Wins rarely come as comprehensively as this.
On a day that John Askey described as ’perfect’ Danny Rowe steered Macc into round one with a treble against Vauxhall Motors.
His first goals for the club - all three coming within a quarter of an hour - set the Silkmen up for a return match against Swindon Town.
Macc had been cruising to victory when Rowe lashed a first-time shot into the top corner on 53 minutes. Soon after he swept in his second and rounded Zac Jones to complete his hat-trick.
You have to feel for Jones. A goalkeeper’s lot can be a miserable one but he can feel especially aggrieved that he was given precious little chance with each of the seven that went past him.
Just two came before half-time, with Danny Whitaker leading the charge. Arthur Gnahoua, who’d narrowly failed to turn in a Whitaker shot moments earlier, set it up for a smart finish just inside the post from eight yards.
Vauxhall had held their own initially but Macc don’t lose when Connor Jennings scores, and 10 minutes before half-time, that’s just what he did.
Scott Boden’s path to goal at a corner looked blocked but after Louis Barnes put him on the deck Jennings emphatically scored his ninth in eight games from the penalty spot.
Three headers, from Jennings, Andy Halls and Rowe, were off the mark meaning a nagging doubt pervaded during the interval, especially since the second-half performance had been so poor in the previous outing.
Those fears proved unfounded within two minutes, when Scott Boden’s shot from the edge of the box found Jones’ top corner, despite the keeper getting the merest of touches on it.
Rowe was equally lethal six minutes on when Jennings put one into his path and while the Motormen stalled he timed his run beyond the back line to beat the flag and darted past the stranded Jones to make it 6-0.
In his first taste of action since September Scott Kay (pictured left) got in on the act for number seven when fellow sub Paul Lewis played a first-time ball into his path and he curled his first of the season at the foot of the far post.
Rowe could have made it eight with virtually the last kick of the game after he intercepted a stray pass but shot tamely at Jones.
It seemed the visitors had run out of gas long before, and their misery had already been completed 10 minutes from time as Steve Thames put their best chance of a consolation against the cross bar, preserving the clean sheet that Askey cherishes as much as the goal haul.
“It was just a matter of doing a professional job – when we’d had chances there’s always the chance that they could go out in the second half, stop working and drop their standards but it was perfect really today,” said the manager.
“I think we showed that we were a league above, if not more.
“I couldn’t ask for any more from them, we got a clean sheet and played some really good football.
“I’d imagine it’s a few years since Macc have won by seven, and not conceding is great but the main thing for us is that we’re in the hat. We can only take confidence from games like that, without getting too carried away.”
MACC: Taylor, Halls, Martin, Williams, Andrew (Winn 25), Rowe, Turnbull (Lewis 55), Whitaker, Gnahoua, Jennings (Kay 55), Boden. Subs not used: Branagan, Bolton, Mackreth, Holroyd.
VAUXHALL: Jones, Wainwright, Hannigan, Nicholas, Barnes, Rugg, Fearnehough, Clair (Kosylo 55), Thames, Noon (Rutter 77), Ellams. Subs not used: Ellison, Stott, Martindale, Hughes.
