just a few minutes later, Berry released Maynard, who raced in on goal and looked certain to equalise, but once again Macclesfield found their route to goal blocked by Agheyere who was in top form between the sticks for 1874 Northwich.
However, Macclesfield were left wondering how they weren’t awarded a penalty with 10 minutes to go when Mark Duffy was seemingly dragged down in the penalty area by one of the visiting defenders. With some 3,400 Macclesfield fans expecting referee Tom Wall to point to the spot, the referee didn’t so much as raise a muscle and allowed the game to continue.
The last real chance of the game saw Maynard put a glancing header from Tre Pemberton’s cross, just wide of the goal and, with that it felt like Macclesfield’s chance of nicking a point had gone.
It was a frustrating result for the Silkmen who had an opportunity to put a bit of daylight between themselves and the chasing pack at the top of the table even at this early stage in the season. However, we must give credit to 1874 Northwich who came to the Leasing.com stadium not only to sit back and defend for their lives like some teams will do, but also to attack Macclesfield when they could and thoroughly deserved the victory.
After the game, I spoke to Macclesfield manager Danny Whitaker to get his thoughts on the game.
Macclesfield FC: Pitaluga, Pemberton, Lee, Fensome, Mendy, Murphy, Kengni (Clare, 69), Danns (Bunney, 69), Curran (Maynard, 60), Duffy and Berry.
Unused subs: Grimshaw and Hanson.
1874 Northwich: Agheyere, Buckley, Heywood, Fenton, Jones, Green, J. Woolley, M. Woolley, Quarless, Irlam (Gardner, 63) and O’Neill.
Unused subs: Woods, Marrow and Crawford.
Attendance: 3,597 (196 away fans)
