Status Quo

Macclesfield Town 2 - 2 Rochdale AFC

Journey:

Horrible! SatNav decided to take me on a tour of every windey lane in rural Cheshire - Macclesfield town centre had been dug up causing a huge single file queue. Basically, it took ages.

Ground:

The Moss Rose is a charmless selection of farm outbuildings arranged around an admitedly very well kept playing surface. The away fans were herded into a roofless, steeply raked concrete terrace - large sections of which were cordoned off (presumably for safety reasons). The absence of a roof would become an issue as the game wore on. Just to briefly reflect on the toilet facilities, they were, well, toilets. Reminiscent of an internment centre, waders would have been desirable.

In summary, if Macclesfield Town were to announce plans to keep cattle in their ground - The RSPCA would have a petition going as fast as you can say 'Arighi Bianci'.

Food:

My Cornish pasty was acceptable if a little dry. My associate Mr. Keane's Steak & Kidney pie was brusquely rejected on the basis of a strong 'Crab meat' overtone - it spent the balance of the match on the concrete. Mr Mitchell was made of sterner stuff and consumed another example of the questionable pastry. He later reflected that it was 'disgusting'.

Weather:

Having been to the Moss Rose many times before I felt I had adequately prepared for the capricious weather conditions. I was wrong. The weather proceeded to make an all out bid for 'man of the match'. As the game began we were treated to a downpour which would have had Noah dusting off his DIY books. As the game unfolded the bruised sky continued to deliver an unremitting torrent, abetted by a vicious swirling gale with a brief but inspired interlude of driving hail. A roof, a roof my kingdom for a roof!

Action:

Dale started brightly despite the conditions. Macc looked a little shaky at the back and Dale sought to capitalise; culminating in a rasping shot from a distinctly stream-lined Lee McEvilly. However, this early endeavour from Dale lead to nothing as Macc weathered the storm(s) and following some Keystone Cops style defending from Dale, Macc were in the lead thanks to Levi Reid. Ten minutes later Dale were two behind after a goal kick from Brain (either mis-hit or bedeviled by the tempest) shot along the ground, evading every man on the park and set up Evans for Macc's second.

Two comedy goals conceded, a violent hurricane to contend with and nowhere to smoke! In spite of our alfresco accommodations the stewards stuck firmly to the 'no-smoking in the ground' policy.

In fairness Dale had been the masters of their own fate in the first half. Too many passes had gone astray, too many players caught in possession, second to every loose ball. In contrast Macc had kept the ball better and used it more effectively. They were good value for their lead and in the gathering gloom it seemed unlikely that Dale had a way back into the game.

Dale returned to the monsoon with renewed purpose in the second half. The determination to atone for the sins of the first half was self evident. The technical flaws were still evident but the high tempo with which Dale approached their task compensated admirably. The introduction of LeFondre, Doolan and then Thompson led to Dale nicking one on 63 minutes when a solid drive from Rundle took a wicked deflection off Macc's Luke Dimech.

Dale continued to hammer away as the half wore on but the Macc defence stood firm and as the fourth official indicated four minutes of stoppage time (to groans from the sodden throng), Macc looked on course for their first win in weeks.

As the clock ran down, Dale stuck to their task and their efforts yeilded a corner with just over a minute to go. The corner was driven at pace to the back post were Glen Murray rose from the crowd and nodded the ball home - in the storm lashed away end hysteria ensued - this had been a come-back worthy of Status Quo!

Summary:

The officials were fairly poor, the referee being far too whistle happy to keep the game moving in the vile weather conditions. The linesmen seemed to have only a nodding aqaintence with the off-side rule - I really did feel for the Macc striker who was judged off-side: in his own half.

Macc are a decent side who played some solid technical football and if the half time score had stood, few would have grumbled. However, Dale rallied magnificently after a fairly rotten first half and it was this commitment to the cause that rescued the point.

29/12/07