SILKY AND SMOOTH
Could history be repeating itself for Trophy hunters Macc?
HOW’S this for an omen? When two-time winners Macclesfield Town last lifted the FA Trophy at Wembley in 1996, they beat a certain Sudbury Town along the way.
Alright, so this isn’t the exact same team. AFC Sudbury were formed in 1999 when cash-strapped Town and Sudbury Wanderers merged.
But it’s a piece of silverware they’d love to get their hands on again, and this win, a fourth on the trot, takes John Askey’s Silkmen a step closer to a potential third triumph.
Club legend Askey, who missed that season with a broken leg, said: “It’s a competition where you can realistically get to the final. Once the FA Cup is out of the way you can prioritise both the league and the Trophy.
“Macclesfield Town were the first club to win the Trophy, so we’ve got a good tradition. We need to start winning things again and that would be a good start.
“It gives you confidence when you’re winning games because the players don’t worry about their performance. Everyone’s playing well at the moment and hopefully that can continue.”
AFC Sudbury are well used to doing well in national competitions having reached three successive FA Vase finals between 2003-2005.
But with this their best ever Trophy run it was a big day in the Ryman Premier club’s history and Macclesfield came to poop the party.
Wayward finishing from Oli Norburn and Anthony Dudley let AFC Sudbury off the hook early on, but the National League side went ahead through two loan stars.
Rhys Browne, making his debut after arriving from
Grimsby Town, got the opener. Bury loanee Anthony Dudley flicked a header on and the winger fired across Marcus Garnham into the far corner.
The advantage was doubled when good interplay put Dudley in and he crashed in off the post.
Sudbury improved after the break but Macclesfield generally remained comfy.
Laurie Bell shook the goal frame with a sweetly struck long range effort, before Kingsley James’ excellent ball found fellow substitute Jack Sampson in the box, where he drilled in a third.
Liam Wales pulled one back for the Yellows with a good one-on-one finish, but while it sparked an entertaining end to the game, boss Jamie Godbold admitted his side were disappointed.
“All three goals were preventable,” Godbold said. “Their finishing was clinical, we gave them opportunities.
“We had a lots of the ball, we didn’t penetrate as much as we’d like until we scored.
“It was a fair result but there’s an element of frustration in our dressing room that we didn’t show what we’re capable of.”