Macclesfield Town 0
Nantwich Town 3
Cheshire Senior Cup (Semi-Final)

Match Report

Cheshire FA Senior Cup – Semi Final - Tuesday 13th March 2012
MACCLESFIELD TOWN 0-3 NANTWICH TOWN
The Dabbers cruised into the Final of the Cheshire Senior Cup with a resounding win at League 2 side Macclesfield Town. A brace from Michael Lennon (74 & 90 minutes) and a Sean Cooke strike (89 mins) saw Jimmy Quinn’s side march through to the Final which will be against Stalybridge Celtic – the date and venue for which have yet to be confirmed.
Nantwich dictated play for much of the game but it looked like a series of missed chances would prove costly until they stepped up a gear in the last quarter of an hour.
The Dabbers could have taken the lead as early as the fifth minute when Simon Everall was well placed to head home only to see Macc ‘keeper Jose Viega parry the ball over. Mat Bailey headed over from Sean Cooke’s corner and Tom Urwin’s long range strike drifted wide as Nantwich cranked up the pressure. Cooke then swept the ball into the path of Michael Lennon but the Nantwich top scorer was uncharacteristically wayward with his finish.
On the half hour, Lennon again created an opportunity as he cut in from the left but this time his finish lacked venom; then it was Everall’s turn to threaten the home defence but his shot from Cooke’s pass was deflected wide. Viega collected at the feet of Lennon as Nantwich continued to spurn chances and they nearly paid the price with Ben Tomlinson twice chancing his arm from long range before half-time – the second strike forcing Jonny Brain into a diving save at full stretch.
After the break, Nantwich again looked comfortable in possession with a well marshalled defence restricting the hosts to just occasional long range efforts. For their part, the Dabbers again created chances to break the deadlock. Rod McDonald sent in a 30 yard sizzler that just cleared the bar and on the hour mark Lennon collected a loose ball and when his shot was blocked, Everall was unable to capitalise on the rebound. McDonald then found Cooke in space on the right but, cutting inside, the former Crewe Alex youngster sliced his shot wide.
With the clock ticking towards the last quarter of an hour, the Dabbers finally took the lead. Everall sped down the right and when his cross was blocked it fell to Lennon to smash home from close range.
Macc tried to respond but the visitors sealed a comfortable win with two late goals. Everall spread the ball wide for debutant substitute Josh Lane who raced down the right and delivered a pin-point cross into the danger area for Cooke to drill home. Then, as the match moved into stoppage time, Lennon tucked the ball home from 15 yards to register his 17th goal of the season and complete a memorable 3-0 victory.
Macclesfield: Veiga, Bateson, Robertson, Kay, Bolton, Kenny, Thomas, Chalmers, Tomlinson, Daniels, Bakare. Subs: Vernon, Trinci-Lyne (for Chalmers,64), Burgess, Smith
Nantwich: Brain, Lowe, Foster, MacPherson, Bailey, McDonald, Cooke, Maguire, Everall, Lennon, Urwin. Subs: Mitchell (for MacPherson, 85), Aspinwall (for Everall, 90), Lane (for Urwin, 88), Jack.
Att: 186

Match report written by Ashley Houghton