Rylands smack Macc with late equaliser

by Garry Clarke

WARRINGTON Rylands have made a habit of scoring late goals in recent games, but Dean Furman’s equaliser at Macclesfield infront of a crowd of over 3,000 was the latest yet.

The referee had indicated a minimum of five minutes added time, but with continued time wasting added a further five allowing Furman to score in the 99th minute of a game which Rylands had dominated.

Macclesfield goalkeeper Conor O’Keefe kept out Ben Hough’s diving header but was unable to prevent the rebound being gleefully smashed into the roof of his net to spark wild scenes of celebration in the Rylands section of the 3,144 strong crowd.

A stop start game littered with petty fouls containing 7 yellow cards ended with the home side’s Tom Thorpe being red carded in the aftermath of the equalising goal.

The majority of the first half was played in the Macclesfield half, although they did have the first chance of the afternoon when good build up play freed Kane Drummond, but a fine low save by Luke Pilling denied him a goal against his former club.

Rylands went close on several occasions in the first half with Scott Bakkor having a powerful shot on the turn saved by O’Keefe who also saved well to keep out a Mo Touray header, while Touray diverted a low Adama Sidibeh cross inches wide in the closing seconds.

On one of their rare forays into Rylands territory, Macclesfield opened the scoring in the 35th minute. The ball was played in behind the Rylands defence from where Tre Pemberton who cut the ball back to the penalty spot from Hayden Campbell to slot the ball home.

The second half followed a similar fashion to the first with most of the play being in Macclesfield’s half with Rylands struggling to break down a desperate and determined rear guard while Drummond was denied by Pilling.

The home side seemed to content to see the game out, but they did not take into account Warrington Rylands never give up attitude and their penchant for late goals.

Macclesfield – O’Keefe, Pemberton, Grimshaw, Heathcote, Mendy, Murphy, Campbell, Dawson, Drummond, Curran, Duffy. Subs Thorpe, Hardy, Kengi, Arnasalam.

Rylands – Pilling, Smith, Swaby-Nevin, Neild, Butler, Furman, Hardcastle (Baillie), Hough, Bakkor (Maieco), Touray, Uche (Sidibeh). Subs Regan, Hurst

Referee Abid Hussein Attendance 3,144