Congleton Town FC can be proud of their performance against 'El Cheshico' rivals Macclesfield FC.

Congleton Town FC didn't give up until the final whistle, and were even leading league champions Macclesfield FC for eleven minutes.

They lost 3-1, as almost 500 Congleton fans travelled to Crewe's Mornflake Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

It should have been a home fixture for the Bears. But crowd trouble at the previous meeting between the two sides in August, meant the return fixture had to be played at a neutral venue.

While Congleton did lose the home field advantage, they did have our club's match announcer Simon as the official announcer for the game, simulating as if it was a game on Booth Street.

Boys and girls of Congleton's Town Under 9s walked onto the pitch before the game. A memory which will be particularly special as Crewe Alexandra's Mornflake Stadium is a Football League ground.

The League One side are six tiers above Congleton Town and Macclesfield FC's current league.

The first chance of the game was Congleton's, as captain Tom Pope found the end of a cross just over the bar.

Pope was returning to the home of Crewe Alexandra, for which be played between 2005 and 2009, scoring 17 times in 56 appearances.

Seconds later a penalty was won in the third minute. Macclesfield FC defender Lee Jackson brought down striker Oliver Putnam just inside the penalty area.

31-year-old Darren Chadwick cooly converted the penalty against the league champions to put Congleton one up.

The Bears would dominate the next couple of minutes, meanwhile the chanting Silkmen fans sung 'Only one team for Cheshire' in retaliation to Congleton's early lead.

The second foul of the game was also in Macc's penalty area, in almost the same spot as the penalty conceded.

But this time it was against Silks keeper Sam Ashton, and committed by Putnam, who previously went down for Congleton's penalty.

The 20-year-old received a yellow card, as Silks veteran keeper Sam Ashton had to recieve treatment before carrying on.

Macc then began to pile the pressure on, and a corner was deflected by Congleton Town's Shakeel Jones-Griffiths. But this was not enough to break the Macclesfield momentum, as The Silkmen would soon level the pegging.

In the 13th minute, James Berry-McNally struck a thunderbolt just shy of Congleton's eighteen yard box that rattled the right of Congleton's net, to level the scoring.

The ex-Altrincham player has been on fire recently, scoring a brace when The Silkmen were confirmed champions against Ashton Athletic, is a key player for Macclesfield FC at just 21 years old.

Macclesfield FC fans would even devote a rendition of Abba's Gimme, Gimme, Gimme to him, shortly after scoring his goal.

The power of the shot caught us off guard, that our cameraman couldn't even get a great shot of it!

Congleton quickly fought back with chances, and were not rattled by The Silkmen's equaliser with chances at both ends as the half-an-hour mark approached.

Congleton's No. 10 William Buckley went down in a foul near the dugouts in the 32nd minute.

The midfielder received treatment for three minutes which put a stop to the match, and broke the end to end flow of the game. 

As play continued, another Congleton free kick was won, this time on the towards the 'D' of the Silkmen's penalty area. 

However, while he was not involved in the foul, Buckley was down again requiring more treatment. 

Seven minutes been passed before a decision was made to take the wounded Bears player off.

Player-manager and ex-Premier League player Richard Duffy helped Buckley walk off the pitch, who was also consoled by Congleton's Assistant Manager Micky Morton as the player went to sit down.

Ryan Read came on for the injured player for play to resume. Macclesfield's pink-clad goalie Sam Ashton then quickly punched the free kick away, only for another foul in Congleton's favour to be given seconds later. 

It would be the 41st minute until the Silkmen would get the ball back into Congleton's half, after over seven minutes of injury stoppages. 

As a result seven minutes were added on at the end of the first half. 

A Macclesfield free kick straight into Congleton's wall, and poor Macclesfield corner were the only major efforts on goal in stoppage time. Half-time 1-1.

Congleton came out working hard at the start of the second half, with an over-the-bar free kick and Tom Pope chance to give the league's ninth-placed team a hope in beating the champions.

Congleton did well to stop Macc in midfield in the first 15 minutes of the second half, with a strategy of hoofing the ball forward towards skipper Tom Pope.

They shouted for a penalty when Shakeel Jones-Griffiths was brought down for a free kick in the 52nd minute.

In the 55th minute, the Silkmen decided to make a double substitution, with youngsters Alex Kiwomya and Bobbie McDonnell coming on to replace Harry Freedman and Callum West respectively.

The changes had an instant impact. McDonnell received a grounded cross from Tom Clare and tested David Parton to get a weak hand to it, until an offside flag was raised.

In the 61st minute, January signing Mark Duffy passed to Tom Clare on the edge of the penalty box.

Despite being held by a Congleton Town defender, Clare cooly rolled the ball off his right foot to find Laurent Mendy who shot a deflected effort into the net.

The Macclesfield captain ran straight towards The Silkmen fans to celebrate, who raised the number seven towards the crowd.

Play restarted with a Macclesfield onslaught. Berry bent a free kick straight into the keepers closed, and Clare was prevented from scoring at close range.

A Laurent Mendy-cleared Congleton free-kick was the only respite for the Bears, as they continued to received shot after shot from Silkmen players.

Congleton's Ryan Read was booked as the Silkmen's attack pushed for a third goal.

This culminated in the 77th minute with Laurent Mendy scoring his second goal of the game.

The skipper kept running after a teammate went down on a penalty appeal, as the ref signalled play on, he kicked a powerful shot from just outside the penalty area into the bottom left corner. 3-1 Macclesfield.

The last ten minutes were all Macclesfield, however, the three minutes of stoppage time brought on a valiant flurry of chances from the Congleton players, who could've easily thrown the towel in.

Congleton's man of the match, Tom Pope hit the top of the crossbar. And tested Sam Ashton to smother the ball to prevent a Congleton consolation goal right at the depth.

Had birthday boy Laurent Mendy not scored a second goal, Pope could've been the overall man of the match.

Congleton were unlucky to have not made more of a mark on the game. But with two of the Silkmen's goals being screamers, even the most diehard of Bears fans can respect the fashion in which The Silkmen won.

The Silkmen register their 27th win of the campaign, while Congleton record their 14th league loss.

The victory now sees Macclesfield FC on 91 points at the top of the league. Meanwhile, Congleton risk missing out on a top 10 finish, if they don't pick up their form in the final few games.

The loss sees them drop to tenth, with Irlam leapfrogging them in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division.

Congleton Town FC's final games of the season are against Cheadle Heath Nomads in a cup game, before a final league home fixture against 11th placed Longridge Town.

FULL TIME: Macclesfield FC 3 - 1 Congleton Town

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