The Silkmen fell to defeat at Peterborough Sports on Tuesday night for the first time since the turn of the year in the Enterprise National League North.
John Rooney made two changes to the side that put Worksop Town to the sword on Saturday afternoon as Lewis Fensome and James Edmondson returned to the starting XI in place of Luke Matheson and Paul Dawson, both of whom took knocks at the weekend.
It was an incredibly fast-paced start to the evening with two goals at either end inside ten minutes, the opener courtesy of Luke Duffy from the penalty spot, who’d been hauled down from behind moments earlier before dusting himself down and tucking away the spot-kick.
The Turbines soon responded following a mix-up at the back, allowing Max Booth to capitalise and slot home in to an empty net from the edge of the area.
There was no rest-up in terms of the tempo as the Silkmen quickly re-instated their lead nine minutes after being pegged back as Luke Duffy’s heavily deflected effort found it’s way past goalkeeper Peter Crook to double his and Macc’s tally, though officially given as an own goal.
With possession continually exchanged, it took a while for the game to settle and some nice football to be played after a slapdash start to the affair. It wasn’t clearcut who was in the ascendancy despite the Silkmen holding a slender lead, with chances at both ends for D’Mani Mellor and Shaquile Coulthirst, though both were denied by Crook and Dearnley respectively.
With the game there for the taking, it was the in-form winger Duffy who stepped up and took a firm hold of the occasion, firing towards goal from range, before the ball took a sizeable deflection off a Sports defender, causing it to loop up in the air and over everyone including Crook and in to the back of the net to double the Silkmen’s lead and (in our eyes) complete Duffy’s hat-trick on 35 minutes.
It wasn’t the end of an end-to-end thriller at Pims Park as Luca Miller also had fortune on his side as his similarly deflected effort wrong-footed and flew past Dearnley in to the roof of the net to bring the score to 3-2 before an end was called to a goal-fest of a first half.
Back underway after the break and the message was clear for the Silkmen to retain their lead and secure another vital three points in their promotion push, however it didn’t go to plan as Shaquile Coulthirst grabbed his second and Peterborough’s third, having had a golden chance to level the score moments earlier, ensured of an equaliser this time round, firing beyond Dearnley in to the roof of the net just after the hour mark.
The Turbines then snatched a second goal in as many minutes to turn the game on its head as Mustapha Carayol headed home from a corner at the near post, with the Silkmen suddenly finding themselves chasing the game for the remaining 25 minutes.
Changes were almost instantly made in response, with James Gale, Carlos Dos Santos and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson all introduced in place of James Edmondson, Josh Kay and Luis Lacey for the final twenty minutes.
Gale, making his debut for the Silkmen almost had an instant impact, attempting to pull level once more from the edge of the area, though dragged his effort narrowly wide of the far post.
D’Mani Mellor, leading the line in Danny Elliott’s absence and in superb scoring form was almost gifted another and a way back in to the game late on as his heavy pressure forced Crook in to spilling the ball back in to his path, though Macc’s number 9 couldn’t quite capitalise.
Dearnley was called in to action once more to prevent Peterborough from adding a fifth with five to play, as his outstretched boot proved enough to deny substitute Maliq Cadogan from close range.
Five minutes were added before the Silkmen’s first disappointing defeat of 2026 was confirmed by referee Charles King’s final whistle.
Bedford Town are Macc’s next opponents when they return home to the Leasing.com Stadium on Saturday afternoon after three consecutive away games, tickets are available HERE
Attendance: 360
MOTM: Luke Duffy
