Scott Donnelly's second half penalty earned Aldershot a vital away point in their play-off chase as Macclesfield spurned a number of chances to build on Nat Brown's first half strike.

The Silkmen squandered their own spot kick in only the second minute when John Rooney saw his kick expertly tipped onto the post by Shots debutant keeper Jamie Young.

The speed of Emile Sinclair had earned the opportunity, getting goal-side of Anthony Charles before the visiting skipper pulled him down in the box.After Lee Bell's penalty was saved last week the responsibility this time was passed on to Rooney, who struck his kick low to the keeper's left but Young dived full length to palm onto the frame of the goal.

Lee Bell sliced a volley well wide when a long throw from Matt Lowe, making his first start for the Silkmen, was cleared out to the Macc midfielder lurking on the edge of the box.

The home side had the lead on 18 minutes, when Brown started and finished a great move.He strode forward from the back and played the ball into Vinny Mukendi before Rooney perfectly flicked it back into the path of the centre-back and although Young got a touch on his shot it still found the corner of the net.

The visitors had a penalty claim turned down moments later when Chris Blackburn's volley was blocked by Sean Hessey and the referee waved away the handball claims.

Aldershot came into the game a little more after an opening 20 minutes camped in their own half but still Macc created chances, Mukendi swivelling and firing well over on 34 minutes after a Shaun Brisley knock down.

The best Shots chance of the half came when Donnelly broke from midfield and released Marvin Morgan who cut inside his man and rounded Jon Brain only for Brown to get back and put in a tremendous last ditch block to deny the striker just as he was about to finish.

Seconds before the whistle for the interval a bullet header from Charles flew just wide of the post from Donnelly's corner but the half belonged to the Silkmen.

Macc were forced back a little more after half time but caused problems on the break with the pace of Sinclair. On 54 minutes his speed almost doubled their lead when he sprinted past Blackburn and his placed shot beat the keeper but came back off the post and Mukendi's follow up effort was blocked.

Marlon Jackson almost levelled in the 57^th minute when he reacted first after Brain spilled a cross from the right, however Hessey was in the right place to just about get enough of a touch on his shot to deflect it behind.

On the hour Lee Bell should have done better when he drove a shot wide from just inside the box and then the Silkmen threw away a number of chances to put the game to bed when Ben Wright twice was put through on goal only to shoot straight at the keeper.

Substitute Matthew Tipton was lively for the last 20 minutes he was on and put in two fabulous crosses from the left but on both occasions nobody was on hand gambling to get on the end of them.

With 15 minutes to go the ground fell silent when the referee pointed to the penalty spot at the Star Lane End for the second time of the afternoon, with Nat Brown going from hero to villain as he pulled Marvin Morgan back in the box. Donnelly stepped up and fired his kick into the top corner for his 13^th of the season and his second penalty in two games.

Paul Morgan brilliantly blocked on 86 minutes when a defensive header looked to be falling favourably to Danny Hylton as the Shots looked favourites to find a winner for spells in the closing stages.

However, the final chance of the game with just a minute left on the clock fell to Mukendi who could have made headlines for himself but after racing onto Tipton's flick over the top he tried to lob the advancing keeper but got far too much on it and lobbed well over.

The solitary point was still enough to lift Macclesfield up another two places in the table, with the Silkmen now almost certainly safe - with second from bottom Grimsby now needing to win five of their final seven games to go above Macc.

Andy Brinkhurst