Hereford United beaten again as Macclesfield honour boss (From Hereford Times)

Hereford United beaten again as Macclesfield honour boss

11:16am Friday 12th March 2010 in

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Hereford United 0 Macclesfield Town 2

ON a day when emotions were running high at Edgar Street, Hereford United failed to lift their game and went down to their third straight home defeat.

The tragic death of Macclesfield manager Keith Alexander the previous Wednesday had placed the game in some doubt.

But when the match got underway, it was soon clear that the Silkmen were determined to provide a suitable epitaph for their popular boss.

And United, after conceding two poor goals from their point of view, showed little capability to fight back.

For Bulls fans, it was particularly galling considering the excellent winning display at Cheltenham the previous Tuesday.

“For the Macclesfield players, it was always going to be an emotionally-charged day,” said United skipper Adam Bartlett.

“They have come here and you could see the commitment in their manner – they wanted to do it for their gaffer.

“They hassled us right from the start and, on a dry, bobbly pitch we played into their hands and came away with a very disappointing result.

“After the Cheltenham game, we should have been looking to kick on today.

“From our point of view, it is not good enough – we had a few chances so did they and theirs ended up in the back of the net. With no disrespect to Macclesfield, when teams like that come here to Edgar Street, we should be taking three points.”

Gavin McCallum, who was the pick of a very disappointing United team, had a chance inside the first 15 seconds.

But it was the Silkmen who took the lead after 16 minutes of a lacklustre first period.

Ricky Sappleton found some space on the edge of the area and curled an unstoppable shot past Bartlett.

In the second half, Macc keeper Jon Brain pulled off a flying save from a Sam Gwynne power-drive before the Bulls defence went to sleep again.

Emile Sinclair was allowed to race down the flank and cut in before slipping a shot past Bartlett.

McCallum missed the best chance of the game when he headed a Gwynne cross over and then had a fierce effort blocked on the line.

But United generally had little response and the latest defeat brought rumblings of discontent from the terracing.

“You can understand their frustration and you can hear what is being said during the game,” said Bartlett.

“But we are professional footballers, the fans pay their money to come through the turnstiles and can say whatever they want.

“All they want is the best for the club and we have got to do it out on the pitch for them.

“We haven’t given them much to cheer about today and it is up to us to turn their opinions around.”