Macclesfield Town’s endeavour to make more history in the FA Cup came crashing to an agonising halt after Sam Heathcote scored an own goal as Brentford proved that not all Premier League side’s are susceptible to a giant-killing, yet there were times where it was very possible.
After beating holders Crystal Palace in what was deemed the greatest story in the competition’s archive, John Rooney - the brother of Manchester United great Wayne - had another test ahead of him in the form of Keith Andrews’ side.
In a game where the unthinkable wasn’t remotely possible, Macclesfield were brought back down to earth but not without the true grit and mentality of a side gunning for more precedence.
A strong fight ended with Heathcote, the full-time primary school teacher, scoring an own goal with 70 minutes gone in scenes of devastation for the home support. It was, for the neutral, a game to remember.
Story of the Match
Surprisingly, Brentford’s preparations for this tie only began on Saturday when they trained on an artificial pitch with smaller dimensions to imitate the conditions here. Yet the atmosphere was perhaps the only factor that couldn’t be replicated on the training pitch.
As people hung from the windows of their homes on the outskirts of Moss Rose, with supporters in the ground making a hell of a noise, the Macclesfield faithful took to the pitch on a night that eventually ended in despair.
It was impossible to depict which team lay atop the another from the 116 places that separates these sides in the English football pyramid, especially from the first half of action. Still, it was obvious which team possessed more incentive.
Macclesfield’s Luke Duffy put his laces through an early chance which whistled narrowly over the crossbar before he forced Brentford defender Aaron Hickey to lunge in front of a powerful shot on the right side of the box after 44 minutes. Earlier, Paul Dawson dragged one of his strikes just wide of the bottom-left corner.
Dawson, right, was Macclesfield's most impressive player on the night (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Brentford struggled to get ahead of Macclesfield’s curve but produced their best work of the night when the Silkmen started to tire.
Kaye Furo failed to guide Vitaly Janelt’s cross anywhere near the goal, with his effort going high and wide but in the 36th minute, former Arsenal attacker Reiss Nelson tested Max Dearnley when he fired from inside the area.
Then, on 54 minutes, Nathan Collins’ flick-on from a corner was dealt with superbly by full-time primary school teacher Sam Heathcote, who shielded the ball from Hickey as the pressure from Macclesfield’s Premier League opposition increased.
It wasn’t until 10 minutes later when the momentum, and perhaps nerves, went against the hosts when a looping Brentford cross forced an unmarked Dearnley to tip the ball over for a corner. The guile and belief was becoming a fading memory for **John Rooney**’s side.
Then came the collapse.
After giving everything, running to every loose ball and sticking to their men, the deciding moment came with only 20 minutes remaining. The Macclesfield defence were laser-focused for the entirety before slackening in the most important of times.
Keane Lewis-Potter, who had to be called into action by Andrews - which tells you as much as you need to know about the force behind Macclesfield’s fight, sent Hickey through on the underlap before a simple cross was turned in by Heathcote for there own goal at the near post.
Despite late progression, it will be Brentford who travel to West Ham for the fifth round of this tournament after avoiding unwanted history here, albeit narrowly.