Ryan Whitley recovers from early error to sparkle in Boro draw
Ryan Whitley played a huge role as Boro battled hard for a 1-1 draw at Macclesfield.
The big keeper’s mistake gifted the hosts their goal midway through the first half, but he then pulled off a number of outstanding saves, and Boro were the better side for much of the second half, to thoroughly deserve their point.
Macclesfield began strongly, a Luis Lacey cross was headed over by D’Mani Mellor, then the excellent Alex Brown cleared when Danny Elliott burst into the box.
Boro had the first shot on target, when Alex Purver and Dom Tear combined to send Noah Wadsworth through, but ex-Boro keeper Max Dearnley saved his low shot.
The deadlock was broken when Sam Heathcote tried a long-range shot, that was held on the line by Whitley, but the ball squirmed past him into the net.
Whitley quickly atoned for that error, pulling off two terrific saves, tipping a Danny Whitehead shot wide, with Heathcote heading over from Luke Duffy’s corner, then he dived to push away a fierce shot from Max Woltman.
A few minutes later Whitley again did well when Woltman raced through one-on-one, and managed to block his shot. Boro struggled to get hold of the ball, though Harry Green and Rocco Coyle showed some nice touches, and Purver was his usual energetic self. Just before the interval, a thunderous Elliott strike forced another top save from Whitley.
Two more Whitley saves early in the second half, as he pushed away a strong Woltman shot, and tipped wide a Lewis Fensome strike, then Jake Hull blocked an effort from Elliott.
Boro gradually took a grip on the game, with Brown and Luca Colville especially impressing.
Green flashed a shot past the post, then had a low drive deflected wide by Rollin Menayese.
Neat passing between Brown, Purver and Colville ended with Green racing clear, but Dearnley was out quickly to kick clear, and Kieran Weledji was tackled by Duffy as he burst into the area.
Macclesfield then had a spell of pressure, but Will Thornton and Hull won all the high balls, Elliott curled a shot over and Thornton tackled Elliott as he cut into the area.
The trio of newly-introduced subs boosted Boro, and they drew level with a fabulous goal, as Purver fed Theo Chapman, who passed out to Wadsworth wide right, and his cross into the goalmouth was slammed home by Tear.
Both sides had late chances for a winner, Isaac Buckley-Ricketts had a shot superbly saved by Whitley, and Heathcote and Regan Griffiths fired wide for the hosts, while Richie Bennett did likewise for Boro, and Colville shot into the arms of Dearnley.
MACCLESFIELD - Dearnley, Fensome (c), Menayese, Mellor, Heathcote, Duffy (Johnson 85), Lacey (Lee 85), Elliott, Whitehead (Griffiths 80), Edmondson, Woltman (Buckley-Ricketts 68), unused subs - Callister (GK), McLeod, Rogers.
BORO - Whitley, Wadsworth, Brown, Hull, Thornton(c), Purver, Coyle (Allan 68), Tear, Weledji (Chapman 76), Green (Bennett 76), Colville, unused subs - Duckworth, Marshall
REFEREE - Dan Baines.
GOALS - Sam Heathcote (Macclesfield) 23, Dom Tear (Boro) 80.
GOAL ATTEMPTS - MACCLESFIELD 13 (8 on target) BORO 11 (4 on target).
CORNERS - MACCLESFIELD 7 BORO 1.
OFFSIDES - MACCLESFIELD 0 BORO 4.
YELLOW CARDS - Max Woltman, Max Dearnley, James Edmondson (Macclesfield), Rocco Coyle, Will Thornton (Boro).
BORO MAN OF MATCH - Ryan Whitley.
ATTENDANCE - 3,008 (129 away).