Macc v THE BARROW

[HenneysKnee]

Was there an away attendance announced?

[Steeley]

In the end we were beaten by a better side, with a cutting edge. We played well in patches and created a few chances ourselves. However, going forward we lack creativity and someone to support Boyes. I thought Ruthers had one of his brighter games, but others were poor, especially Mconville. I don't have much faith in Peo he got shrugged off th ball for their 3rd, and Flynne is average at best. Hessey had a decent game and is so much better in the center.

Their goals:
1. Great work to beat Skelton then good cross and fine finish from the Hobbit.

2. Cock up from Peo and Flynn( I think) a slice and a miss leaving that bell end to finish, with help from a poor Hurst dive.

3. Week defending after a defensive header from them opened us up. Peo shrugged off it for Homer Simpson to round Hurst and put it away.

4. Foul given against Almond, should have gone other way, they take it, cross and the bell end miss kicks into ground over Hurst.

So we need a lot of luck and some new players if we are to turn this around.

Finally, amazes me that players goad opposing fans. Jackson reacted whilst we berated him for time wasting, absolute ballooon. However not quite as idiotic as the Macc EDL rioters!! Fighting with your own, that's clever, maybe the chap who was targeted had non white connections. Shame on you.

1st goal was mcconville beaten not Skelton. 2nd was hessey who sliced it. 3rd it was hessey who couldn't catch him and got shrugged off.

[thegaffer77]

In the end we were beaten by a better side, with a cutting edge. We played well in patches and created a few chances ourselves. However, going forward we lack creativity and someone to support Boyes. I thought Ruthers had one of his brighter games, but others were poor, especially Mconville. I don't have much faith in Peo he got shrugged off th ball for their 3rd, and Flynne is average at best. Hessey had a decent game and is so much better in the center.

Their goals:
1. Great work to beat Skelton then good cross and fine finish from the Hobbit.

2. Cock up from Peo and Flynn( I think) a slice and a miss leaving that bell end to finish, with help from a poor Hurst dive.

3. Week defending after a defensive header from them opened us up. Peo shrugged off it for Homer Simpson to round Hurst and put it away.

4. Foul given against Almond, should have gone other way, they take it, cross and the bell end miss kicks into ground over Hurst.

So we need a lot of luck and some new players if we are to turn this around.

Finally, amazes me that players goad opposing fans. Jackson reacted whilst we berated him for time wasting, absolute ballooon. However not quite as idiotic as the Macc EDL rioters!! Fighting with your own, that's clever, maybe the chap who was targeted had non white connections. Shame on you.

1st goal was mcconville beaten not Skelton. 2nd was hessey who sliced it. 3rd it was hessey who couldn't catch him and got shrugged off.

OK Sherlock, thanks. However, still shows that we create our own problems too often.

[Reg]

We were well beat by a much better side.

We looked completely devoid of energy, ideas and disturbingly, fight.

How McConville lasted more than 20 mins without being hauled off is beyond me! I just don't see what he's got to offer and we effectively had 10 men for the time he was on the pitch. Harvey was anonymous too.

Our defending was embarrassing today too. Huge gaps all over our back line that an average BSN team would have had no problems exploiting. Hurst had a nightmare again for the second goal, Flynn looked like a Unibond player.

IMO, the BOD have the following equation to solve.

Do they spend money sacking Bayliss and hope that a new man can get enough out of the current crop to keep us up. Do they give Bayliss extra money to strengthen and hope he bucks his trend of being shite in transfer windows and actually brings in some players who can make a real difference? Or do they just cut their losses, and hope that Bayliss can work some kind of miracle with the threadbare squad he'll be left with when the loan players return to their parent clubs?

FWIW, if I was going to throw another £20-£25k into the pot to help us avoid relegation, I'd do it by sacking the manager and bringing in an experienced manager to try and dig us out of this mess.

However, if it were totally down to me, I'd not waste another penny on this season. I'd make no more money available and I'd just tell Bayliss he had half a season to convince me he was worth a contract for next season on a reduced wage. I'd get shot of Ashley Hoskin too. Nothing against the bloke but I'd tighten the belt and get rid of every overhead possible.

Spending more money we don't have on this disastrous season defies logic. Getting a further £25k-£30k in debt trying to stay in this division, to start next season in it on a budget even lower than this season just seems like financial suicide bordering on lunacy to me.

We don't deserve to be in this division. We can't afford to be in this division and if we're not careful, we might end up being the next Kettering/Nuneaton/Chester etc..

[thegaffer77]

Was there an away attendance announced?

No. Must have had 300-400 though. Good noise and atmos even though we were well beaten, got a good clap off at end too.

Whatever it was, it was deffo more than 26!!

[leighwhite]

A good day out spoiled by the result, i was really looking forward to a day back in Barrow again.

[barrowaberdeen]

Apart from a spirited 15 minutes, we were rubbish.

The team is a mess.

[mickycarrol]

As a team were physically so weak n small every other team seems to have a few big men in there ranks!!! There's not one barrow player I'd think "shit ya don't wanna mess with him". Mcnulty jones and hulbert would fill this whole squad in on the todd. I wanna see fighters we've got no heart whatsoever!!!!

BSN is a pub league we won't get out of for a long time!!!

[tictactoe]

I wouldn't like to be the board at the moment tbh as the decision about bayliss/team etc is not an easy one. What I will say is I really don't want us in the bsn, imo we would never return. On the other hand I want a club to support and don't want huge debt to finish us.

