The Silkmen picked up a point on the road against promotion rivals Scarborough Athletic on Saturday afternoon at the Mounting Systems Stadium, Macc’s goals were courtesy of Paul Dawson and James Gale.
John Rooney made four changes to the side that fell to defeat against AFC Fylde at the Leasing.com Stadium on Tuesday evening as Sam Heathcote, Kacper Pasiek, Carlos Dos Santos and James Gale took the places of Rollin Menayese, Luis Lacey, Luke Duffy and James Edmondson.
It was a stop-start opening phase of the game in Bridlington as Luke Matheson was caught early on with the high foot of Stephen Walker, for which the full back required extensive treatment before declared fit to continue and the game could resume.
It was as play restarted that Walker fashioned an opportunity from a loose bouncing ball which he struck sweetly from distance, catching Rogan Ravenhill by surprise as the looping effort dropped in to the far corner, giving the hosts the lead inside ten minutes.
Josh Kay lead the charge for the Silkmen in search of an equaliser, though saw two chances fizzle out with the first deflected behind for a corner, and the second parried away by Scarborough goalkeeper Ryan Whitley.
D’Mani Mellor, playing in both a deeper and wider role to his usual central striker position, carried out his defensive duties with care as he denied Rio Allen an opportunity to double the Seadogs’ lead.
Mid way through the half and with the Silkmen continuing to knock on the door for a leveller, Captain Paul Dawson was in the right place at the right time to head home Elliot Osborne’s deep cross at the back post to restore parity.
Dawson was in the thick of the action again minutes later as he saw another headed effort cleared off the line as he turned Osborne’s corner goal bound.
Scarborough hosted a period of possession following Dawson’s equaliser as they ensured there wasn’t to be a turnaround prior to the interval, though James Gale raced clear of the home side’s backline before going to ground having seemingly been tripped as he set to shoot, though referee Callum Jones waved away the Silkmen’s appeals for a penalty on the brink of the break.
Jones blew the whistle for half time moments later with both sides level at the break with plenty more action to come in the second half.
It was the Seadogs who started the second period the brighter, retaking the lead inside two minutes of the restart as Stephen Walker bundled home Luca Colville’s corner, piling the workload back on Macc with the majority of the half remaining.
The Silkmen then had to contend with a further period of Scarborough dominance in the early stages of the second half as Ravenhill had an initial effort from Alex Brown covered before denying Walker a hat-trick at his near post on 55 minutes.
John Rooney opted for a change in personnel just prior to the hour mark with Luke Duffy replacing Kacper Pasiek in a bid to pile on the pressure defensively for the hosts.
It was just the other side of the 60th minute that Alex Purver received his marching orders for a dangerously high foot which connected with the face of Elliot Osborne, reducing Athletic to ten for just less than half an hour of remaining regulation time.
Paul Dawson was booked moments later in retaliation as tempers flared briefly following Purver’s dismissal, though referee Jones quickly retook control and ensured no further cards were to be issued.
D’Mani Mellor had a big chance to bring the Silkmen level once more with twenty minutes to play as he read and intercepted Alex Brown’s headed pass back to Whitley and attempted to lob the onrushing keeper, though Whitley recovered well to keep the scoreline in Scarborough’s favour for the time being,
Three changes were made with eighteen minutes to go as Carlos Dos Santos, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Josh Kay were replaced by Luis Lacey, James Edmondson and Isaac Buckley-Ricketts respectively.
With just over ten minutes to play, Macc’s hard work to draw level for a second time in the afternoon paid off as James Gale picked up a loose ball in the area, spun his man and lashed beyond Whitley in to the far corner to bring us back level once more.
Five minutes were added at the end of the regulation 90, during which chances fell for both D’Mani Mellor and James Gale, though neither of which were able to convert to give the Silkmen a late winner as the final whistle soon followed to conclude the afternoon with nothing to separate the sides on the scoreline.
Attendance: 1,039 (288 away)
