Report by SJG

CHESHIRE COUNTY LEAGUE

WIGAN ATHLETIC   vs MACCLESFIELD

17^th December 1932

THE CHAMPIONS TAKE THE SPOILS.

A crowd of 8,500 turned out to watch the reigning divisional champions take on the Latics. The weather was dry but windy and the newly erected cover was welcomed by those in attendance, which included the Mayors of both Wigan and Macclesfield.

The game was fiercely contested throughout and at several points in the afternoon it threatened to boil over with players squaring up and being generally unruly. The referee was possibly slow to take firm action and this did not help the strained relations on the pitch.

The Silkmen started well and even in the first few minutes it became obvious that the left wing would be the source of danger to the Latics. Simms and Black showed good control, speed and ability and forced an early corner that Wigan did well to clear. The game settled into a fairly even affair, with the visitors tending to rely on the longer ball as opposed to Latics who tried to employ a short passing game. Latics took a surprise lead on 12 minutes when JAMIESON fired in an improbable effort from a tight angle, but the ball struck the far post and ended in the net. The next action of note was a free-kick taken by Burridge, he struck the ball well but his effort passed narrowly wide of the target, then Allon had a shot well saved by Williams, who also stopped shots by McCabe and Jamieson. Abbott was also being kept busy, making two fine saves in quick succession, the first from Butt the second from Simms. Burridge in the Macclesfield midfield was at the heart of most of the visitor’s good play and he was displaying a fine range of passing as he kept his forwards well supplied. On 25 minutes Butt slipped past Callachan and fed the ball out to Hopkins who played the ball across the goal where SIMMS was able to neatly head home. The game was now starting to get overly competitive and the trainer was called upon on more than one occasion. O’Dell had to be at his best to avoid Hopkins getting through on goal, and then McCabe and Murphy linked well to feed Chambers, but the shot was too high.

Half Time; Wigan Athletic 1-1 Macclesfield.

The second half started with Wigan taking control of proceedings, Chambers fired in a good shot after neat passing had created him space, but the shot was into the side netting. Then Murphy was able to whip in a cross that Chambers, who normally is lethal when presented with such a chance, headed just beyond the far post. Hughes and McCabe linked up and fed the ball to Murphy, but to the disappointment of most of the crowd he fired wastefully over the bar when well placed. Jamieson had the next shooting opportunity and he struck an excellent shot that produced a stunning fisted save from Williams. Gradually the energy which had earmarked the Latics attack at the start of the half began to wane and the Silkmen began to get back into the game. Simms and Butt both had efforts saved by Abbott. Jamieson thought he had restored the Wigan lead when Chambers headed on an O’Dell clearance, the inside forward controlled the flick on and fired home, the cheers were quickly subdued when it became clear that the goal had been ruled out for offside. The decisive goal came in the 67^th minute, a midfield melee finally saw the ball played forward by Macclesfield and the defence was caught out as SIMMS raced onto the through ball and fired low and hard past Abbott.

Having worked so hard to gain the advantage it was clear that Macclesfield were going to use every trick and every ruse to ensure that their lead stayed intact. The tackling, which had been committed before, now became overly so and the tempers flared as the Wigan side grew increasingly frustrated with the fouls and the time-wasting. Spencer and Swift nearly came to blows as the Wigan man was hacked down twice in quick succession. Latics did force a number of corners and set plays, but Macclesfield are not defending champions for no reason and they displayed their discipline and organisation and when the final whistle brought a scrappy second half to the end it was the Silkmen who wore the biggest smiles.

Full Time; Wigan Athletic. 1-2 Macclesfield.

Attendance; 8,500

Scorers; Jamieson (12); Simms (25), (67);

Team; WIGAN-- Abbott; O’Dell, Callachan; Wake, Spencer, Allon; Hughes, Chambers, McCabe, Jamieson, Murphy;  

MACCLESFIELD—Williams; Scott, Stockton; Jones, Swift, Burridge; Hoskins, Butt, Roscoe, Black, Simms.

Referee; F. Bottoms, (Altrincham).