The standing ovation from the Macclesfield fans at full time was deserved. Their side may have lost 1-0 on the night, their dream FA Cup run coming to an end just when a lucrative trip to West Ham’s London Stadium in the fifth round had veered into sight, but pride was the overriding emotion.
Ultimately it had taken an unfortunate own goal from Sam Heathcote, a PE teacher when not playing as a part-timer in the National League North, to nudge Brentford of the Premier League into the fifth round.
For 70 minutes Macclesfield had proven a match for their illustrious visitors and they ended their cup campaign with a 2-2 aggregate scoreline against top-flight teams after the historic win over Crystal Palace in the third round. No wonder fans were shouting support and patting players’ backs after the final whistle.
The fact Macclesfield pushed for a late equaliser after the 70th-minute goal via Heathcote’s head spoke volumes for the resilience shown by John Rooney’s side. There will be no dream trip to play in the former Olympic Stadium, but the team from a small town in Cheshire have won some London-based admirers in the past month or so.
After a battling start by the Silkmen, riding on the high of that Palace win – despite Rooney’s insistence that his squad had remained grounded after shocking the Cup holders – Brentford eventually came to terms with the hosts, perhaps learning lessons where Oliver Glasner’s side did not.
The first true opening for the Premier League club came on 13 minutes when a fizzing Reiss Nelson free-kick from the left sparked a goalmouth scramble. But it was still Macclesfield, through Luke Duffy and then Paul Dawson, their captain, who created the more dangerous first-half chances, drilling goalwards after a couple of careless Brentford mistakes in possession.
Andrews demanded an improvement after the break and Brentford duly began to turn the screw, sustaining pressure and refusing to panic despite the scoreline remaining goalless. The visitors started to suss out the puzzle posed by the sixth-tier side, with the youngster Romelle Donovan beginning to relish his role down the right and Vitaly Janelt and Mathias Jensen weaving a web through the middle.
The introduction of Keane Lewis-Potter gave the visitors some extra thrust on the flanks, with Macclesfield sitting ever deeper to protect the 0-0 scoreline. Eventually the pressure told as Lewis-Potter made an impact, darting down the left before his cross was diverted by Heathcote past Max Dearnley in the home goal.
The celebrations were almost apologetic from the Brentford players, but there was no doubt their second-half play had merited the goal. Heathcote, who had been a hero in the defeat of Palace, sunk his head to the ground. Rooney said the defender was very down in the changing room afterwards.
It was extra cruel for Macclesfield given they had only 10 players on the pitch at the time of the goal: Lewis Fensome was off the field with a hamstring injury but Rooney could not get a substitute on in time.
Still, Rooney, like the majority of those in Moss Rose, was left with nothing but pride after it all. “To go and replicate the Crystal Palace performance – I know we didn’t get the result – but it was outstanding,” he said. “For a club of our level to go toe-to-toe with two Premier League sides is incredible. We lost today by an own goal when we had 10 men on the pitch – that’s football. It can be cruel at times, but I could not be any prouder of the lads tonight. To go on this journey and do it all together, I’m so proud.”
Rooney could be especially proud of the way Macclesfield finished the game, carving out late opportunities to give the Premier League side one final scare. They launched one final assault and D’Mani Mellor, their young forward, found himself in striking distance of goal three times in the space of a minute but was thwarted on each occasion, lastly by the Bees’ keeper Hákon Valdimarsson. It was hardly a case of Brentford marching on to the fifth round; more sneaking through and a crisis averted for Andrews and his men.
