10th August 2024
Worksop Town vs Macclesfield @ Sandy Lane - Worksop
Northern Premier League, Premier Division - Step 3
15:00 KO
£13 entry
Attendance - 1,002
Half-time score: Worksop Town 0-0 Macclesfield
Goal:
Macclesfield: Duffy - 89'
Final Score: Worksop Town 0-1 Macclesfield
Finding myself back in the East Midlands, the father-in-law and I made the short trip across into Worksop to watch Worksop Town's season opener against Macclesfield, in a game pitting last seasons 5th place team against last seasons 2nd place team. Worksop Town are another one of these very old clubs that exist around the Nottinghamshire/South Yorkshire region, claiming to have been founded 1861! Known as The Tigers, they play at Sandy Lane, an excellent and modern football ground, complete with a high quality artificial pitch. Today's opponents were the famous Macclesfield FC, stars of a high profile documentary detailing the rebuilding of the club following the winding up of the historic Macclesfield Town, spearheaded in part by Robbie Savage, who is the surprise manager of the squad going into this match. Being a former league club, they have a passionate and strong away following, so I was expecting a big and boisterous crowd in this Step 3 encounter.
Getting off the train at Worksop, we were greeted by a pub on the platform, The Mallard, was a brilliant friendly pub with some great beers on tap, and themed on the famous Mallard, the worlds fastest steam locomotive, will definitely go back.
Following this we had a pint at the Station Hotel over the road, before heading into town to The Unicorn. This was more of a chain pub, but cheap and we met a friendly Worksop fan called Steve who walked with us to the ground, gave us a low-down on the team and showed us all the main parts of the ground, legend.
Having built-up an appetite we joined the food queue where another friendly Worksop fan recommended the steak pie all in, all in meaning with chips, mushy peas and gravy, but he said you have to have the mint sauce on top. I've only ever had mint sauce with lamb, but I thought I would give it a go, and boy what a game-changer, really elevated the dish. I will be having this with pie and mash every time from now on! Pie was incredible, big chunks of slow cooked steak, the mushy peas were flavourful and the gravy was proper norther style, thick and not too runny. All-in-all, some of the best footy scran I've ever had, delicious and filling for £9.
Of course I hunted down a matchday programme, a printed and glossy one for £2.50 full of great detail, pretty much EFL quality.
It was an odd day weather wise, drizzling at the start of the game, then sunny, then a short 5min rainstorm, then more sun, the weather couldn't make up its mind in Bassetlaw. Into the changeable weather, Worksop Town lined up in a half-and-half yellow and black strip, with Macclesfield in their home blue. Love Island star Tom Clare was on the bench for Macclesfield, he's a big lad in real life and of course he caught a bit of attention from the home fans, and not all positive as you could imagine. Wayne Rooney's brother, John Rooney, was also lining up for Macclesfield, to a chorus of 'Roooonneeeey' cheers.
KEY MOMENTS
WT = Worksop Town
MA = Macclesfield
1' - WT - Worksop win a very early corner. The ball is whipped into the far post, captain Bencherif climbs highest and heads the ball towards the top left corner of the goal, but it crashes into the corner of the frame and out, keeper Dearnley looked beaten, so close!
3' - WT - Worksop continue their fast start, Bramall flashes a shot across goal, it just needed a touch from Burrows to turn it in, but the ball whizzes narrowly out of his reach.
34' - WT - Starcenko steals the ball and cuts forward, he plays Redford down the left and he powers into the box and lashes in a left-footed strike at the near-post, but the ball is the wrong side of the net and crashes into the netting.
36' - WT - Game is halted for 5 minutes as Worksop defender Luke Shiels collides with Macclesfield keeper Max Dearnley in the box. Luke looks in a bad way, hardly moving, before he is stretchered off, very concerning. Worksop fans told me that he may have broken some ribs, hopefully not, but I sincerely hope that he has a fast recovery.
59' - MA - Duffy is found in a central position just outside the box, he cuts in a low strike that is deflected around the upright for a corner.
83' - MA - Substitute Tom Clare feeds Johnson down the right, he squares the ball across the box to find Duffy coming in off the left wing, he shoots at the near-post but his effort blazes into the side-netting, big let off for Worksop!
89' - MA - GOAL (0-1) - The goal finally comes, in a move similar to the one 6 minutes earlier. This time Rooney makes a run down the right from the halfway and neatly feeds Johnson in further down the right, his pace seeing him get round the final defender, he immediately squares the ball across the box, it is spilled by keeper Taylor and falls perfectly for Luke Duffy near the centre spot, and from there he makes no mistake to drive his side-footed effort beyond the sprawling Taylor, and shatters the hopes of the home fans. There was some controversy however, with the linesman initially ruling out the goal. After a discussion with the referee, the goal was left to stand. Speaking to Worksop fans after the game, it would appear that a Macclesfield player who did not receive the ball was offside, but eventually deemed to have not interfered with the play. Sounds like one of those ones that could have gone either way.
93' - WT - Worksop desperately search for an equaliser in stoppage time, and go close. From the right, Hall chips a ball across the box, defender Wilde gets his head on it, but cannot guide his effort on target as the ball skips harmlessly wide.
Overall a brilliant football day out, the game was incredibly close, pitting two of the teams favoured to win the league, and they largely cancelled each other out, with the defences on-top for most of the game. Worksop had the better 1st half but were unable to bag a goal for all their efforts, and as the game progressed Macclesfield began to dominate possession and territory, and their threats down the wings were always going to be the most likely route to a goal. I was in the wrong position to comment on the validity of the goal, but it was funny watching Robbie Savage go from jubilation, to confusion and back to jubilation, giving it back to the crowd and then some. Worksop Town was a fantastic footballing set-up, great facilities, top notch food, high standard of football and friendly welcoming fans, definitely one to re-visit in the future. It was also great to see the Macclesfield players come into the bar post-game to interact with the fans, we had a chat with Mendy and Pemberton, two of the best performers of the afternoon. I do wish both teams all the best this coming season, I will be watching keenly.
Line-Ups:
WORKSOP TOWN: Tommy Taylor, Regan Hutchinson, Josh Wilde, Sam Wedgbury, Hamza Bencherif (C), Luke Shiels, Dan Bramall, Vaughan Redford, Alexs Starcenko, Jordan Burrow, Luke Hall. SUBS: Deegan Atherton, Terry Hawkridge, Charlie Winfield, Liam Hughes, Ben Tomlinson.
MACCLESFIELD: Max Dearnley, Tre Pemberton, Neil Kengni, Danny Whitehead, Laurent Mendy, Paul Dawson (C), Justin Johnson, Elliott Whitehouse, Danny Elliott, John Rooney, Luke Duffy. SUBS: Lewis Fensome, Sam Heathcote, Alex Curran, Scott Holding, Kielan Adams, Tom Clare.
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