Gareth Evans grabbed his 2nd goal for the Silkmen but to no avail
The Silkmen lined up with the same team which came from two goals down to beat Wrexham the previous Saturday. And a repeat looked on the cards as again Macc came back from a two goal deficit only to let the home side score straight from the restart and suffer their first defeat away from the Moss Rose this season.
The game started slowly in front of a crowd just under 2,000,and it was the Silkmen who almost took the lead with four minutes gone when a ball from Kevin McIntyre found Martin Gritton. The striker was able to get a foot to it but only to poke the ball just wide. The home side which included former Silkmen John Miles soon started to take control of the game and had a good chance to take the lead when a low cross by Peter Cavanagh was met by Paul Mullin who just but the ball wide.
Stanley were having most of the ball and Miles from the edge of the box had time to set himself and just as he was about to pull the trigge,r Danny Thomas slid in and knocked the ball away. Then a minute later Dave Morley lost the ball to Stanley's Leam Richardson who cut inside and whipped a ball into the near post. Good defending by Jimmy McNulty saw the danger averted, beating the striker to the ball and heading away.
The Silkmen second attempt came when Levi Reid picked the ball up, his turn and shot just wide of the post with their keeper untroubled. Two minutes later the home side had the woodwork to thank after a Danny Thomas shot had Dunbavin beaten. Then Francis Green collected the ball on the left hand side of the pitch and cut inside and ran towards the goal, forcing a save out of Dunbavin. That proved to be the Silkmen's last real threat of the 1st half which still had 10 minutes left to play.
After a ball was played though the middle it caught the Silkmen defence sleeping and let Roscoe D'Sane in, and a one on one with Tommy Lee. The keeper stood tall and blocked well before clearing away from danger. And it was then the turn of the Silkmen to thank the woodwork after a cross from Miles found Paul Mullin at back post. The big number nine's header hit the bar and back out to safety.
Into the second half and it wasn't long before the first goal of the game came. And it certainly would not have pleased the watching bench, after a long goal kick was misjudged by Morley and found Roscoe D'Sane who skipped past to slot the ball home. While the Silkmen were still thinking about how the first goal had gone in, they found themselves two down after Adam Murray gave the ball away. D'Sane crossed from the left for an unmarked Mullin to tap home.
It was close to being three two minutes later but John Miles free kick was pushed round post by Lee.
As in the previous game the Silkmen waited until they were two down before starting to play, the manager making a double substitution by taking off Dave Morley/Levi Reid and bringing on Carl Regan/Gareth Evans.
The Silkmen got back into the game from the penalty stop after Francis Green was tripped by Graham Branch. Up stepped Kevin McIntyre who sent the keeper the wrong way. It was 2-2 on a few minutes later when a corner by Adam Murray was met by sub Gareth Evans, who lost his marker and scored a great header.
Then with the Silkmen fans still celebrating, the home side were back in front. Straight from the restart a long ball by Jay Harris found the run of D'Sane and both Jimmy McNulty and Richard Edghill got in each other's way. Lee rushed out only to be taken out by Edghill which left D'Sane time to roll the ball, stop it on the line and tap it in with his head.
The Silkmen almost got a draw when a free kick by Kevin McIntyre was deflected off the wall and looked to be going in only to be cleared of the line before Evans could make sure it went it. Soon after the whistle blow and the Silkmen lost their away record.
Dean Bamford
