The Silkmen had to settle for a draw at Booth Street this evening in their first pre-season friendly. With heavy rain falling a strong looking starting XI took to the field with Ahmed Deen making his first appearance in a Macc Town shirt and Jordan Hadfield making a welcome return in the centre of the park.

And it was Keith Alexander's men who took the lead inside five minutes through Martin Gritton. The centre forward collected the ball out wide, advanced towards goal and coolly slipped the ball past the onrushing keeper.

However any hopes that this would open the floodgates were quashed when the North West Counties side equalised on fifteen minutes, a cross from the right finding an unmarked Andy Alston who headed past a stranded Jon Brain.

The Silkmen pushed hard to regain the lead but a combination of difficult playing conditions and wasted chances saw the sides go in at half time on level terms. Danny Thomas and John Rooney will both feel they should have done better when through one on one and Terry Dunfield and Gareth Evans both came close to scoring.

With second year youth player Tom Nadin replacing John Rooney in what looked like a tactical switch, Jon Brain was called into action just before the break, making two excellent saves in quick succession. However the Silkmen still had time to get to the other end, Martin Gritton feeding Gareth Evans but as typified the events of the previous thirty minutes the young striker was not able to convert.

Half Time - Congleton Town 1 Macclesfield Town 1

Wholesale changes were made to the team at half-time with Keith Alexander keen to give every outfield player a run out, only Neil Harvey missing out. However the recent signing from Retford United was in attendance to see his team mates struggle to cope with deteriorating conditions after the break.

Compared to the first 45 minutes few chances were created, the best falling to Simon Yeo whose sweetly struck shot from a Hirst cross was well saved just after the hour mark.

With ten minutes on the clock the Silkmen took the lead through Francis Green. Seizing onto a weighted through ball from Christian Millar, Green neatly took the ball around the keeper and like Gritton before him slipped the ball into the back of the net from a tight angle.

But Keith Alexander will not have been pleased as moments later a harmless looking cross seemed to evade everyone, eventually falling at James Morrow's feet who bundled the ball into the Silkmen's goal for the final real action of a scrappy game.

First Half Line-Up

Brain, Reid, Hessey, Brisley, Deen, Thomas, Hadfield, Dunfield, Gritton, Evans, Rooney (Tom Nadin 30)

Second Half Line-Up

Brain, Flynn, Walker, Morgan, Jennings, Hirst, Millar, Bell, Blackman, Green, Yeo

Goals

Gritton 4, Green 71