Moors were held to a goalless draw against Macclesfield after a frustrating Bank Holiday Monday afternoon at The Brewery Field.
Despite a first half sending off for the visitors, Moors were unable to capitalise on their extra man and had to settle for a point.
The Silkmen almost opened the scoring in under 60 seconds. A flashed ball across the face of goal almost found Luke Matheson at the back post. However, the right-back just couldn’t tap it home.
Moors did well defensively to prevent the visitors from causing any issues, as both Corey McKeown and Ben Pollock put in sliding challenges to thwart their efforts.
Matty Dolan’s free kick on the 29th minute found the head of Ben Pollock, but the big defender’s effort was well over the bar.
Macclesfield went down to ten men just before half time as Rollin Menayese received his marching orders after a late challenge on Glen Taylor, which left the referee with no choice but to send the centre-back off.
The resultant free kick from Menayese’s foul meant that Dolan could strike on goal. His curled effort had to be well saved by Max Dearnley at his near post.
Moors started the second half looking to capitalise on their advantage of an extra man and had many chances to go ahead in the early stages.
The first opportunity of the half came through Rob Ramshaw, who got on the end of a low ball in from McKeown, before prodding a shot goalward, which Dearnley did well to stop.
Ramshaw then got in behind and attempted to lob Dearnley, only to see his effort cleared off the line at the last second by Luis Lacey. As Macclesfield struggled to fully clear the danger, Olly Dyson’s low drive sneaked wide of the post.
John Rooney’s side had a half chance go begging on the 57th minute as Regan Griffiths’ free kick found captain, Lewis Fensome at the far post. The defender’s header, however, fell well wide of the post.
Dyson had another chance on the 79th minute, as the ball dropped kindly to him inside the penalty area. The right-back stepped into it and sliced his strike over the bar.
Graeme Lee’s side continued to try their luck as the game began to wind down, this time through Taylor. The big number 9 got a shot away on the edge of the area, only to see his strike land in the hands of Macclesfield’s keeper.
Substitute, Cam Salkeld, swung a dangerous cross into the area which found the skipper, Taylor, but his headed effort fell kindly into the hands of Dearnley, who had done well to stand his ground.
A tough one to take after a hard fought 90 minutes against a resolute Macclesfield side, who did well to keep the game at a stalemate. Moors now look onto the weekend’s visit to AFC Telford United.
Full Time: Moors 0 Macclesfield 0
Moors: James, Dyson, Rowe, Heaney, Taylor, Ramshaw, Mondal (Salkeld 67), Pollock, Hill (Doherty 76), McKeown, Dolan.
Subs not used: Hancox, Johnson, Samuels, Jones.
Booked: Rowe (90).
Macclesfield: Dearnley, Matheson (Whitehead 18), Fensome, Menayese, Griffiths, Mellor, Elliott (Buckley-Ricketts 84), Duffy (Heathcote 44), Lacey, Etaluku (Clare 90), Yarney.
Subs not used: Nicholson, Dos Santos, Johnson.
Sent-off: Menayese (42)
Referee: Callum Jones
Attendance: 1,444
Written by Noah Betts