Macclesfield produced a ruthless and controlled performance to record their first clean sheet of the season, dismantling Rossendale 56–0 at Priory Park and becoming the first club to surpass 600 points in National League rugby this campaign.
In a fixture that has carried an edge in recent seasons, particularly with former Macc players Berry and Babarinsa returning in Rossendale colours, the home side refused to be drawn into the niggle and instead delivered a clinical display built on total dominance of possession, territory and set piece.
Macclesfield opened the scoring through Shone, who finished well after a powerful maul drive. The pressure continued relentlessly, with Blackwell breaking from halfway following a scrum free ball before Dan Leake capped a patient spell of phase play to extend the lead. By the interval, Macc were firmly in control at 21–0, having spent the vast majority of the half camped in the Rossendale half.
Any hopes of a contest in the second half were quickly extinguished as Macclesfield turned pressure into points with unerring efficiency. The Shute brothers both crossed after impressive breaks from deep, while Leake showed his class again, this time turning provider with an unselfish pass to send Winterburn over. Leake then added his second try of the afternoon to cap an outstanding individual performance.
Harry Oliver rounded off the scoring with a quick-tap try and completed a perfect afternoon with the boot, landing eight conversions from eight attempts, extending his lead at the top of the National Leagues points-scoring charts.
Rossendale were restricted to just a single entry into the Macc 22, which was repelled by a resilient and well-organised defence that scrambled effectively whenever required. Despite the physical edge to the contest, Macclesfield remained composed throughout, delivering eight unanswered tries and a commanding points-difference boost.
The final whistle confirmed a convincing 56–0 victory, underlining Macclesfield’s credentials as promotion contenders and capping off a thoroughly professional Christmas home performance.
Post Match Comments from: Matt Coleridge – Director of Rugby
“We are very happy with this one, this fixture has become something of a grudge match the last couple of years with all the battles we have had in the pursuit of promotion to Nat2 and then coming up against each other now we are both there, plus there’s been recruitment offers from them we have had to fight off so yeah, really pleasing.
We had all the possession and territory, scrum dominance, lineout dominance and red zone opportunities. Really we could have scored more but was impressed by the way the lads played it today, a very professional performance, not rising to niggle, not getting dragged in to the scrappy game that threatened at times, particularly the way Rosswndale were looking to slow the breakdown, and ultimately the lads delivered a cold as ice crushing victory keeping emotion out of it and I don’t think we really got out of 2nd gear.
2025 has been another year of progression for us, we survived Nat 2 west and then we are currently 2nd in Nat 2 north and I understand things are improving off the pitch, so it’s all moving in the right direction for us and we hope to keep that going in 2026.
I’d just like to thank all the fans, volunteers, members, committee members, family and friends of all involved for all you do to support our team and hope you have a very holy Christmas. See you in 2026.”
