Macclesfield 7 Rosslyn Park 36
Macclesfield remain winless after Rosslyn Park’s visit to Priory Park on Saturday ended in a 36-7 defeat.
The Blues’ cause was not helped as they received two sinbins in quick succession in the early stages of the second half, meaning they faced 10 minutes with 13 men against a side second in the league.
In a fairly uneventful first half it took 25 minutes of rugby for the score to change.
Macclesfield were camped on the visitors’ try line and looked certain to score, but a quick turn around and a penalty meant Rosslyn soon had a lineout of their own inside the Blues’ 22.
The away side built the phases well, which sucked in the Macc defence and created an overlap for a Rosslyn lock forward to go over in the corner.
In a half in which both defences dominated, scoring chances were at a premium.
In fact, the second score of the half came with the final play.
Great Macclesfield attack and pressure was met with very stern defence and a breakaway for the visitors allowed them to counter and make a clean line break.
The pace of that attack left the Blues’ defence chasing heels, and the score meant the visitors went into half-time 10-0 up.
The game-changing moments came just minutes into the second half.
The Blues lost two players to the bin within moments of each other and faced a 10-minute spell with just 13 men on the pitch.
First to go was Phil Williams who committed an offence at the breakdown and then Greg Newton saw yellow for a deliberate knock-on.
The Blues defended valiantly throughout this period and managed to restrict the visitors to a single score, only coming undone when a piece of individual brilliance from full-back Nev Edwards carved open the Blues’ defence and he unselfishly put in his back three partner Jack Gash for the score.
Macclesfield looked tired after their period with 13 men and it was shortly after returning to 15 that the next score came.
A mix-up at the base of the scrum awarded Rosslyn their bonus-point score, Mike McFarlane diving onto the loose ball.
It was two scores in quick succession for Park as they were beginning to enjoy a lengthy spell of possession; after a few phases, England Under-20 prop Alex Lundberg found a gap in the Macc defence and breezed in under the posts.
The Blues then found their second wind and sprung back into life. They had a long spell of
possession and worried the Rosslyn defence on a few occasions.
It looked only a matter of time before someone crossed, and predictably it was leading try scorer Matt King who did so, taking full advantage of a dominant Blues scrum to find space out wide, beat his opposite man and score in the corner.
Rosslyn Park added gloss to the score with the final play of the game, once again firing a counter attack, created from their fantastic defence. Dave Vincent getting the score to make it 36-7 at full-time.
