Marple (u14) - 12 - 27 - Macclesfield (u14)

Macclesfield were the visitors to Wood Lane for the first fixture between the two Cheshire sides for a number of years, in mild but extremely windy conditions not conducive to a cohesive kicking game.
Macclesfield caught Marple napping immediately from kick-off, fielding Tyler’s clearance and running straight back down the left flank to score within a minute and put themselves 5-0 ahead.
Marple responded well, not only competing with Macclesfield but threatening to score with good breaks from Felix and Eric, and a lovely move between Isaac B, Joe D and Finn M looking dangerous. After another excellent backs move set Felix free, Marple camped within 10m of the Macclesfield line for a significant period. When a Marple penalty set up a line-out 5m from the line, Macclesfield contested well, ripping the ball out before the maul could be set. The ball was moved across the back line and Macclesfield scored on the break to extend the lead at 0-10.
Both sides battled well and played some clean phases, with Marple working their way up the pitch and again finding themselves agonisingly close to the Macclesfield line. When it was eventually breached Macc did well to hold Marple up. The drop out didn’t clear their lines however, and after some good Marple pressure, the backs moved the ball quickly for Felix to round the Macc defence and score for 5-10. Isaac B was unlucky to see his excellent conversion miss by a whisker in the swirling wind after a sterling effort from Duncan R to get the tee on.
Marple tried to end the half well, again pressing the action but were caught out by another excellent break from Macc following a Marple scrum in their half; after a length of the pitch run was brought to an end by a high tackle, from the resulting penalty and line-out, a couple of short drives enabled a well worked try to go into the break at 5-15 ahead.

Marple started the second half in the same vein as the first, with a lacklustre response to a Macc kick leaving Joe D alone against six Macclesfield players, with the try only being thrwarted by a last ditch tackle from Isaac B. Eric defended well and Macc had a try chalked off for a forward pass, but kept the pressure on and from the Marple clearance ran it back into the opposite corner to extend the lead to 5-20.
Macclesfield continued to put pressure on Marple but this time it was the black and reds’ turn to break, tapping a penalty from underneath their own posts and Tyler running the length of the pitch and evading Macclesfield tackles to score. Isaac B duly added the extras to bring the score to 12-20.
The rest of the half was relatively evenly contested, with Marple enjoying slightly the greater possession and territory but with some handling errors leading to a number of well-contested scrums. The game was in the balance for the rest of the half and Marple would have been the more likely to go on and win the contest if they had scored, but instead Macclesfield pounced on a deflected clearance kick to set up a platform close to the Marple line, and when Niall’s jackal was - perhaps wrongly - adjudged to be too late, Macclesfield shifted the ball well to score the final try of the game and cap a hard fought win.
Marple were unlucky not to take home a result on the day, but came up against a good Macc side and will be heartened at their ability to compete, looking forward to the return fixture in a few weeks’ time.