Marine 0
Nantwich Town 0
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

A disallowed Dave MacPherson goal was the major talking point as Nantwich played out a stalemate at Marine’s Arriva Stadium.
MacPherson thought he had given the Dabbers a 16thminute lead when he prodded past Ryan McMahon in the Marine goal but referee Iain Siddall adjudged the midfielder had unfairly challenged the keeper.
The hosts were the brighter of the two sides in the early exchanges and top scorer Neil Harvey was close to opening the scoring when he headed Aaron Rey’s cross just over.
Marine’s Louis Barnes came closer than anybody to breaking the deadlock on the half hour mark when his 25 yard drive swerved wickedly and crashed against the bar leaving Jon Brain routed to his spot.
Sean Cooke had Nantwich’s best opportunity of the first half but his 20 yard free-kick went just wide of McMahon’s left right hand post.
Marine were forced into a half-time substitution with goalkeeper McMahon being replaced by midfielder Thomas Moore, McMahon had a suspected broken thumb after challenging with MacPherson in the first half.
The early stages of the second half were again controlled by the hosts and Brain was forced into another top draw save on the hour mark; Liam Dawson thought he had given the Merseyside outfit the lead but the ex-Macclesfield stopper clawed the ball over when it looked destined for the top right hand corner.
Paul Lundon then missed a golden opportunity from the resulting corner as Dawson’s well flighted cross was perfect for the midfielder to head home but he fired over from six yards.
Dabbers debutant Andy White nearly got his loan spell from Crewe off to a disaster start when he tripped on the ball and allowed Dawson a glorious opportunity to give Marine the lead but the midfielder placed wide to save the full-back’s blushes.
Nantwich’s first chance of the second-half fell to Jordan Connerton; making his first start since his return to Nantwich the striker blasted wide after good interplay between Matt Lowe and Michael Lennon.
The Dabbers could have won it in the closing stages through Mat Bailey but the defender volleyed Cooke’s corner over from eight yards.
Marine: McMahon ©(Moore, 45), Duff, L. Barnes, Shaw, S. Barnes, Goulding, Brown, Lundon, Rey (Byers, 86), Harvey, Ordish (Dawson, 22). Subs: Latham, Devine.
Nantwich: Brain, Lowe, White, MacPherson, Bailey, McDonald, Cooke (Foster, 86), Flynn ©,Connerton, Lennon (Everall, 86), Maguire. Sub: Mitchell. Att: 286

Match report written by Ashley Houghton