By Brandon Reeves
Lockwood Park faithful were treated to a five-star performance by Huddersfield as they romped to a bonus point 37-19 victory over struggling second-bottom Macclesfield.
Two tries by lock Nick Sharpe, a try apiece for Lewis Bradley, Fran Entressengle and a second try in two games by Kian Stewart gave their side their maiden home win of 2019.
Macclesfield’s woes continue however, they’re yet to register an away win this season, and with only four wins on the board, the side who lifted the National Two North title just three years ago are staring down the barrel of a relegation.
The Cheshire club are fourteen points from safety with twelve games to play.
Meanwhile, Huddersfield are fourth with their eleventh win and now have a third consecutive league win.
The first half was reflective of the first forty minutes at Preston the previous week.
With a mix of a couple of Chris Johnson penalty kicks and a try in the corner by Nick Sharpe, Field went into the break in command of the game and Macclesfield went in scoreless, Huddersfield were 11-0 to the good.
However, after the break, the match burst into life with a whopping 45 points shared between the two teams.
Sharpe a few minutes in found himself in a great position to score after some terrific offload play down the right with Lewis Workman and Guy Borrowdale both involved.
Johnson soon after desperately saw himself hit the posts twice with a conversion and a penalty, but still managed twelve points with the boot on the afternoon.
Field’s next try was out of the scrum, from inside their own half.
The first phase play cut straight through Macc when Tom Hodson turned on the afterburners on halfway to break into the 22 before selflessly setting up Kian Stewart for the try.
Sam Stelmaszek was the man to finally get Macc on the scoreboard after an hour’s play. After coming straight back down the pitch, pressure was put on the Field tryline before the scrum half nipped into the gap to dive over the line.
Tom Morton with the first of two conversions and suddenly there was a ray of hope for the visitors.
But any hopes of a comeback were clinically dashed by Lewis Bradley.
Macc’s nasty knack of not being able to defend came back to haunt them as Bradley wriggled his way over from close range after good territory was used to great effect.
However the guests weren’t to be deterred, and for all their defensive woes, they remain a threat for any side with their quick attack.
Dan Lomax was on the end of an impudent grubber by Tom Morton into the corner for an immediate response and Morton was on hand to reduce the arrears by a further two points.
After a frantic ten minutes, any doubt was put to rest with a Fran Entressengle try.
Alex Battye set Entressengle up before the hooker showed nice footwork before sauntering in by the posts to add gloss to the score line, Johnson kicked his last points of the afternoon.
It was the away team who had the last word. Going side to side in Field 22, they eventually sneaked one in at the very edge of the pitch. Myles Hall with the try, but Morton’s conversion miss marked the full-time whistle, Field take all five points.
Head Coach Gareth Lewis remarked on how his team ‘stepped up’ in the second half and how the opponents fate may not yet be sealed.
“I am very pleased to get the five points.
“Although we were comfortable defensively in the first half our attack was lateral and we spoke at half time about being more direct to get going forward.
“The lads really stepped up in the second half. It was disappointing to concede three tries but Macclesfield are a decent side capable of staying in the league.”
