Forget the 4-1 scoreline, this was as harsh as it gets on a reflection of a game between the two top sides in the Division.
Just ask the 100 travelling Workington fans who stood, clapped and cheered long after the final whistle to acknowledge their heroes.
Even manager Danny Grainger, not the best of losers, said he never thought he could feel as pleased as that after a 4-1 defeat.
In a nutshell Macclesfield scored an ‘iffy’ goal to take the lead and then on the cusp of half-time were awarded as controversial a penalty as you will see.
A bang-average Macclesfield team went in with a 2-0 lead after a fairly even first half in which the one criticism levelled against the Reds would be they didn’t work the home keeper.
Not so the second half when Workington played their opponents off the park for 30 minutes and should have been level just past the hour mark.
Scott Allison pulled one back four minutes after the re-start and then was charged with bringing his side level from the penalty spot on 62 minutes.
Clearly referee Luis Griffiths was following BoJo’s levelling-up policy as he gave Reds the spot kick after another innocuous challenge in the box.
A word for these guys tonight
— Workington AFC (@WorkingtonAFC) November 1, 2022
320 mile round trip on a Tuesday night and still making this noise at 4-1 down
Simply. Phenomenal ❤️ pic.twitter.com/eRa77VycEV
Allison hit it well enough but the big keeper Marcelo Pitaluga went down well to turn the ball onto the post and to safety.
“If we had scored them I am absolutely certain we would have gone on to win the game. We had them where we wanted, penned back and we were creating chances,” said Grainger.
Pitaluga had tipped over good efforts from Conor Tinnion and Bobby Carroll, while a cross cum shot from Dav Symington whistled past the post with three Reds players just unable to get there and turn it home.
But then fate took a hand. In the space of 15 minutes Reds had to reorganise, making three substitutions because of injuries.
Sam Smith, Ruben Jerome and Carroll all left the game and the game turned.
Two minutes after he third of those changes Macclesfield broke out and veteran striker Nicky Maynard was put through to beat Jim Atkinson with a clinical finish.
Three minutes later it was all over when James Berry, their most dangerous player lifted in a dangerous ball from the left and Neil Danns scored from close range.
Macclesfield, with new manager Dave McNabb in the dug-out for the first time, had taken the lead on 25 minutes with a goal from Reds’ nemesis, former Marine winger Neil Kengni.
The home side’s best spell of the half, in which they forced two quick corners was capped by the goal. The ball was returned to the box, headed on and Kengni, in a possible offside position thumped the ball goal-wards from eight yards.
Atkinson was able to block but the ball went straight back to Kengni who fired into the roof of the net.
The penalty award was a shocker. Allison, helping out in defence, won the ball in a perfectly fair tackle and to everybody’s amazement the referee pointed straight to the spot after the Macclesfield player went down. Nobody had even appealed!
Reds were incensed; Allison remonstrated forcefully to no avail and Grainger made a point of marching off the pitch with the referee after Alex Curran had scored from the spot.
Certainly Reds were fired-up for the second-half and produced the best 30 minutes of football so far this season.
Jerome did well to win the ball midway inside the home half and he fed Allison with a great pass inside the defender.
Reds’ record goal-scorer did the rest with a well-placed shot past Pitaluga.
Unfortunately he couldn’t repeat the trick from the penalty spot as the referee atoned for his first-half error, with Pitaluga making the most important save of the night.
Football can be a cruel game, exemplified clearly at Moss Lane.
Adding injury to insult, Reds also have problems ahead of Saturday’s trip to Glossop with concerns over their three substituted players.
“I was proud of all the players. They gave everything and played some fine football, the type I want us to play. Harsh doesn’t even cover that result,” said Grainger.
