Macclesfield Town left Nene Park empty handed after a goal 10 minutes from time secured all three points for struggling Rushden & Diamonds.

Brian Horton was forced into making one change from the side that lost at Carlisle midweek - John Miles replaced the injured Clyde Wijnhard in attack, who joined the already injured Alan Fettis & Alan Navarro on the sidelines.

Rushden, who like The Silkmen, had lost their previous game to Carlisle made three changes. Phil Gulliver, Dave Savage & Petr Mikolanda were replaced by Magnus Okuonghae, Ashley Nicholls & Tony Stokes, as they went in search of a third consecutive home win in their bid to escape the drop.

Nene Park is a very neat & compact ground, and an immaculate pitch matched the superb off field facilities.The surface was extremely flat, and in a week where bad pitches have been much discussed in the media, the Rushden groundsman deserves much credit.

There was a very strong wind blowing down the ground, which throughout the game caused several players problems, especially when trying to clear their lines.

Macclesfield started the game playing into the wind, and due to this struggled to deal with Rushden's style, which was very focused on long balls and crosses towards their target man Drewe Broughton.

Despite the conditions, The Silkmen did start quite brightly. John Miles had several good touches, Martin Bullock & Kevin Sandwith combined well down the left, but Andrew Smart failed to capitalise on the ball into the box.

The home side soon found their feet, and took firm control of the game. Broughton was a handful throughout upfront, and the high tempo of Rushden's play, aided by the use of the 'Multiball' system, made it clear to see the why visiting teams have struggled here in recent weeks.

On 14 minutes a deep left wing cross looked to be heading dangerously towards full-back Tyrone Berry, but Sandwith superbly intervened. From the resulting corner a powerful goalbound header was superbly clawed away by the diving Tommy Lee. It was a tremendous save from a header that looked destine to open the scoring.

Just 5 minutes later, Lee made an even better save to deny Stokes. The impressive Berry cut in from the right wing, his pull back found Stokes who from 8 yards hit a low shot, which was once again superbly tipped wide by the loanee Goalkeeper. It was a world class save that brought everybody to their feet, and was evidence of why Lee is currently contracted to Manchester United.

John Miles struggled throughout the first half, simply due to the fact that Rushden's domination was forcing the midfield to sit so deep, leaving him very isolated in attack. On the half hour mark, in a rare Macclesfield attack, Bullock beat his man and fed Paul Harsley, but his deep cross-shot sailed harmlessly wide.

10 minutes before half time, a Rushden corner was headed back across goal and as Berry's header appeared to have crossed the line the referee blew for a Silkmen foul for a push in the back.

Regardless of the onslaught, the 135 visiting fans were doing their side proud, as they were making far more noise than the home contingent of the 2,479 crowd.

Just before half time Rob Gier's wind assisted cross looked threatening, but again Lee was equal to the challenge & confidently punched clear.

The second period meant the wind was in Macclesfield's favour, and it was soon evident to see the difference it made. Lee's goal-kicks were much longer & it was now the home defence that were struggling to clear their box.

Rushden had the ball in the net after just 5 minutes, but linesman's flag ensured the game remained goalless. Darren Caskey met a cross from the left & as his effort was about to cross the line Stokes poked the already goal-bound ball in from 2 yards. In doing so, Stokes became 'active', enforcing the linesman to rule out the goal for offsidel.

As the half progressed Macclesfield began to press, and although several half chances were created, Daniel Crane in the Rushden goal was never really tested. Andrew Smart looked the main goal threat, but his attempts were restricted to long-range efforts.

With 20 minutes to go Broughton turned well in the box, but again his right footed shot was saved by Lee.

On 75 minutes Crane's weak goal-kick was headed forward into the path of Miles, but the frontman's looping half volley drifted inches wide of the far post.

Bullock also fired over minutes later after he had created an opportunity for himself with some neat footwork.

With just 10 minutes remaining and the game heading for a scoreless draw, Rushden & Diamonds took the lead. Marcus Kelly crossed from the left wing & Broughton rose highest at the back post to head into the top left hand corner.

Brian Horton responded by replacing Bullock & Harsley with Beresford & Townson, and changing to a 4-4-2 formation, but Rushden introduced another defender in player boss Barry Hunter & were happy to defend their advantage.

On this display it is hard to see why Rushden are so lowly placed, but if they continue to play this way they should have the quality to remain in League 2 and meet Macclesfield again next season.