We could give bayliss money for players and by the time we find out they are no good it will be too late for a new manager to make a difference.

[bobbie moore]

Where is this money to come from, that keeps being referred to, we are struggling to pay a lot of things on time now and we dont have a sugar daddy to call on like a few other clubs.
Today was really no better than most other performances this season ,no shape,no width,no midfield,everything played so slowly by team lacking in confidence and with only very limited skill...all signed by DB its like Groundhog Day
Macc groundstaff did good job getting pitch playable ,pity we didnt origionally

[Zak]

S McConville - gash.
M Flynn - gash.
M Pearson - not a captain.
S Hessey - too weak.
A Boyes - good.
G Skelton - ok.

[K_BFC]

Better team won but it could have been very different until the collapse in the 2nd half.

The first Macc goal was almost a perfect recreation of the 1st Gateshead goal a few days ago except for the finish. Gateshead just buried it in the net, Kissock seemed to scuff his shot and it spun into the top corner, a few feet out of Hurst reach. It was their first shot on goal, but a deserved lead as Barrow were terrible from the start. The 2nd goal was an error and Macc got lucky with it, a speculative lob caused a mix up and on the edge of the area with most players advancing toward the Macc half. It ended up in the air again after they all tried to head it at the same time. When it landed it came down in front of the surprised Macc player and now goal side of the defence advanced and scored under Hurst. Hurst you think should of done better, but keepers always get the blame. It looked like he had it but it just deflected off the under side of him as he dived on it. At 2-0 it looked like we were in trouble but an immediate reply came from Boyes. From the kick-off Barrow worked up the right and i think without a Macc player touching it Barrow scored. Ruthers turned his man and coming inside stepped pasted another player and pushed the ball into Boyes path as he ran between the 2 rather distance central defenders. The keeper slightly to the right as Boyes shot, reacted but realised he was too far over to bother diving, the shot was low to the left post. At 2-1 things were more positive and I think it was McConville, from the left inside the area, who should have equalized with a clear cut chance but the keeper saved and it stayed at 2-1.

In the second half it was this way and that. Then Barnes-Homer used those long legs of his and out paced our midfield. Not sure who he rounded and brushed aside (Hessey or Pearson?) but it was too easy. He went from the middle of the park out left level with the side of 18-yard box round the back of our centre-half and with an arm simply pushed him out of the way. Then cut across the box as Hurst committed himself at full stretch but made no contact with anything. The result was a tap in to an empty net as Skelton I think tried to catch him from the left back position, but was yards away. A couple of minutes later it was all over as Holroyd managed to put the ball over Hurst for 4-1. Barrow did not give up and kept plugging away but the final touch let them down. On two occasion Ruthers and Almond in shooting positions were brought down near the edge the area but the free kicks were very poor.

Att: 1,554 (is that all?)
Full-time 4-1
Boyes on the score sheet for Barrow

Macc had more of the possession but Barrow had more chances, Macc put most of theirs on target and that was the difference. That and the fact their chances were a bit easier to put away. 2 quick goals in the second ended it all but it was really the lucky 2nd goal that did the damage. Away from home struggling to score we were always going to struggle going behind, you don't need silly goals to make it worse. Also that is the second side this season, Hereford the other, that has a few very tall long legged players that just left our midfield standing. Although where were they at Holker St, we had no problem dealing with them then?

EDIT: Just a note on Mackreth (former player), he was again AWOL for Macclesfield. The one time he looked like he was going to do his 1D hit the ball & run past a player trick... Skelton tackled him and cleared the ball. Again Mackreth rarely got involved or touched the ball, he was subbed again.

A valiant effort by the players but it did not match the Tuesday night at Holker St when we were clearly the better side and should have won. Like Guisley in the previous round we blew it at home. That as they say is the luck of the Cup. Macclesfield will never get out of this division with that side, they are too sloppy at the back and under pressure give the ball away, if we had been any good on the day they would have lost having presented the ball to us on fair few occasion. Too their credit they stayed on their feet today and did not moan as much to the ref, but we all knew that was tactics on the night. They did not need it today, we were not very good.

All the best for Macc in the next round, I think you'll get tonked, but I hope you put a good show for the BSP.

[A.B.]

I think the main difference yesterday was the defence, especially the full-backs. Macclesfield had Jackson & Braham-Barrett - two pacey full-backs, good in the air, and over-lapped well. On the other hand, we had Skelton (who played well defensively, yet gave us no options in attack) and Flynn, who should be nowhere near a Barrow shirt, in my opinion. Hessey and Pearson were sloppy, making mistakes which led to their goals. I don't think their centre backs lost a header all game.

We definitely have the talent and promise in attack, but I really do think changes need to be made over the January window in the defensive department to sort us out.

[K_BFC]

I've never rated Flynn at this level but he did have a few very good games and bagged a few goals not so long ago. Sadly he is a bit like Logon was, turns it on every so often but not often enough. He is below average and sadly not up to it, a bit of experience and a few seasons later maybe but we don't have the time to wait. I think Flynn is on contract for the season so I think we are stuck with him and him with us.

[Steeley]

Flynn is not the worst culprit this season by far and is a damn sight better than Pearson at right back. Gk central defence and midfield is our problem areas. Oh and management being allergic to subs