The Silkmen earned a valuable point at the Racecourse Ground this afternoon thanks to a second half strike from Jamie Tolley, the rejuvanted midfielder's second goal of the season. And whilst the lead was lost to a 79th minute Steve Evans' header, results elsewhere have seen us climb one place, still seven points clear of the bottom two.

Keith Alexander went into the 'six pointer' with the same side that did so well against Accrington Stanley at the Moss Rose last weekend with Michael Symes coming back onto the bench. On a cold day both sides looked eager to set the stall out. But a scrappy game came to life when the Silkmen had what they thought was a good shout for a penalty turned down on the quarter hour mark, Drewe Broughton appearing to man handle his marker. The referee waved away the Silkmen's appeals and this seemed to stir the home side into life in a match they really had to win.

Macclesfield were battling hard  though and in the process Danny Thomas and Sean Hessey found their way into the referee's notebook. The best chance fell of the half fell to Chris Llewellyn but the striker could only find the side netting on 41 minutes when he really should have done better.

With the game scoreless at the break, the Silkmen with the strong wind behind them started the second half brightly. And they were rewarded for their endeavours on 51 minutes. Pressing forward a ball was headed clear to Jamie Tolley on the edge of the Robin's penalty box. The midfielder kept his head and fired a superb shot in the right hand corner to give his side a deserved lead.

With the majority of the 3993 crowd getting increasingly frustrated, Macclesfield continued to create chances and both Francis Green and Danny Thomas will probably feel they should have done better when presented with opportunities to double the lead. They didn't and with time running out they were made to pay when Steve Evans looped a header in from 12 yards with just over ten minutes left on the clock.

Macclesfield still had chances to regain the lead but in the end a draw was a fair result and the 466 fans went home happy content with a point, a result that sets us up nicely for the visit of Mansfield to the Moss Rose next weekend.