Halifax 13   Macclesfield  13

After the euphoria of the Fylde result the previous week Macclesfield’s inability to perform ‘on the road’ cost dear as a motivated Halifax side gained their first points of the campaign with a spirited display that belied their previous form in Three North.

Macclesfield kicked off and after a scrappy beginning it was Ross Winney with a penalty on five minutes that opened the scores and with the visiting eight looking good in the mauls the initial signs were good for the Blues but the home defence held firm and in deed Halifax took the game to Macclesfield with some ten minutes of intense pressure in the Blues 22 which was eventually cleared and the game was taken back into home territory.

Winney was adrift with a penalty after 21 minutes but when the ‘Fax kicker missed a touch kick the Blues attacked and Hooker - Peter Allen – sold a nice dummy to cross the line unopposed for Winney to add the two and things looked on track for a victory at 10-0 up.

Macclesfield throughout the game were collectively guilty of losing ball in good positions and from one such incident the Halifax threes passed the ball quickly along the line to give powerful wing man – Oli Marns – the opportunity to crash over wide out.

As the interval approached there was an exchange of penalties with Iain Gordon closing the gap to 10-8 after 37 minutes with Winney slotting over his second to give Macclesfield a slight 13-8 interval lead.

With the season’s form one might have expected Halifax to wilt in the second half but that was anything but the case and the half was just minutes old when Marns crossed for his second try after a break from Gareth Brear. The conversion went adrift but at 13-13 with 36 minutes left it was all to play for.

Both sides had try scoring opportunities and after a rare threequarter move Macc wing Joshua Fowles was unfortunate to be pulled back for allegedly stepping on the whitewash en route to touch down which only the Touch Judge saw and the home side also were pulled back when a forward pass spoiled a try scoring move as the game closed.

In the end Macclesfield had to be satisfied with a couple of points but they will wonder just where it all went wrong against a side who had lost their Coach the previous week but which had character by the bus load on the day and who thoroughly deserved their first points of the campaign.

Geoff Wappett – following the game said, “It is disappointing that our ‘Away’ form is not as good as at Priory Park – we don’t exercise the control we have at Priory Park. We played indifferently in the first half but don’t forget that this is still a new side with high expectations”

Team:

Mulchrone, Lowdon, McDermott, Hughes, Fowles Josh, Winney, Needham.

Devine, Allen, Robinson, Marsh, Bonner-Evans, Jones, Baines & Keep.

Bench: Goodfellow, Moss, Townsend, Hewitt & Smithson