Adam Yates reports from the Marine Travel Arena as Macclesfield put an end to the Mariners impressive run of form and take all three points.

Two goals either side of the interval by John Rooney and Tre Pemberton gave Marine too much to do as the Silkmen leapfrog them in the league table.

The first half was not a pretty one for Marine and they were lucky not to be trailing at several points of the half. Macclesfield had three cast iron chances near the 6 yard area to no avail. Pemberton scuffed a shot near the goalpost, Alex Curran hit the bar from close range and former Mariner Neil Kengni only managed a weak shot directly at Goddard from deep inside the box.

Marine’s best chance of the half came to top goalscorer Finlay Sinclair Smith. An exquisite long range cross by Nathan Woodthorpe found Fin who promptly lobbed the keeper. The effort eventually veered right and hit the goalpost which was agonising to the fans at the far end and surprising most of all to Sinclair-Smith who suspiciously looked to have started a goal celebration a tad early.

The second half couldn’t have started much worse as Macclesfield found themselves 2-0 in three minutes. Luke Duffy brilliantly drove down the left leaving Tre Pemberton at the back post who made no mistake having missed a sitter earlier on.

As with Marine’s other two defeats this season, a disappointing first half gave way to a more focused second and the team gave themselves a lifeline in the 74th minute when a Solomon low cross across the box found Sinclair Smith. Fin had to pick his spot quickly and did so for his 10th goal in all competitions. His goal celebration was more muted as he grabbed the ball for a prompt restart to the game.

Macclesfield began to time manage the game down to quell the increasing amounts of Marine possession. Cramps and stoppages began to appear from the leading side. The Silkmen bench were on their feet but that was mainly due to a lack of seats.

Before the whistle was a potential penalty shout for Sol Solomon who went down from a challenge which the referee immediately waved away much to the disagreement of the majority of the 1444 crowd in attendance.

In the end, it was potentially a case of tired legs on the field for Marine after the amazing Halifax cup game performance at the weekend but Macclesfield ultimately deserved the win and all three points.

Next Up – We enjoy a second Home game in a row this Saturday which hasn’t happened since the August Bank Holiday. Lancaster City are the visitors to the MTA who are currently 15th in the Northern Premier League. Kick off is at 3pm

Marine: 1 Felix Goddard, 2 Joseph Ferguson, 3 Nathan Woodthorpe, 4 Jordan Lussey (Will Russ 75′), 5 Chris Doyle, 6 Josh Wardle, 7 Finlay Sinclair-Smith, 8 Louis White (Willem Tomlinson 63′), 9 Manasse Mampala

(Darius Osei 45′), 10 Sol Solomon, 11 Michael Carberry

Subs: 12 Kyle Hayde, 13 Richard Cowderoy, 14 Darius Osei, 15 Will Russ, 16 Willem Tomlinson

Macclesfield: 1 Conor O’Keefe, 2 Tre Pemberton, 3 Freddie Sass (Brandon Lee 89′), 4 Lewis Fensome, 5 Sam Heathcote, 6 Luke Murphy, 7 Neil Kengni, 8 Paul Dawson (Jon Nolan 75′), 9 Alex Curran (Danny Rowe 81′), 10 John Rooney, 11 Luke Duffy

Subs: 12 Alex Hurst, 18 Danny Rowe, 14 Jon Nolan, 15 Brandon Lee, 16 Laurent Mendy

Man of the Match – Michael Carberry

Referee: Jonathan Wyatt

Attendance: 1,444