Macclesfield FC have put down a marker for the new Northern Premier League West division season as they hammered National League North new boys Buxton 4-0 at the Leasing.com stadium.
Two goals from new signing Neil Kengni, while James Berry and Harry Bower got one each in the scorching Cheshire heat, and in truth, the Silkmen could have scored more goals if they wanted to.
Macclesfield had two good chances to open the scoring inside the opening five minutes of the game. The first effort of the match saw new signing Alex Curran put a chance just wide of Theo Richardson’s goal. While captain Laurent Mendy had a free kick deflected just wide of the goal shortly after that.
Over the summer Buxton were able to retain the services of last season’s top scorer Diego De Girolamo, and he had the Bucks’ best chance on 16 minutes when he got through on goal. However, Macclesfield goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga was able to save the effort with his outstretched leg, the Brazilian goalkeeper is on loan from FA Cup winners Liverpool and is highly rated by his parent club where has already featured on the bench four times.
Just as Buxton looked to be getting a foothold in the game, they had it taken away from them on 23 minutes when Macclesfield’s record signing Berry was allowed to run at the Buxton defence before hitting a ferocious shot which went straight through the hands of Richardson and into the back of the net. The goal was almost a carbon copy of the one that he scored at home to Ashton Athletic, which won the Silkmen promotion last season.
That goal took Macclesfield’s performance to the next level as they took the game to Buxton. Kengni was a constant thorn in the Bucks defence as he looked to run at their backline throughout the whole of the first half. He also had a couple of chances to score, but he put the efforts over Richardson’s crossbar.
However, he got his rewards just before half-time when he scored a similar goal to Berry’s when he ran at the Buxton defence before hammered a shot straight past Richardson who had no chance in saving the effort.
Following the break, it was more of the same as the hosts could have gone 3-0 up on 47 minutes when a moment of indecision from the Buxton defenders allowed Curran to sneak in and get a shot away. Sadly for Curran, it hit the crossbar and bounced away to safety.
However, just 10 minutes later, it was 3-0 when Kengni scored what was arguably the goal of the game. After some great work by Berry, he lofted the ball into the area to the former Marine man, who performed a phenomenal overhead kick that left players and spectators stunned by what they had just witnessed.
🎥 | Has Neil Kengni won our Goal of the Season Award already?
What a strike!!!!!! 🔥🔥🔥#PoweredByKeyAndEagle @KeyAndEagle pic.twitter.com/OUcNbQ5aql
— Macclesfield FC (@thesilkmen) July 16, 2022
The game started to peter out, which is normally what happens in these pre-season games until the 80th minute when Macclesfield got their fourth and final goal of the game. Former Witton Albion midfielder Harry Bower drove forward before hitting his effort into the bottom corner of the goal to put the icing on top of the Macclesfield cake.
It was a superb effort from Macclesfield, and it puts a marker down for the new season. Both teams were due to return to action on Tuesday night (Macclesfield v Matlock Town and Buxton v Barnsley), however, both ties have been called off due to the extreme weather we’re due to have this week.
After the game, I spoke to Macclesfield manager Danny Whitaker and you can hear what he had to say.
I also caught up with new Buxton manager Jamie Vermiglio and you can hear what he had to say about the game and how he is settling into life at the Silverlands stadium.
