Cod Almighty | Match Report

by Mike Worden

10 March 2014

Macclesfield Town 1 Grimsby Town 1

Brought out by the arrival of the spring sun and the potential to get back in a play-off spot, a decent turnout of Town fans descended the steep Pennine slopes to the Moss Rose. Flags, bought in anticipation of a Wembley visit, fluttered in the Cheshire breeze as the faithful gathered on the open terrace, curiously named after Macclesfield's current manager. Wonder what they will do when they sack him?

So unexpected was the size of the away turnout that by 2:50 the snack bar had to send out for extra hot dogs and the ticket office had run out of printed tickets for the away end.

Just before kick-off, the Grimsby team sprinted off to the touchline for a bit of quick feet warm-up. We are at the cutting edge of sport science.

In black and white, Town lined up with a defence of Doig, Bignot, Pearson and Thomas, in front of the contract ponderer McKeown. Midfield comprised Kerr and Thanoj in the middle with Disley and Rodman wide. The striking combo was John-Lewis and Jennings. The Scunthorpe loanee received a warm round of applause from the Silky fans, recognition of his goalscoring record while on loan at the Moss Rose earlier this season.

The home side included former Mariner Peter Winn on the wing and Tranmere loanee Akpro Sodje up front.

First half

The Mariners kicked towards the home end, a strange stand where the standing is above the rows of seats.

The visitors started strongly and had much of the early possession. John-Lewis was causing difficulties for the Macclesfield defence, winning most of the aerial balls. His shooting, though, was not so effective, and didn't improve during the game.

Grimsby were on top but not taking advantage. Balls were being pumped high into John-Lewis but then often possession was lost. Jennings was coming back into midfield to help win possession, but his movement up front was causing difficulties for the Silkmen.

At the other end, McKeown was largely untroubled and in front of him Shaun Pearson was defending well. Sodje headed over from a free kick and then Boden scuffed a shot well wide. Peter Winn looked their most dangerous threat down the left wing and was worrying Bignot.

With about 10 minutes left in the half, Grimsby won a corner on the left. The corner was cleared but Thanoj's shot bounced high off a defender and fell to Jennings to put it into the net from six yards out. A lead was just about deserved on the balance of play.

Just before half time, Winn had a low shot which seemed to be a simple one for McKeown but it bounced awkwardly on the sand in front of the goal and caught the Town keeper in the face, before going out for a corner. McKeown was still shaking his head and checking that he had all his teeth as he went down the tunnel at half time.

Second half

The second half picked up where the first half left off. Grimsby were on top, probably even more so than in the first 45, and looked at their best when playing the ball on the ground. Disley, in an unfamiliar wide role, knows how to pass, and he and Thanoj linked up well with Jennings.

Silkmen keeper Taylor collected a ball but was thinking about what he was going to have for tea and hadn't realised John-Lewis was still behind him

At 4:10 on a sunny spring afternoon, cash-strapped Macclesfield Town turned on the floodlights.

With about 10 minutes of the second half gone, the first of three controversial incidents took place. Silkmen keeper Taylor collected a ball but was thinking about what he was going to have for tea and hadn't realised John-Lewis was still behind him. As he released it onto the ground ready to kick it upfield, John-Lewis nipped in, won the ball and tried to turn. Taylor brought him down just outside the box.

A clear goalscoring opportunity? Mr England, clearly having seen John-Lewis' first-half shooting prowess, thought not. Taylor was given just a yellow card, to the annoyance of the bank of Mariners fans behind the goal.

Thanoj took the free kick but his effort just sailed over the crossbar. Soon afterwards, a great high ball from the left found Disley but there was no attacker to meet his headed knock-back.

Macclesfield replaced debutant Sodje with Holroyd, whose eagerness just to get into position on the field suggested he could be more of a handful for the Grimsby defence than the Tranmere man. Doig was taken off injured and Hatton came on.

Jennings was involved in the day's second major controversial incident. Picking up the ball wide on the left, he nutmegged Winn, superbly. The Cleethorpes-born lad wasn't having any of that flashy nonsense from his ex-teammate and so tripped him up, just inside the box. The trouble was that Jennings seemed to take an age to go down. While the linesman flagged for a penalty, good old Mr England wasn't going to be conned by a dive, gave a free kick to Macclesfield and booked Jennings.

Disley played a great ball through to John-Lewis in the inside left channel. The striker squared it, Jennings stepped over it, and Disley, running in behind, shot wide. This would have been a great goal started and finished by the Town midfielder and would have sealed the win. Given what happened in the final seconds, it was a costly miss.

John-Lewis had a chance late on but missed the target by half a mile. Macclesfield pressed forward in search of the equaliser. McKeown made a great save from Boden, but in the dying seconds of added time, a high cross from the left was pumped into the Grimsby box. With no real chance of Boden winning it, Thomas stupidly appeared to pull the Macclesfield player back. The referee missed it but the linesman flagged and penalty it was. With the three points almost assured it was a sickening blow to the Grimsby fans at the far end.

Pearson was booked for dissent and Boden knocked home from the spot. As a Macclesfield fan said on the way out: "Very soft, that" – and doubly harsh given the trip by Winn on Jennings in the other box. That just made the late misses by Disley and John-Lewis even more costly. Grimsby should have taken all three points and were the better side throughout the game. Macclesfield will never have so much luck all season.