Cod Almighty | Match Report

by Mike Worden

24 February 2007

Macclesfield Town 2 Grimsby Town 1

When Grimsby last visited Moss Rose 10 months ago, there was a carnival atmosphere on the open terracing and hope was in the air that automatic promotion could be secured on the day. Lots of water has passed under the proverbial bridge since then for both clubs, and between the sides three managers have taken the exit door. The only thing in the air at kick off this time was the impending rain, as dark clouds hovered over east Cheshire.

The post-Patto team lined up in a 4-5-1 formation. At the back were Newey, Whittle, Fenton and Bloomer; across the packed middle from left to right were Toner, Bolland, Croft, Hunt and Bore, leaving Danny North as the sole striker. Gary Croft seemed to be the holding player in centre midfield but as the game got under way it became obvious that somebody had forgotten to tell him what he should be holding.

Macclesfield started more positively than Grimsby and on four minutes won a free kick on the left. From it the ball came across and a home player shot just over. As the players of both sides started to walk away for the goal kick, the referee pointed to the penalty spot with one hand while tugging at his shirt with the other. Oh yes indeed, the eagle-eyed Mr Swarbrick had spotted something that nobody else had: an apparent grab of a blue shirt by Justin Whittle. Regular penalty taker Kevin McIntyre dispatched the ball easily into the top corner and once again we would have to come from behind to get anything from the game.

Unfortunately Town didn't recover from the goal very well and down their left in particular Macclesfield looked threatening, with Matty Bloomer struggling at right-back. Toner had a shot from the edge of the box which cleared the stand and a cracking shot from North ended up in the net but the linesman's flag was up for offside before any embarrassing celebrations could start.

The five-man midfield wasn't working out. Buckley was clearly getting frustrated with the inability to get control of the game in the middle of the park, waving his arms around and shouting at Bolland. Watkiss just shrugged his shoulders and carried on taking notes.

The home side doubled the lead in the 20th minute after they won a throw-in on the right close to the corner flag. Right-back Carl Regan's long throw was flicked on and Colin Heath, with back to goal, hit an overhead shot past Barnes.

The goal was the signal for Buckley to change the shape of the team to 4-4-2, with Croft withdrawn from midfield and Gary Jones coming on to support Danny North.

Macclesfield continued to cause problems for the shaky defence with a couple of efforts going wide and Whittle heading clear from another. At the other end Bore wasted a chance and then right on the stroke of half time a couple of corners came to nothing.

Any hopes that the away fans had of listening to the half-time scores were soon dashed when it became clear that somebody had turned all of the loudspeakers to face the street outside and that the announcer was in any case reading the scores with a mouthful of meat pie.

As the players came out for the second half, the threatened rain materialised, leading Town fans on the open end to reach for an assortment of hats, coats and even a good old-fashioned pack-a-mac. Such is life supporting Town in the basement division, and a few must have wondered if they should have forked out the extra three quid to sit undercover in the side stand. Behind me a couple were arguing, with the bloke saying assertively: "Look, I told you before we left that it was standing up."

But forget the rain, there is a little ray of sunshine on the touchline. John McDermott is coming on to replace the struggling Bloomer at right-back. Now we could be back in business.

McDermott's introduction had an immediate impact, not only steadying the ship at the back, but helping Bore, who had been disappointing in the first half, to go forward. On the left, Toner's presence became more of a threat. Toner and the Reddy-haired Newey wore black long-sleeved tops under their shirts. Don't they do a long-sleeve version of the Town shirt? Are they a bit soft?

This was a different Town to the first half. Bore was running at the defence more, whose response generally was to hack him down. Town were creating more chances than in the first half but not making them count. Fenton had a shot that went wide and then when a high ball came across from the left, Bore wasted the opportunity after having shouted at North to leave it.

Most of the Cheshire constabulary assembled at the front of the open end. There was a rumour that insults were being shouted at one of the stewards, who had been accused of looking like an unsavoury character from Emmerdale, and the plod wanted the bastards nailed and banned for life. The leader of the police team then got a message on his radio that it was break time and the whole posse then set off for the tea bar at the other end of the ground.

With 20 minutes left a Town break down the left involving a number of players including Toner resulted in Hunt getting to the bye-line and putting a low cross into the six-yard box. Gary Jones was there to meet it and tap the ball home in front of the Town fans. As the Town players went to retrieve the ball from the net for a quick restart, goalkeeper Tommy Lee pushed them back and the referee had to intervene. This would signal the start a pattern of time wasting by the ex-Man Utd junior. For the next 20 minutes he would irritate the Town fans by taking his time with numerous goal kicks, for some reason walking behind his goal with the ball rather than in front of it.

Town didn't make the most of the opportunities that they created in the final part of the game. They had got back into the game but needed to capitalise on it. Too often though a long high pass was attempted when a shorter one on the ground would have been better. Too often the ball was given away. Too often there was a lack of understanding. Too often the set pieces were wasted.

Both sides had chances to get the next goal. Whittle shot wide; Bore's attempted overhead kick failed. Barnes produced a great save near the end.

With four minutes added on, the home side took the ball into the corners to waste time. And then it was all over. The second half display from Town was much better than the first. On the face of it Town were undone by a soft penalty and a lucky overhead kick. However, this downplays the weakness of the first-half performance in all departments and the failure to capitalise on the momentum gained through Jones' goal in the second. A return to the form of the last month is needed and Town fans will hope that the loss of Paterson is not going to be too serious.

Man of the match
Two candidates. Ciaran Toner was the pick of the midfield with his energy and attacking play, especially in the second half. The award goes though to a player who did really make a difference. John McDermott's introduction was a turning point and his experience had a calming effect on the back four as well as giving confidence to Bore to go forward. So the old man gets it, so to speak.

Official Warning
Neil Swarbrick will probably never award a softer penalty but it didn't seem to trouble him into reciprocating at the other end. He booked three Macclesfield players compared to our one, Whittle. He should, though, have given Bore in particular better protection from being hacked down and should have addressed Lee's time-wasting earlier than he did. His only other game for us this season was the defeat at Swindon. We don't care if we don't see him again. He deserves no more than a four.

The Others
Ince has proved to be a good appointment and he has turned them around on a tight budget. Like their boss, they are not adverse to a bit of the physical stuff. They look good enough to beat the drop. They worked hard for each other but are unlikely to be so robust against a team with greater punch up front. At least their improved form keeps Nicholas Winterton away from the microphone at half time.