Macclesfield  26  Hull Ionians  8

Macclesfield took another step towards league safety with this competent and compellable performance at Priory Park when once more they denied the opposition any points after the break to record a well deserved victory.

The game began on a bright and breezy spring afternoon with the Blues kicking off and after the usual early testing out of each other it was a Ross Winney penalty after fifteen minutes that opened the scoring and this came after he had struck an upright a few minutes earlier.  Ionians responded when James Ferguson slotted over a penalty on 22 minutes to level the scores and a wasted opportunity for the Blues went when an attacking line out in the Hull 22 was wasted.

However the Blues were not to be denied and shortly after they won a scrum against the head a good move involving several players put Nick Barker in the clear and he touched down wide out.  The conversion went adrift and Hull then came right back with an immediate response of their own with a try in the corner from wingman Dan Ulliott.

This also went unconverted and the sides went into the break level at 8-8 with honours even although initially the visiting pack looked strong the combined effort of the home eight gradually took the upper hand and this was to come to the fore in an excellent second half performance that saw the home side score 18 unanswered points.

Kicking off the second period Ionians missed an early opportunity to take the lead when Ferguson wqs wide after an obstruction by a Macclesfield player.  A Richard Hughes ‘charge down’ led to a period of Macclesfield pressure but in the end lost ball spoiled the attack.

After 15 minutes the Hull Scrum Half – James Greene – was yellow carded for a professional foul and the following Winney penalty put the Blues into a lead they were not to relinquish.  After 21 minutes it was wingman Nick Barker who crossed for his second try after good approach work and a deft final pass from Neil Keane on the overlap. Winney converted as he did a penalty soon afterwards to increase the lead to 21-8.

Fergus Mulchrone linking into the line was nicely fed by Ollie Hewitt to score wide out but the Winney conversion was wide but at 26-8 and just minutes to play it was a fourth try that beckoned and it was almost scored at the death after a long chase of the ball but the home attack was thwarted by a Hull defender who touched it down.

This was very much a team effort with many contenders for the award but this weeks ‘Man of the Match’ was hard working prop – Ben Latham.

Following the game Coach Steve Mannion said, “I was delighted with the second half performance which was by far the best since I took over.  One more small step to National League survival”

Team:

Latham, Moss, Collie, Brocklehurst, Keane, Kerr, Baines & Hewitt.  Rice, Winney, Duggan, Hughes, Davenport, Barker, Mulchrone.

Bench: Allen, Lear, Mursall & Newall