Grimsby v Macclesfield Preview

The Opposition

Macclesfield Town were promoted into the football league in 1997 and the following season were promoted again, this time into Division Two having been unbeaten at home all season. They were soon relegated after only one season in Division Two, and have been in this division ever since. A series of relegation threatened mid-table finishes followed; managers have come and gone but the loyal fan base of around 2,000 remains. Sammy Mcilroy, Gil Prescott, John Askey and Brian Horton have all tried their hand at taking the club to bigger and better things, but all have failed. The club managed to reach the League Two play-offs in 2005 under Horton but were knocked out in the semi-finals by Lincoln City. The club dramatically avoided relegation from the football league in the 2006/7 season having been dead and buried after twenty games. Former Manchester United and England midfielder Paul Ince was a surprise choice to succeed Brian Horton, and although he lost his first game in charge the Silkmen went on a nine-game unbeaten run, including an FA Cup outing at Chelsea. Since then, things have been much better, if subdued. Last season saw Macclesfield replace manager Ian Brightwell with former Lincoln manager and Mariners striker Keith Alexander. His reign has seen vast changes in squad personnel and only now can the team be truly seen as his own. The season ended strongly with four wins in March and another in April which propelled the team into 19th place, 8 points ahead of relegated Mansfield.

A solid but unspectacular season has ensued under Keith Alexander’s watchful eye, with the Macclesfield currently sat in 18th place with 46 points. Although they have never looked capable of getting to the upper reaches of mid-table, they have never looked like going down either. Wins over Darlington, Shrewsbury, Brentford and defeats against Accrington and Port Vale show their ‘Jeckle and Hyde’ nature of their season. A 6-0 defeat at home to Darlington looked like it could cost Alexander his job after 4 straight defeats to begin the season. But the board stuck with their man and the wins soon started to flow. Striker Gareth Evans has amassed 13 goals this campaign, with Simon Yeo and the now departed Martin Gritton also chipping in with their fair share. Between the sticks, keeper Johnny Brain has looked solid and defender Paul Morgan has also impressed. Wayne Rooney’s brother John is on Macclesfield’s books having come through the youth system, moving in with his superstar brother at his Cheshire home. Winger Francis Green, constantly the bane of the Mariners still plays on the wing, having set up the winner when the two sides met earlier in the season.

Gareth Evans. The big 20 year old striker arrived at Moss Rose having been released by Crewe and made his first career start in 2007. He was once tipped by Sir Alex Ferguson as a star of the future having had him watched at Crewe in a reserves game. The young frontman has scored 12 league goals this season including an early goal at West Ham to put the Silkmen into an unlikely lead. His energy and work rate, as well as finishing ability has made him into a feared striker at this level, and bigger clubs are known to be sniffing around.

Recent Form

Top Scorers

Team News

Squads

Head to Head

Most of the games between the two sides have been close, with three out of four matches at Blundell Park having ended in draws.

P 9 W2 D4 L3 F10A11

Macclesfield Head-to-Head (69th on The Opposition Ladder)

Last Meeting

Macclesfield 1 Grimsby 0 (Tue 25th Nov 2008)

Another game from the barren start of the season where the team showed promise but cam away with nothing.

Report

Prediction