The Saxons showed great fight & resilience, twice having to claw their way back from 10 point deficits through 2nd half tries by Ben Barkley & Nile Dacres, by the end they were in the ascendancy and looking to sneak a win against visibly tiring opponents.

Macclesfield gained a rare try bonus point against the Saxons defence thanks in no small measure to a brace scored by ex Dudley K scrum half Jordan Brooks. They dominated the first half, much of which was played in Saxons’ territory, but turned around with only a 3 point advantage after giving away penalties within Hearn's range. The Saxons struggled throughout to counter the hosts’ effective 'choke tackle' which generated a significant quantity of turnovers as their ball carriers got held up in a maul rather than reaching the floor in a tackle.

The game attracted over 500 spectators, including 2 supporters’ coaches & numerous carloads from Stourbridge. With little wind it was played in intermittent sunlight.on a soft playing surface The Saxons’ reverted to pretty much the lineup that featured at Sedgley Park 4 week’s previously, in the starting XV Drew Harper replaced Chris Depper at no.8 while Nile Dacres provided bench cover for both 2nd & back row.

The Saxons opened the scoring with a Hearn penalty when a Huddersfield tackler failed to release. A nicely executed Macclesfield restart saw winger Ed Stobart gather a short kick and burst through the flatfooted defences, Pete White’s trysaving tackle held him out but Macclesfield took the attack deep into the Saxons 22 and a try was only averted when Stobart failed to gather a simple return pass. He went clean through again moments later but was denied once more when a pass in the build up was adjudged forward. The Saxons were penalised at the scrum though, it was kicked into the corner and a catch & drive was fed to hulking 2nd row Dean Williams who barged over from short range. 11min 7-3.

The Saxons were struggling to create any sort of platform, though their set piece scrum & lineout ball were solid Macclesfield were able all too frequently generate turnovers through choke tackles on runners who failed to get to floor in the tackle & holding up the subsequent maul. Another attempted another catch & drive by the hosts was held out but they secured a strike against the head at the scrum and moved it down the blindside where Stobart was clean though but failed to gather Brookes’ pass. The Saxons couldn’t get out of their 22 though and another catch & drive saw the Macclesfield threequarters fly in to drive the maul, no.8 Ryan Parkinson getting the touchdown. 27min 12-3.

The Saxons looked to attack Macclesfield’s wide channels, a long cut-out pass finding space for Tom Jarvis who reached the hosts’ 22 before being hauled down. Macclesfield scrambled the ball clear but coughed up a penalty in the tackle area that Hearn drilled over from 30m out. The Saxons were starting to show greater signs of urgency, good breakdown work by Eji Uzoigwe securing an opportunity for Hearn that he coolly slotted from 40m out. Half time score 12-9, the Saxons grateful for both Stobart’s errors and Hearn’s kicking to still be in the contest.

Ben Hughes’ kick regather was rewarded when a tackler failed to roll away, but Hearn just pulled a difficult penalty attempt wide. Macclesfield drove back and were only denied by White’s cover tackling and a loose pass from centre Davenport with the line at his team mate’s mercy. The Saxons were unable to clear their lines though and conceded a penalty deep in their 22 that the hosts opted to scrum, Jordan Brookes taking advantage to scamper over the line and score. 51min 19-9.

Back came the Saxons attacking the wide channels again, Mark George then forcing a penalty on the hosts’ scrum feed. With a 10 point deficit to make up this time the visitors opted to kick to the corner but their attacking maul was held out. They reloaded from a midfield lineout, stretching the hosts’ defences left then right before Ben Barkley put his head down from 30m out and barged his way through several tired-looking tackle attempts to score under the posts. 19-16 on the hour mark.

Back came Macclesfield, only held out by a huge defensive effort which resulted in an attacking 5m scrum. Brookes took the ball from his no.8 and looked to be covered but a huge sidestep gave him just enough of a chink in the defences to sneak over. 63min 26-16 and the Saxons with it all to do.

Up went the noise levels, on came a succession of subs and spectators’ nails got bitten deep. Uzoigwe secured the restart kick and the Saxons started to work the ball through the phases, stretching the tiring defences. Gaps started to appear and Uzoigwe, Barkley & Robinson were all hauled down just metres short before replacement scrum half Sione Tu’ipolotu appeared to cross the line but was adjudged to have knocked on. Macclesfield cleared their lines and secured lineout feed when Hearn was unable to keep the ball in play, but a great steal by Robbie Hurrell launched a counterattack. Tu’ipolotu’s crossfield kick found Hurrell who offloaded to George but despite crossing the line the defences prevented him grounding he ball. Drew Harper’s drive from the base of the scrum was similarly held up over the line, but the next drive set bore fruit when Nile Dacres stretched out to place the ball on the line and a try was awarded. Hearn landed a none too easy conversion from the 15m line, 26-23 with 10min to go.

Macclesfield were content to exchange territorial kicks and found touch deep in the Saxons’ 22. A worked move to Dacres moved play back into the hosts’ territory, a fluffed lineout gifted possession back to the visitors and desperate Macclesfield defenders conceded a penalty at the tackle just outside their 22. Up stepped Hearn, the ball flew between the posts and the scores were level with just 5 minutes to play.

The Saxons ran the ball from deep, forcing another penalty near their own 10m line but then losing the ball in contact. Brookes’ clearance kick was run back by Tom Jarvis but a careless penalty at the tackle gifted the hosts another bite at the cherry. Their touchkick reached the Saxons’ 22 but Hurrell secured another crucial steal. The hosts went off their feet in their desperation to recover the ball, the Saxons cleared their lines and looked to reload from a lineout near their own 10m line, the attack reaching the Macclesfield midfield before a steal at the tackle launched a counter that was relentlessly repelled by the Saxons’ defences. The hosts kicked the ball into touch and the game ended, 26-26.

Director of Rugby Neil Mitchell commented ‘We started out rather nervous, making first half mistakes and taking time to work out how to counter the power of Macclesfield’s large pack. They threw everything at us and were out on their feet when our fitness came into play at the death and we were creating opportunities to win the game. I will be keeping a close eye on their game at Bees next Saturday, I fancy their front 5 emptied the tank against us and will struggle to recover in time. We move on, we know we’ve no margin for error and it’s all still to play for. The pressure is on Macclesfield and Mowden Park, all we can do keep plugging away and recording bonus point wins. My man of the match - on workrate alone - was Ben Hughes, who ran himself into the ground out there’.