Press Report 6/2/16

Premier Division

Rylands moved up to fourth following a 2-2 draw at home against Denton Town, while their opponents moved out of the bottom two. Rylands made several changes to the team following last week’s heavy defeat to Linotype Cheadle, including a full debut for new signing Dan Sisson and started the game brightly, creating two opportunities within the first five minutes with James Daniels and Ben Howard both coming close.

The home side piled on the pressure and got their reward on 12 minutes when centre back Steve Latham produced a stunning 35-yard drive which flew in to the top corner to give Rylands a deserved lead. The hosts domination of the game continued, with further opportunities coming from Bell and Howard before Tom Swann had an effort cleared off the line on 23 minutes.

As the rain continued to pour and the pitch cut up, Denton adjusted to the conditions quickest and began to create opportunities on the Rylands goal. The best chance coming on the stroke of half time when a drive from the reds’ number 9 stung the hands of Matt Latham who gathered on the second attempt.

The second half saw both sides struggle to keep hold of the ball, with the game becoming a slug in the middle of the park. There were few clear cut chances until the 71st minute when Rylands substitutes, Mike Southern and Ben Latham combined well before the latter was brought down by Affleck in the Denton goal for a penalty. The impressive Scott Beckett hammered home the kick from 12 yards to give the hosts a two goal lead.

The goal seemed to inspire the visitors however, who began to throw men forward and on 74 minutes they got their reward. A deep ball from the right hand side towards the back post enticed Latham off his line to challenge the on rushing left winger, the Rylands stopper got the ball first, however his tackle deflected off the Denton man and bounced in to an open goal to bring the visitors back in to the game.

The goal rattled Rylands and encouraged Denton further, who continued to throw men and the ball forward. The visitors got their reward on 83 minutes when a cross from the right hand side caught the wind and looped over Latham in to the far corner of the goal to make it 2-2.

Rylands tried to force a further opportunity as full time drew to a close but struggled to create anything clear cut and the game ended with the points shared.

JA Walton Challenge Cup

AFC Macclesfield moved into second place in Group C as they beat Mersey Valley 3-0 away from home.

In spite of the awful weather, Macclesfield soon got into their rhythm and got to grips with the conditions. Matt Horton, who made his first start for the club, narrowly missed the opportunity to put Macclesfield in front early on. Horton was involved in the action again when a fair challenge left the Mersey Valley keeper on the floor and the ball fell to Jonny Cavanagh who could only turn the ball over the bar.

Mersey Valley were quick to recover, but not for the first time this season, Macclesfield goalkeeper Dom Chell, pulled off some fantastic saves! After thirty minutes, Macclesfield finally broke the deadlock. Jack Banister picked the ball up close to the half way line and he quickly got up to full pace, beating Mersey Valley's right back, he struck the ball into the Mersey Valley goalpost, but Banister was quickest to react and he tapped the rebound into the back of the net.

With Mersey Valley deflated, it was soon 2-0. Jonny Cavanagh’s pin point cross found centre half Chris Holland at the back of the far post to thunder the ball into the top corner with his head.

Macclesfield started the second half slowly and again Chell and the back four were called into action with Sam Williamson, Scott Wright and Pat Walker pulling off last ditch tackles.

With sixty five minutes on the clock, Macclesfield were awarded a corner, and after a poor clearance, the ball fell to James Wheeler who let fly from outside the box to make it 3-0.