Nuneaton Town 1 - 1 Macclesfield Town

[dutchman]

[dutchman]

MATCH REPORT: NUNEATON TOWN 1 MACCLESFIELD TOWN 1



Adam Dawson’s last kick in a Nuneaton Town shirt rescued an unlikely point for Boro, as they stole a late 1-1 draw with Macclesfield Town.

On-loan Dawson, who returns to parent club Leicester City this week, poached a close range equaliser in the second minute of stoppage time to win Boro an undeserved share of the spoils.

Macclesfield looked set to take all three points from the James Parnell Stadium, after captain Paul Turnbull curled in a 25-yard free kick and the visitors should have wrapped the game up long before Dawson’s leveller.

Goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook was the difference, as he made three close-range saves to deny The Silkmen and keep Boro in the match.

The point means that Boro have now lost just one of their past eight home games – a statistic that will give manager Liam Daish and his charges some solace. And on this display, they need it.

Still smarting from Tuesday night’s FA Cup horror show at Hemel Hempstead, Boro made a sluggish start and visitors Macclesfield could have been out of sight before the half-time whistle blew.

The Silkmen – themselves recovering from an FA Cup replay defeat of their own – started more positively and looked more assured in possession.

And when forward Craig Curran limped off for Boro after a quarter of an hour, their main attacking threat was nullified.

Macclesfield striker Waide Fairhurst nearly opened the scoring on 20 minutes, as he struck a rasping 25-yard drive that smashed back off Charles-Cook’s crossbar.

Despite picking up the rebound, Boro failed to keep hold of the ball and were opened up again immediately, as Matthew Barnes-Homer escaped his marker to race clean through. Thankfully the former Nuneaton striker’s normally reliable finishing let him down, as he scuffed his effort tamely wide.

The hosts lacked creativity, but kept plugging away and created their best chance early in the second half.

After a driving Theo Streete run caused havoc in the Macclesfield box, Connor Franklin found space to steer a low shot goalwards – only for a green shirt to hack it off the line.

Then Turnbull struck. After a cheap foul was given away on the edge of the Boro box, the Silkmen’s skipper stepped up to whip an unstoppable free kick into the roof of the net.

Boro were rocked by the blow and it started to look as though it was only a matter of time before they’d fall further behind.

Barnes-Homer had another one-on-one charged down by Charles-Cook, and speedy winger Arthur Gnahoua and Chris Holroyd flashed shots narrowly over as the visitors turned the screw.

With the final whistle looming, Gnahoua escaped Gaz Dean once more and looked destined to score until Charles-Cook leapt to his feet to make a superb block.

But just as the on-loan Coventry City keeper’s efforts looked to be in vain, teenage winger Ryan Smith produced the moment of quality Boro had lacked all afternoon.

Smith maneuvered some space on the right wing before cutting a teasing ball back to Adam Dawson, who took a touch before slotting home beneath Macclesfield goalkeeper Rhys Taylor to steal an undeserved point.