MACCLESFIELD, England — The used car salesman and the captain who sells scented candles have reached the end of the road after Macclesfield’s fairytale FA Cup run was ended by an own goal from a PE teacher against Premier League Brentford.
Sam Heathcote’s unfortunate (and acrobatic) header from Aaron Hickey’s 70th minute cross, which diverted past goalkeeper Max Dearnley at his near post, was enough to seal a 1-0 fourth round win for Brentford, who will face London rivals West Ham in the fifth round.
FA Cup romance? Not this time.
Having produced the biggest-ever FA Cup shock by eliminating holders Crystal Palace with a 2-1 upset at their tiny Moss Rose ground in the third round, Macclesfield came crashing down to earth in the biggest game in their history. But while Brentford were expected to take heed of Palace’s humiliation and ruthlessly dispatch Macclesfield’s team of former professionals and part-timers with real jobs in the real world, it proved to be anything but that for Keith Andrews’ team.
Just four days ago, Brentford slammed the brakes on Arsenal’s Premier League title charge with a 1-1 draw at the Gtech Stadium that could have ended with a home win. But after making seven changes to his starting line-up for this game — top scorer Igor Thiago and England midfielder Jordan Henderson didn’t even travel with the squad — Andrews saw his Brentford team struggle to perform like a side that started the day 116 places above sixth-tier Macclesfield in the English football pyramid.
Macclesfield were good — much better than you would expect of such a lowly-ranked team — and they showed that the Palace result was no fluke. At the game, Andrews went into the home team dressing room to pay tribute to the side his players had just beaten.
“It was a tricky game for us, for obvious reasons,” Andrews said. “I have a lot of respect for the way they [Macclesfield] play and the spirit they have. To be able to perform at the level they have in two games against ourselves and Palace is a testament to Macclesfield, their players and [manager] John Rooney. I told them I have a lot of respect for what they have achieved.
“I love the English pyramid and the stories it generates. Macclesfield gave us a proper cup tie: I can’t say I enjoyed it, but I’m sure everybody else did.”
Facing Macclesfield was a thankless task for Brentford. Win, and they would achieve the bare minimum expected of them, but there was always the spectre of a defeat and the same fate suffered by Palace. For Premier League players to share their warm-up space with Macclesfield’s under-11s, who enjoyed a small-sided game on the artificial surface alongside Andrews’s top-flight stars, would have been a weird experience, as was the sight of Tubs the Duck, Macclesfield’s oversize yellow mascot bouncing around at the same time.
But it summed up Macclesfield as the community club that they are. The pitch may be the surface on which the first team play their games, but every other weeknight, it’s instead populated by kids from all over the local area, all of them dreaming of one day being able to play on it for real.
It’s not just the Macclesfield kids who chase the dream. The first-team players are just the same.
Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and D’Mani Mellor both made first-team appearances for Manchester United before dropping down the leagues, but captain Paul Dawson sells candles having previously worked on the roads. Goalkeeper Max Dearnley sells cars and Heathcote, whose own-goal settled this tie, will be back at his day job as a teacher on Tuesday morning.
All of them possess ability to perform against players from the top-level, but some haven’t had luck on their football journey while others failed to take their chance when it came. But ultimately, they are still gifted footballers and for over an hour of Monday’s game in freezing conditions, they were the better side. Brentford did not look like a team from five divisions higher up the food chain.
Macclesfield had their chances, mainly restricted to shots from distance, but they did enough to worry Brentford, whose only tactic was to hit long balls and crosses into the penalty area, which were dealt with easily by the home side until Heathcote inadvertently sent Hickey’s cross into his own net. But that’s often how it goes when David meets Goliath — Goliath usually wins, and not necessarily with style or flair.
“For a club at our level to go toe-to-toe with two Premier League sides is incredible,” manager Rooney said. “We only lost to an own goal in the end, so I’m really proud of the players tonight.
“The players are down, obviously, but they are a good, honest, hard-working group and they have only lost a football match. They have done everybody proud.”
A second upset always seemed a dream too far, but Macclesfield have had their moment and they will never forget it. Their place in FA Cup history is secure.
