The Silkmen were held by Scarborough Athletic on Saturday at the Leasing.com Stadium. The afternoon ended in a one all draw with goals either side of the break from Sam Heathcote and Dom Tear.
Just two changes were made to the side that fell to defeat at Fylde on Tuesday evening with Danny Whitehead and Max Woltman taking the places of Paul Dawson and Justin Johnson.
In the first notable event of the action, Max Dearnley was quick off his line to head away a ball over the top ahead of an onrushing Luca Colville inside five minutes.
The Silkmen responded efficiently with Luis Lacey delivering an inviting ball in to D’Mani Mellor, who headed just over Ryan Whitley’s crossbar four minutes later.
Tactical warfare ensued with both sides attempting to outwit each other in the middle of the park, containing one another equally with neither side able to make a break through before the twenty minute mark.
It was then from almost nothing that the opening goal came as the clock ticked over to twenty three minutes during a period of Macc possession inside the Scarborough half before Sam Heathcote unexpectedly and speculatively let fly, his low fizzing effort wasn’t dealt with by Whitley, as it squirmed away from his grasp off the damp surface and over the line.
Scarborough naturally went in search of an immediate retaliation, only for Harry Green’s free kick to fly high and wide of the target from distance.
Danny Whitehead came close to doubling the Silkmen’s lead just after the half hour mark, picking up Danny Elliott’s low cross before forcing a smart save from Whitley at his near post.
Whitley then failed to keep hold of Woltman’s low drive, which Danny Elliott followed in on but couldn’t quite capitalise as Scarborough managed to clear their lines at the vital moment.
Woltman then timed a run to perfection, getting in behind the Scarborough back line before attempting to dink beyond Whitley at full stretch, which bounced agonisingly wide of the near post.
Two minutes were added on at the end of the half before the Silkmen went in a goal to the good at the break.
The lively Woltman came closest to making a further difference to the scoreline after the interval, forcing Whitley to tip his left footed strike across goal round his far post.
Lewis Fensome was next to test Whitley, parrying Fensome’s placed effort from distance behind for another corner in a run of set pieces from the corner flag.
Harry Green tried his luck from range in a desperate attempt to equalise just before the hour mark, but to thankfully to no avail, though reminded the Silkmen of the importance of grabbing another goal as the Gulls closed in.
Despite the warning signs, Luis Lacey was required to prevent Scarborough from levelling though as he denied Colville on the line at the back post following a goal mouth scramble.
Max Dearnley was cautioned for taking too long over a goal kick as the Silkmen looked to settle after a period of Scarborough pressure. Dearnley, unafraid of venturing off his line did just that once again soon after as he cleared the danger ahead of the pacy Harry Green.
Sam Heathcote recovered well to deny Weledji going clean through on goal, with a crucial crunching challenge midway inside the Silkmen half as the last man back besides Dearnley.
Rocco Coyle’s free kick in a dangerous position on the edge of the area was vitally blocked by James Edmondson in the blue wall as Scarborough continued to make their presence known midway through the second half.
Coyle was then lucky not to receive a second yellow card for a late challenge on Danny Elliott, having already been booked for a similar offence in the first half.
Danny Elliott, a focal point as always for the Silkmen, made good progress inside the Scarborough half before bending a curling effort over the bar.
Isaac Buckley-Ricketts took the place of Max Woltman, who’d been a thorn in Scarborough’s side throughout with twenty minutes to go, as John Rooney and his management team showed no sign of consolidating the slender lead and instead were looking to extend it and settle the nerves late on.
It wasn’t to be though as Noah Wadsworth squared for Dom Tear who levelled for Scarborough from close range with just over ten to play.
Regan Griffiths replaced Danny Whitehead in the aftermath of the equaliser, providing the Silkmen with a fresh engine room for the closing stages.
With the game now hanging in the balance, Sam Heathcote tried the spectacular once more, aiming to replicate his and the game’s first goal of the afternoon, though blazed over from range.
Macc continued to press via Buckley-Ricketts, who was alive to a sliced Scarborough clearance, taking the ball excellently under his control before firing back towards the near post, though saw his effort well held by Whitley.
Justin Johnson and Brandon Lee replaced Luke Duffy and Luis Lacey respectively in like for like changes with five minutes left on the clock and the Silkmen looking to retake the lead before the end.
Johnson almost had an immediate impact, cutting back for earlier substitute Regan Griffiths, who sliced narrowly wide of the far post two minutes from time.
The visitors found themselves with a free kick in a dangerous position once again as four minutes were added on at the end of the regulation 90, though Dearnley did well to hold from Colville.
The Silkmen were furstratingly denied a huge penalty late on but instead resulted in James Edmondson entering the book for an alleged dive deep in to stoppage time, as he went to ground inside the area on the spin and under heavy pressure.
Despite both sides best efforts, the scoreline remained level when the full time whistle blew, recording a point for the Silkmen on their return to the Leasing.com Stadium.
Macc travel to the Capital next weekend as they face Slough Town in the Second Round of the Emirates FA Cup at a sold out Arbour Park, where the two joint lowest ranked sides left in the competition will battle it out for a place in the Third Round and potential tie against any of Premier League and EFL sides.
MOTM: Sam Heathcote
Attendance: 3,008 (129)
