Huddersfield 10  Macclesfield 20

Another victory on the road for an increasingly confident Blues side in a game – second half in particular – ruled by the whistle and no less than four yellow cards which means that Macclesfield and Caldy still head the table level on points with just the ‘points difference’ separating the sides.

On a typical autumn afternoon at the spectacular Lockwood Park setting the home side kicked off and initially the game was a kicking competition between the sides with numerous punts in the first five minutes and little flowing rugby.

It was Ross Winney – again in good form with the boot – that put Macclesfield on the board after 12 minutes with a penalty after the home side strayed offside but this was equalised three minutes later when Chris Johnson struck a similar penalty for Huddersfield and that was the way the score line remained until almost half time.

During this period Macclesfield had a number of opportunities to attack in the home 22 but penalties proved costly and they were pushed back into their own half but the pressure eventually paid off when a lovely delayed pass from Tom Eaton set up wing man Josh Fowles to break two tackles and sprint over the line for the first try of the afternoon.  Inevitably Winney added the two from near touch to give the visitors a 10-3 interval lead which could have been more but for a last ditch tackle on the other flank which prevented a second Macclesfield try.

Johnson was wide with an early penalty attempt after the break but good pressure kept Macclesfield in control and after ten minutes Huddersfield lost Dan Hyde for foul play and in his absence, almost inevitably, the Blues scored another try when Scrum Half Chris Townsend fed an inside pass to Dan Baines from a scrum for the Flanker to crash over and the Winney conversion put Macclesfield firmly in control at 17-3.

On the half hour it was Johnson who felt the wrath of the referee when he was carded for a technical offence following which Winney struck the penalty to make it 20-3.

It was Macclesfield’s turn to see yellow when first replacement Neal Keane went to the bin with but into injury time the home side eventually got their consolation when replacement Francis Entressengle scored for Johnson to convert.

The cards were not finished and moments before the whistle Macc Centre Richard Hughes also went to the cooler – and this was by no means a fractious encounter!!

After the game………………………..

Team:
Eaton, Simpson, Hughes, Howcroft, Fowles, Winney & Townsend.
Mantell, Allen, Kent, Jones, Lear, Baines, Stewart & Keep.
Replacements: Devine, Moss, Keane, Sayce & Luke Fowles