Report by Simon Pickles.
York and Macclesfield, both mid-table in the Premier North, met at Clifton Park today. Macclesfield edged the reverse fixture by a solitary point earlier in the season.

Neither promotion nor relegation are a likely prospect for York and they have been giving opportunities to some new players recently. Louis Recchia made his 1st XV debut at hooker today; back-row Will Kinnersley and centre Tom Woffendin were also in the matchday squad. Louis, Will and Tom are all products of the York Youth Section. York mixed youth with experience. John Aikman was in the front-row, Archie Fothergill and Willem Enslin were in the second-row and Shane Goulding was at number Eight. Ross White captained the team, he played at blind-side flanker.Macclesfield were in royal blue. The pitch was soft and there was a pale sky with wispy clouds. Good conditions. The game was well attended with loyal supporters from both clubs.

York enjoyed possession to open the game. They worked the ball safely and conservatively through the forward pack, making an explorative metre or so and securing the possession. York’s fly-half, Declan Cusack, put full-back Liam Hessay into space with a deep pass. Liam then settled things with a tidy kick. The York open-side flanker, Joe Simpson, made the first line-break of the game. He put York thirty metres out with a penalty opportunity. Liam curled a kick through the posts to give York a lead. After a penalty was awarded to Macclesfield, outside-centre Harry Oliver put a left footed kick into York’s defensive corner. Macc’ had several goes at the line, some under a penalty advantage, some not. They were eventually held up with the referee returning to the original penalty decision. Oliver kicked Macclesfield level. Reflective of the game earlier in the season, territory and opportunity swung again. York had an attacking line-out five metres out. Ross threw in and Archie collected the ball. There was no driving maul though. York won a penalty in open-field and Liam struck York back ahead.

The game was played in the centre of the field for ten minutes. Joe Simpson rose to steal a Macclesfield line-out ball. Shane Goulding was working hard to prevent the visitors from gaining ground. Ben Dyson-Dent, playing at inside-centre, displayed some strong tackling when any ball runners came his way. The first try of the game went to York. In open space, Liam Hessay drew his defender before offloading to winger Sam Taylor outside him. There was just enough space for Sam to beat his defender and avoid the cover to touch down under the posts. Hessay converted. 13-3.Macclesfield replied immediately. Running room for the back-line had been rare in the game thus far. After York’s score though, Macclesfield winger Alex Davies ran to the corner and earned five points for the visitors. 13-8. Just before half-time and after a penalty, York had another attacking line-out. Archie released the ball to the hands of scrum half Toby Atkin. Toby found a gap in the defence and dashed over the line. The conversion was short. York 18 Macclesfield 8 at the break.

To open the second half, Sam Taylor received a Macc’ clearance kick on the full. He had enough time to choose his counter-attacking line and accelerate. Sam broke the initial tackle and maintained his speed to score a superb try under the posts. Again, converted by Liam Hessay. 25-8. Macclesfield do not give up easily though. They had an attacking scrummage, but it was repelled. They got another opportunity and Harry Oliver ran strongly before the ball was moved to winger Alex Davies who squeezed in at the corner. Harry Oliver kicked a well-judged conversion. 25-15. Both teams were looking to score tries and it was a competitive game which was occasionally heated as Macclesfield tried to chase York’s lead down. Winger, Phil Laing, came off the touchline and received the ball from an attacking line-out. He charged under the posts to score. The game was now in the balance with twenty minutes remaining. 25-22.

The sun was setting and the floodlights were on as York regained momentum. York pushed forward and Macclesfield defended. The backline created a crucial score for York. The ball was distributed wide to the hands of winger, Sam Elliott. Sam was able to offload in the tackle and Tom Woffendin was in support on his inside. Tom went over the line to score the try but sadly the conversion was missed. 30-22. In the remaining minutes, Macclesfield showed plenty of determination, but York held them out.

The final score was York 30 Macclesfield 22. All of the players from both squads played really well in a good game.

York travel to play Wirral next Saturday. Macclesfield are also away from home, they play at Sandal.