Macclesfield remain winless after Rosslyn Park’s visit to Priory Park this Saturday ended in 7-36 defeat. The Blues cause was not helped as they received two sin bins in quick succession in the early stages of the second half, this meant they faced ten minutes with 13 men against a side, second in the league.
In a fairly uneventful first half it took 25 minutes of rugby for the score to change, Macclesfield were camped on the visitor’s try line and looked certain to score, but a quick turn around and a penalty and Rosslyn soon had a line out of their own within The Blues’ 22.The away side built the Phases we which sucked in the Macc defence and created an overlap for a Rosslyn Park lock forward to go over in the corner.
In a half which both defences dominated, chances were at a premium. The second score of the half came with the final play. Great Macclesfield attack and pressure was met with very stern defence and a break away for the visitors allowed them to counter and make a clean line break which left the Blues’ defence chasing heels, the score meant the visitors went into half time 0-10 up.
The game changed just minutes into the second half, The Blues losing two players to the bin in quick succession and faced 10 minutes with just 13 men on the pitch. First to go was Phil Williams who committed an offence and the breakdown and then Greg Newton saw yellow for a deliberate knock on.
The Blues defended valiantly throughout this period and managed to restrict the visitors to a single score, the Macc defence was undone when a piece of individual brilliance from their full back carved open The Blues’ defence and he unselfishly put in his back three partner for the score.
Macclesfield looked tired after their period with 13 men and it was shortly after returning the 15 that the next score came. A mix up at the base of the scrum awarded Rosslyn their bonus point score, McFarlane diving onto the loose ball.
It was two scores in quick succession for Park as they were beginning to enjoy a lengthy spell of possession, after a few phases, England u20 Alex Lundberg found a gap in the Macc defence and breezed in under the posts.
The Blues then found their second wind and sprung back into life. They had a long spell of possession and worried the Rosslyn defence on a few occasions. It looked only a matter of time before someone crossed, and predictably it was top try scorer Matt King who did so, taking full advantage of a dominant Blues scrum to find space out wide, beat his opposite man and score in the corner.
Rosslyn Park added gloss to the score with the final play of the game, once again firing a counter attack, created from their fantastic defence. Vincent getting the score, 7-36 full time.
