Macc 2-2 Dale

To say the town of Macclesfield was a bit wet on Saturday would be like saying Vanessa Feltz is a bit annoying or Pele was a bit good. As we walked from the Train Station to the ground I was already regretting my choice of coat and correctly predicting a long afternoon ahead. Still Macc`s a nice enough place and we stopped off en-route for a quick pint and catch up with some fellow Daley`s who had taken over one particular local.

On the journey to the ground it had become apparent that we would be a taking with us a decent following and Macc`s decrepit open ended terrace behind the goal seemed to be crammed full.

We arrived at the Moss Rose then and some of the more dishonest members of our group wormed their way in as Students for the bargain price of £7. To be fair to Macc it was only £10 full whack although I suppose they could hardly get away with charging any more than that.

As we saw our stand and the part of the side stand which we had also been allocated fill up we also saw a bit of a balls up from ALF. As the players were warming up ALF scuffed a shot and appeared to hit the ground in doing so, the result was he limped through the rest of the warm-up and had to make do with a place on the bench. Whether or not he was going to start the game anyway I`m not sure but when he did come on he certainly didn`t seem to have his shooting boots on. More on that later?

Dale started the game seemingly having the advantage of having the wind to their backs not that they made much use of that mind. The game was rather end to end in the opening exchanges and Evil had the first real effort on goal when he attempted to lob the Macc keeper but his effort flew just over.

It was all downhill from then on for Dale as they struggled to get any rhythm and couldn`t seem to keep hold of the ball for any sustained period of time. The midfield pairing of Crooks and Jones wasn`t working and we were losing grip of the game in the centre of the park.

Macc were dominating the game although creating little, it wasn`t long, however, before they carved open the Dale defence. A deep in swinging cross held up in the wind and that was enough to ensure Levy Reid had an easy finish to make it 1-0. Far from waking Dale up they continued in much the same way and other than a failed penalty appeal, when a Macc defender appeared to handle the ball, they offered little.

In fact it was to get far worse for the already soaking fans in the away end. The Matthew Hoggard look-alike in the Macc goal scuffed his goal kick and it somehow managed to find its way through the Dale midfield and land at the feet of a Macc player, he was left with the simple task of squaring it for Gareth Evans to coolly put home.

Whilst Macc were hardly creating chances left right and centre they were certainly the better team and Dale only had themselves to blame for being behind in the game.

The game drifted out to half time and it had been a half devoid of any real quality and commitment from Dale.

Hilly seemed to have a lot of work to do at half time with several players seemingly struggling. Evil had picked up a bit of a knock and wasn`t having the influence one would hope, Higgy certainly didn`t seem to relish playing in the awful conditions and his crossing was poor. Holness, for all his effort, was playing in an unfamiliar role and didn`t seem entirely comfortable.

It wasn`t long into the second half that Hilly made the first change opting to bring Evil off for ALF. ALF seemed to breathe a bit of life into Dale and he would go on to have several good chances.

As it happened Dale`s first real chance of the half arrived when McArdle met a corner from Higgy and through a mixture of defender and crossbar couldn`t quite reduce the deficit.

Two changes were then made in quick succession as Hilly sensed a comeback was on the cards. First to leave was Lee Crooks who despite his effort was having no real effect on the game and, as I said earlier, the game was being lost in the centre, Doolan came on in his place. Minutes later Joe Thompson came on for Higgy who hadn`t had one of his better games.

The two changes worked brilliantly for Dale as Doolan was threading some great through balls into the strikers and JT was causing lots of problems down the wings. It wasn`t long before Dale got back into the game when Rundle cut inside and fired in a shot which deflected off Luke Dimech and into the Macc goal. Dale piled on the pressure in search of the equaliser but were guilty of wasting several chances.

ALF was getting into good positions although his finishing was leaving a lot to be desired. First of all Murray expertly flicked the ball into his path only for the striker to flash his volley wide. He then had a good effort saved by the Keeper and then somehow managed to miss the goal when clean through. Dale fans started to think it wasn`t to be their day but the Dale players never gave up.

Next up to try his luck was Thompson who powerful shot was blocked only for Ramsden to fire the ball over the bar. With Dale pushing forward at every chance gaps were being left and Macc nearly exploited this when they broke up the pitch only to have their effort well saved by the knee of Russell. It was to prove a vitally important save for Dale.

Seemingly the last chance fell to John Doolan as he stepped up to drive a free kick over the bar from just outside the area. With four minutes held up by the referee`s assistant Dale still had time but it wasn`t until the 93rd minute that the goal would come. A corner from Joe Thompson saw Glenn Murray rise highest to head home and spark wild celebrations in the Dale end. There was a massive release of tension as after 90 minutes of enduring heavy wind and rain the Dale fans finally had something to celebrate, it was certainly a hug a stranger moment.

In the end Dale could probably have won the game if ALF had been on his usual game. A draw was the least we deserved after a good second half display and whilst some may consider it two points dropped I think a point way from home after being two goals down is always a good one.