Macclesfield Assistant coach Andy Northey was satisfied with a job well done after watching the Blues march their way to another bonus point win at Harrogate.
The promotion chasers ran out convincing winners, but there were things about their performance that can be improved on, admits Northey:
“We turned up to get five points, so we’re happy with that.
“When you start to dissect it there are things we could get disappointed about.
“There was a genuinely strong wind that made it difficult for us in the first half, and we weren’t able to keep hold of the ball long enough to create any sustained pressure,” explained Northey.
“But, we were pleased going in 19 – 24 up at half time and as the game went on we improved but credit to Harrogate it took us a while to break them down.”
“So second half I knew that we just had to make them play from deep and keep hold of the ball as much as possible.
“I was pleased in the second half that we didn’t let them off the hook and allow them to come back into the game.”
One of Macclesfield’s stand-out performers at the weekend was stalwart prop Tom Mantell. His performance was typified when he out-sprinted backs and forwards alike to charge 40 metres upfield in the first half.
“He was fantastic, he’s played a lot of rugby this year and the great thing about that is he will be fully match conditioned and he showed that today.
“Late in the game he was chasing down backs, making tackles and covering people.
“It’s a nice feeling as a coach when you’ve got senior players who are going to put it in, I thought he was our stand out player,” he said.
This week the Blues welcome top of the table rivals Stourbridge to Priory Park. This clash is a season defining game which is likely to result in a 10-point swing at the top of National 2 North. Northey insists his teams’ preparation will not change but the session will go up a notch.
“We want to train well in the week, I’m sure the level of intensity will go up because we’re both aware of whats at stake.
“But we don’t really want to change anything, we know the way we want to play and we’ll stick to our game plan again next week.”
