By Annie James
Macclesfield put in a brave performance against League leaders Sale last week. Sale were excellent in all areas of the game, as would be expected of a team that has aspirations of playing in higher leagues. Having said that, Macclesfield started strongly and put the visitors under pressure. The home side were well marshalled by the half back pairing of Mel Bramley and Bex Ward, whilst Vice Captain Tiegan Shaw and Hannah Worsley had some excellent runs. If anything, the home side tried to play a little too much rugby in their own half. Sale capitalised on errors very effectively and were soon 17-0 up. Sale’s defence was excellent, while the combative centre pairing of Jas Wilson and Chloe Newbigging made numerous breaks for Macc, however there was always a Sale player available to cover and prevent these developing into a concerted attack.
The home side coped well in the set piece elements of the game, and continued to play well with some thunderous runs coming from Naden, Shaw and Rosser. Whist Julia Ashford and Louisa Mackintosh were exceptional in their tackling. However, Sale defended with confidence and when given the opportunity to attack were clinical, leading to two more scores before half time; leaving the home side 27 nil down at half time.
Macclesfield had played well in the first half and were encouraged by the vocal support of a large crowd, for twenty minutes in the second half the home side were camped in the Sale 22.Lou Anderson, Sarah Naden, Shaw and Mandy Rosser made excellent runs, and it looked like Rosser was going to score, only to be brought down short of the line. Laura Adams, on her first start, looked dangerous and again the centre pairing of Newbigging and Wilson continued to threat, only to be thwarted by a ferocious Sale defence. Sale’s exceptional Scrum Half went on to complete her hat-trick in the second half and Sale capitalised on an error to make it in three converted tries in the last quarter of the game. Julia Ashford who played with a broken nose reflected, “We had no doubt this was going to be our biggest challenge as a team yet. We gave it our all and played to all our strengths in attack and defence. Unfortunately, it was not the outcome we had hoped for, but we have so much to build upon and it showed just how far we have come as a team”. Captain Mel Bramley commented “We knew it was going to be a tough game against an organised, experienced and determined Sale team. There were few gaps for us to exploit and Sale were resolute in defence. Although we spent 25 minutes in the Sale half, we were not able to score the points that our performance deserved. It was a game that has taught us a lot and we look forward to the challenge of the away fixture in the New Year.”
