Portsmouth 2 - 1 Macclesfield Town: Adam McGurk bags a brace as unconvincing Portsmouth progress

Posted Sunday, November 08, 2015 by PA

Two first-half goals from Adam McGurk earned Portsmouth an unconvincing 2-1 win over Macclesfield - their first FA Cup victory since beating Tottenham 2-0 in a Wembley semi-final in 2010.

Pompey's bid to remove that six-year curse got off to a dream start as McGurk opened the scoring in the third minute. He raced on to a pass from Kyle Bennett to score off the inside of the near post.

Portsmouth bossed the early stages, with teenager Conor Chaplin twice having opportunities, but in the 15th minute a goalkeeping blunder by Ben Murphy gifted the Vanarama National League side an equaliser.

Murphy was slow to react to a throw-in from team-mate Enda Stevens and Kristian Dennis charged down his intended clearance and the ball flew into the top corner for the striker's 13th goal of the season.

Macclesfield grew in confidence but Pompey regained control and two minutes before half-time restored their lead, with McGurk pouncing on a rebound during a frantic goalmouth scramble.

The game faded in the second half, although substitute Kai Naismith had two chances for Portsmouth before Macclesfield's Danny Whitaker wasted a great injury-time chance to equalise and send the tie to a replay.