The Silkmen made the trip south to Northampton today to face a game in which they were seeking a second away win of the season and revenge for the 4-1 defeat they suffered when the two sides met at Moss Rose back in September.

Colin Calderwood made one change to his high flying side who picked up a 2-1 away win at Leyton Orient last weekend.Following the 1-1 draw with Oxford United, Brian Horton fielded an unchanged starting eleven, but added new Goalkeeping recruit Tommy Lee to the bench following his recent arrival on loan from Manchester United.Macc Town's midfield included former Cobbler Paul Harsley, who plied his trade at Sixfields prior to his switch north two years ago.

Despite the modern ground being part of an industrial and leisure complex, the stadium itself is situated in a picturesque 'valley like' location, with a steep hill behind one end of the ground towering above the stands. As the game kicked off the sky was clear and the sun shone down creating long shadows across the pitch.The conditions were perfect for the game, despite the chilling winter breeze.

The game sprung to life after just 20 seconds, when from kick off Northampton shifted play wide to the left and a deep cross found home debutant Jason Lee in the box, whose first time time strike was tipped over by the alert Alan Fettis.

4 minutes in and The Silkmen mounted their first attack.Martin Bullock pushed forward and cleverly picked out the run of Danny Whitaker, whose delicate lob drifted just wide of the far post.It was the influential Bullock who again created Town's next meaningful attack.He skilfully beat two men in midfield before exchanging passes with Clyde Wijnhard, he then found Wijnhard once more but the Dutchman saw his effort go narrowly over.

Northampton also came close early on when Jason Crowe combined well with Andy Kirk, but Crowe's eventual finish was hit straight into the arms of Fettis.This chance brought the home fans to life, who until this point had been very quiet and it was the 155 travelling Macclesfield fans who were making all the noise.

Despite having several tall players Northampton are a side that try to play a passing game, but Bullock & Whitaker's early dominance in midfield was making this hard for them, and it was Macclesfield who looked most threatening in attack.To the frustration of the home fans Macclesfields possession in the final third led to several free kicks, but unfortunatey Town's set pieces were poor.

As the game progressed Northampton changed their style and started to look long towards their target man Lee.Despite some good flicks and touches from the much travelled frontman the game had declined into what was now quite a scrapy affair in which both teams were now struggling to keep possession.

On the half hour mark Kirk found himself through one on one with Fettis, and after a good first touch, his low drive was superbly turned around the post by the agile Fettis.The referee, Mr Thorpe had obviously missed the save as to Kirk's bemusement he awarded a goal kick.

On 34 minutes, a ball into Macc Town's box was only half cleared as far as Josh Low, who sent in a cross to the back post and there was Cobbler's captain Ian Taylor who rose to head the ball into the net.It was a scrapy build up to the goal, and the ball should have been cleared to saftey long before the cross.

Just two minutes later Northampton came forward once more and after winning a corner things were about to go from bad to worse for the Silkmen.The corner kick was flicked on and an unmarked Andy Kirk was able to head home from 6 yards for his first goal in 9 games.After playing some good football and looking in control for large parts of the half it was a killer blow for Brian Horton to see his side fall behind to 2 goals that could and should have been prevented.

As the half drew to a close Northampton continued to press, but Fettis was equal to all attempts on goal.

As the stadium PA system blasted out pop music and the fans stood discussing the first 45 minutes over their cups of hot Bovril, Brian Horton cut his sides half time break short and sent the players out early for the second half for what appeared to be some passing practice.

The only half time change saw Kevin McIntyre replaced by the more attack minded Kevin Townson, who joined Wijnhard in attack, with Bullock Whitaker, Navarro and Harsley in midfield, all looking to break forward in support in an attempt to get back into the game.

Northampton started the second half brightly, and it was evident why they are bidding for a promotion place.In their prevoius home league games this season they had only conceded 9 goals in 13 games, which was further evidence of the uphill task facing The Silkmen in the second half.

As the second period progressed Northampton did their best to slow the game down and hold onto their lead.

Just before the hour, Macc Town came close twice in quick succession when first a corner flashed across the face of the goal and then a long range effort from Navarro which went wide.

On 61 minutes the impressive Josh Low broke away down the right and his low cross was meet by Scott McGleish who from 6 yards poked the ball into the net and ended any faint hopes Town had of snatching anything from the game.Low continued to threaten and it was a foul on him that lead to the only booking of the game.Kevin Sandwith was the offender causing the referee to reach for his book.

In the 68th minute Brian Horton introduced John Miles to the action at the expense of Navarro, but despite the fresh legs Town continued to have a lot of possession in defence and midfield, but Northampton's high tempo pressing restricted The Silkmen to long range attempts.Bullock looked threatening throughout, but his craft always seemed to be thwarted by a strong defence.

Northampton introduce attacking pair Eion Jess and Martin Smith with 20 minutes to go, which some may have thought would lead to gaps & frailties in the defence but it turned out to have quite the opposite effect as they were soon to go on to give the score a very unreflective impression of the game.

Townson & Bullock both had goalbound shots blocked by defenders in an attack, which was closely followed by Miles coming close.The substitute managed to latch onto a ball ahead of the goalkeeper and toe-poke it past him, but the goalbound ball was cleared by a defender, whom the travelling fans behind the goal claimed had used a hand in the process.

As the game entered the final minutes Northampton added a fourth on 89 minutes when Jess' cross was meet by Ian Taylor, who headed home his second of the afternoon.This was soon to become five, when David Rowson broke into the box and his square pass found Kirk, who slotted the ball into the far post to complete his brace.

On the whole it was a game that was far more even than the scoreline suggests.The team who created the better chances did come out on top, but Macclesfield controlled periods of the game and on another day could have come away with a point.Martin Bullock was key in midfield - His penetration and vision created plenty, especially first half.