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Dean Kinsella reflects on Macc’s first half performance.
Well Xaymaca, is this the same Brentford who outplayed the Arsenal last week? Macc have been fab. There’s no stat to measure passion.
Ian Copestake is a big Football Manager fan.
Macclesfield fans don’t know this but I was their manager from 2002 to 2007. Europe was great for the club but the league was always our bread and butter. Heady days. Glad to see them scaling the heights outside of Football Manager.
Half time: Macclesfield 0-0 Brentford
What a great half of football for Macclesfield. There’s been little to separate the teams despite Brentford dominating possession. The most interesting match up has been between Romelle Donovan and Luis Lacey. Macclesfield have been performing well in their individual duels, which will be key if they’re to win this game.
45 min: There will be one additional minute.
44 min: Donovan, who has been involved all game, hits a wild cross-shot that goes well wide of the post.
42 min: There’s been little to separate the teams so far. Macclesfield have a free kick on the right.
40 min: Nelson and Donovan play a nice one-two between each other. Donovan is away momentarily but the Macclesfield players get back quickly to defend.
37 min: Dawson is getting stuck in for Macclesfield in the middle of the park. He may not have the guile of a Mathias Jensen but he certainly has the grit.
35 min: Brentford have their first real opportunity of the game. Aaron Hickey plays the ball inside to Reiss Nelson. Nelson takes it well and bends a shot towards the keeper’s near post. Max Dearnley saves well down to his right.
32 min: It’s interesting seeing how the players control the ball on this surface. It’s bounced away from the Brentford players a couple of times so far.
28 min: Yehor Yarmoliuk plays a cross into the box from the left. Furo attacks the ball but he can’t direct his header towards goal.
25 min: Excellent defending from Luis Lacey. Kaye Furo flicks the ball through to Donovan but Lacey stays with him every step of the way. The Macclesfield defender wins the ball then sidesteps a couple of Brentford challenges before spraying the ball out wide.
22 min: Brentford have started this game nervously. They keep on playing square passes and giving the ball away. Perhaps they’re still getting used to Macclesfield’s 4G pitch.
20 min: Donovan twists and turns on the right before delivering a ball into the box. Macclesfield clear the ball and counter quickly. They work it well on the right before Vitaly Janelt loses his footing and commits a foul in the Brentford half.
17 min: I thought that was in. Paul Dawson drives with the ball for Macclesfield and lets fly from about 25 yards. His low shot travels narrowly wide of the post.
14 min: Romelle Donovan looks like he’ll be a threat down Brentford’s right. A close up of his shins reveal the tiniest shin pads known to man, if you can call them that. He’s got them tucked into his socks Jack Grealish style.
9 min: Early chance for Macclesfield! Romelle Donovan inexplicably passes the ball across his own box. Luke Duffy takes a shot but it’s always rising and goes over the bar.
7 min: Kaye Furo is making his debut for Brentford. The striker signed for the club from Club Brugge.
5 min: Sam Heathcote has gone down holding his leg. We’ll have a brief break in play.
3 min: Ethan Pinnock gives the ball away early. Macclesfield pick it up on the right and whip a cross in. The home side win the first corner of the game.
Kick off
Here we go!
Former Rochdale defender Luke Matheson actually scored against Manchester United as a 16-year-old in 2019. After playing for a number of clubs, including Wolves, Matheson finds himself at Macclesfield. Speaking before tonight’s game he said:
To give back to the fans of this town is the proudest thing you can do as a footballer. For us to be able to give them moments like the Palace game and then another against Brentford brings us such joy as players.
Many of the players have also been on their own incredible journeys. Cameron Borthwick-Jackson hadn’t played for 700 days before his substitute appearance against Crystal Palace. The former Manchester United player said:
It [beating Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round] is probably my biggest achievement with everything that has gone on and the amount of time I have spent out of the game. To come back and be part of that is probably my biggest achievement for me personally.
Macclesfield’s recent success is owed in part to the chairman Robert Smethurst. He famously bought the football club on Rightmove for half a million while on a four-day bender and without any previous football experience. In just over five years he has rebuilt Macclesfield and his life after struggling with alcohol addiction. Speaking before tonight’s game he said:
We’re against all odds, that’s our motto. It’s a rise of the phoenix because we’ve come from nothing. That’s me as well. I was against all odds, never owning a club or having a business plan or any idea about football.
A game against West Ham awaits the winner of this one. Nuno Espírito Santo’s side edged past Burton Albion in a particularly dull game. Crysencio Summerville’s goal in extra time was the moment of quality that sent them through to the fifth round.
Here's the FA Cup fifth round draw
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Fulham v Southampton
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Port Vale or Bristol City v Sunderland
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Newcastle v Manchester City
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Leeds United v Norwich City
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Mansfield Town v Arsenal
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Wolves v Liverpool
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Wrexham v Chelsea
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West Ham v Macclesfield or Brentford
Team news
Macclesfield: Dearnley, Fensome, Dawson, Buckley-Ricketts, Mellor, Duffy, Heathcote, Lacey, Osborne, Edmondson, Borthwick-Jackson
Subs: Matheson, Menayese, Griffiths, Dos Santos, Gale, Johnson, Whitehead, Pasiek, Stone.
Brentford: Valdimarsson, Kayode, Collins (c), Pinnock, Hickey, Janelt, Jensen, Yarmoliuk, Donovan, Furo, Nelson
Subs: Balcombe, Henry, Van den Berg, Ouattara, Ajer, Lewis-Potter, Bentt, Shield, Stephenson
Macclesfield’s story is a remarkable one. Macclesfield Town died in October 2020 before the latest iteration of the club was born. Read John Brewin’s piece about the story so far.
Before the match tonight, we have the small matter of the FA Cup draw for the fifth round. Who will Macclesfield or Brentford face in the next round? Niall McVeigh is providing updates.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to a historic minute-by-minute. Tonight sixth-tier Macclesfield welcome Premier League Brentford to the Leasing.com Stadium in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Macc’s 2-1 victory against Crystal Palace in the last round was the biggest that the FA Cup has seen. Against all odds, they beat the FA Cup holders, a team 117 places ahead of them at the time. Macclesfield defender Luke Matheson, best known for his equaliser for Rochdale against Manchester United in 2019, summed up what tonight’s game means. He said: “It’s not necessarily [about saying] ‘we can do this’, it’s ‘we’ve done this’, so we want to go out there and prove it to ourselves again.”
Unlike Crystal Palace, Brentford are flying. Keith Andrews has guided Brentford to seventh in the Premier League after a 1-1 draw with league leaders Arsenal. A win for the away side tonight would also have huge significance as it would only be the third time the club has progressed to the fifth round since their quarter-final finish in 1989.
Kick off is at 7.30pm GMT. Join me for the next few hours.
