MACCLESFIELD FC 3, HYDE UNITED 1
James Berry proved why he is one of the hottest properties in non-league football as Macclesfield FC knocked Hyde United out of the Cheshire Senior Cup.
The 22-year-old winger, who scored a brilliant hat-trick for the Silkmen, was the standout performer as he took his season’s tally to 15 goals.
It will be interesting to see whether Macc can hold on to the player whose youth career saw him appear for Wigan Athletic and Hull City as I believe he has already been attracting considerable interest.
Macc fielded the same side which beat Ramsbottom United 4-0 at home in their previous game 10 days earlier.
They had senior players Mark Duffy and Neil Danns in charge along with mentor Sammy McIlroy, the former Busby Babe, in the wake of David McNabb’s departure after the Ramsbottom victory.
Hyde manager Nick Spooner, whose side had not played for more than a fortnight, experimented with a new 3-5-2 formation against opponents one division lower in the football pyramid but with considerable resources.
And it was forward Edy Maieco, operating as left wing back, who gave the Tigers a surprise 19th minute lead as his cross from the left looped over the head of goalkeeper Wyll Stanway, brother of Lionesses’ player Georgia.
Stanway, who is on loan from Chester FC, ought to have been warned as he had earlier been forced to tip away a similar cross from Maieco from under the crossbar.
Macc were level inside two minutes after a rare mistake from forward Jack Redshaw who gave the ball away to Berry who advanced forward before rifling an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net for his 13th of the season.
It might have been a different outcome had Tom Pratt put Hyde 2-1 ahead early in the second half.
Pratt was put clean through by Redshaw only for Stanway to make a brilliant block. The ball looped up off the keeper back to Pratt whose header was goalbound until it was spectacularly cleared off the goalline by Lewis Fensome.
Macc capitalised on that piece of goof fortune and went ahead for the first time with 20 minutes left.
Substitute Kyle Drummond threaded a lovely through ball to Berry who found the net with a fiercely struck low finish.
Berry completed his treble with three minutes left when he rounded off a sweeping move down the right. Substitute Alex Curran provide the assist as Berry, free at the far post, finished with the confidence of a player in a rich vein of form.
In truth, Berry was the difference between the teams as he was unstoppable and at times nigh unplayable, underlined by an outrageous spin to pull clear of marker and Hyde captain Brad Roscoe who was left for dead.