Moss Rose, home of Macclesfield Town based in Cheshire. 25th August 2018 and it’s Macclesfield away for Mansfield today. Mansfield targeting automatic promotion whereas Macclesfield at the bottom of the league without a win since being promoted back to the Football League.
To the train station I go, train to Stockport and then Macclesfield. £25 in total to get there and back, could be worse I guess. Landed in Macclesfield and now the 20 minute walk to the ground. Arrival at the ground and the Mansfield bus is here and a handshake from Otis Khan!! Great way to start my day!! But joy soon turned sour as the Super Stag who had my ticket was on the supporters bus which had broke down…
Would he make it in time? With plenty of time to kill, I wasn’t too worried and headed to the nearest bar for the early kick off on Sky Sports, Wolves Vs Man City. The game finished Wolves 1-1 Man City, Get in! To make things better, the Super Stag’s hitch hiking skills worked a treat and he managed to get a lift with some other fellow Mansfield fans. Saved me some money!
£18 to watch this League 2 clash! Good job! Stag’s players warming up right in front of us with some good finishing. Let’s hope they can replicate that during the match. Kick Off! Mansfield much the better team to start with. Mansfield had the ball with Tyler Walker in the Macclesfield box, good strike! Good save by the keeper who palms it away and the ball cleared to Neal Bishop 25 yards out… Cleared by Macclesfield. 32 minutes gone and CJ Hamilton carries the ball forward for Mansfield who played in to Otis Khan who drove into the box and crosses towards MAL BENNING… GOAL!!! 0-1! Nothing more than Mansfield deserve!! Mansfield would continue to dominate but would not find the second before half time and the score remained 0-1.
Second half, Macclesfield throwing on all 3 substitutes, would this be the turning point in the match? It certainly appeared to be as Macclesfield started to ask questions of Mansfield. But Mansfield still looked dangerous on the break as CJ Hamilton had the ball on the right and crossed, poorly dealt with by the Macclesfield defence, it’s Mal Benning AGAIN… Good save by the Macclesfield keeper.
63 minutes gone and a chance for Macclesfield, James Pearson with the ball for Macclesfield on the right, crossed in towards Harry Smith’s head! Blocked by Hayden White but the ball has come back to Smith… HE’S SCORED!! 1-1! And you have to say it had been coming. Another chance for Macclesfield soon after and the ball was crossed in from the left, IT’S HARRY SMITH AGAIN!!! Headed just over… Big chance for 2-1. Mansfield then started to take back control of the game and caused trouble for Macclesfield but in the end, they could not find the killer pass and would miss out on the 3 points.
FT: Macclesfield Town 1-1 Mansfield Town
Ratings
- Atmosphere: 5/10 – The Mansfield fans made plenty of noise throughout but very little from the home supporters.
- The Ground: 5/10 – The ground is quite run down and does resemble that of a non-league ground ultimately.
- Expense: 7/10 – £18 is a good price for a decent game of football in the end.
- Overall Experience: 6/10 – A good day out but I’m sure if Mansfield had won, the score would have been higher.
23/40