Macclesfield Report

By Eggy_Poolie
February 21 2007

Hartlepool did it the hard way against Macclesfield Town as they threw away a 2 goal lead before winning the game late on in hilarious circumstances

Hartlepool went top of League 2 last night after a somewhat lucky victory over struggling Macclesfield.

Hartlepool started the better of the 2 sides and almost took the lead when Tony Sweeney shot after a spill from Macclesfields keeper but his effort went just wide. It was then the two strikers who almost got the opener. Williams shot was well saved by the goalkeeper and from the resulting corner Barkers header went just wide of the post

It took 26 minutes for Pools to take the lead. E Williams showed a great bit of skill to get the the by-line befre crossing the ball to James Brown who looped a header into the back of net.

Hartlepool almost doubled the lead before the break. Brown jinked his way into the area before crossing the ball across goal but Williams just missed the ball

Half Time
Hartlepool 1-0 Macclesfield

The first half had plenty of action but it wasnt a patch on the second half. Hartlepool once again started off the brighter side but Macclesfield were in no mood to take their beating off the leaders and they started putting some pressure on Pools but our class showed when a quick break down the left was knocked in by Richie Barker after some great play between Williams and Sweeney.

The game seemed over at this point and it would just be a case of seeing out the rest of the game but Macclesfield came at Pools and only 5 minutes late they were back in it. Jason Hadfield smashed a stunning 30 yard drive into the top corner.

Minutes later the game was level. A scramble in the area led to a goal by Mathew Tipton. There did seem to be just a touch of offside but the game was all level.

Pools won the game late on in rather hilarious circumstances. Pools won a freekick in around the same position as that of Humphreys goal against Walsall. Humphreys once again took the freekick. This time it smashed against the bar but it bounced off the Mac Town defender, Morley, and bounced into the back of the net.

At this point the game had to be over but from somewhere the ref decided that 5 minutes off added time should be played. It seemed to last an eternity but Pools managed to hold the lead.

Full Time
Hartlepool 3-2 Macclesfield