An Ian Westlake volley ten minutes from time was all that separated the two sides at the Moss Rose this evening.

Macc outplayed fallen giants Leeds in the first half but failed to turn their superiority into goals.  The Silkmen tired in the second period and were dumped out of the Carling Cup at the first hurdle after Westlake's back post finish.

Ian Brightwell kept his side unchanged after the well deserved draw at Bradford on Saturday, with Danny Swailes returning to the bench.

Michael Husbands drew the first save from visiting keeper Casper Ankergren after just 15 seconds with a low drive from 20 yards and Macc took the game to Leeds from the off.  The tricky Danny Thomas almost found Francis Green in the box moments later but his cross was just too high.

Tommy Lee had to be on his toes to punch away the first corner of the game from his near post and after a second corner was half cleared Tresor Kandol headed in at the back post only to be denied by the flag of the linesman.

A cross from the Leeds left found Matt Heath at the far post and after his effort was blocked by Richard Edghill the visitors' claim for handball was waved away by the officials.

At the other end Adam Murray lined up an ambitious half volley from 30 yards which just clipped the top of the bar in the 24th minute.

Adam Murray - His long range effort almost opened the scoring

The visitors then caught the home defence out with a few long balls over the top which Lee had to race out to head clear and the linesman was kept busy as Kandol and striker partner Tom Elliott were repeatedly flagged offside.

Macc almost gifted Leeds the lead two minutes before the break when Richard Edghill's suicidal backpass forced Lee to sprint off his line to just beat Jonathan Douglas to the ball and clear.

The final chance of the half fell to Thomas who expertly controlled Luke Dimech's cross-field ball to put him through on the left, but he failed to beat Ankergren as he narrowed the angles and his effort was parried wide for a corner.

The Silkmen had shaded the first half which obviously didn't please Leeds boss Dennis Wise who introduced striker Jermaine Beckford and Ian Westlake for the second period.

Beckford was instantly involved to produce a brilliant deep cross to Kandol, however he went for power rather than placement from the edge of the box and sliced his shot horribly wide.

Powerful centre back Dimech was caught out by a long bouncing ball allowing Beckford to race in on goal.  After a strong run his shot was parried up in the air by Lee and when Kandol looked odds on to tuck away the rebound Kevin McIntyre cleared off the line.

Kevin McIntyre - Goal-line clearance denied Kandol

Leeds were having much more possession in the second half, although were in their own half for long periods and Macc were getting forced into too many long balls when their passing style of the first half looked far more dangerous.

Danny Thomas picked up the ball from Murray on 62 minutes and hit a sweetly struck drive which flew past the far post from 25 yards as Macc chances started to dry up.

McIntyre robbed David Prutton on the left and he surged towards the box only to be brought down a few feet outside.  The resulting free kick was wasted with a chipped cross far too long for anyone to reach.

The only goal of the game came on 78 minutes after a long stoppage for the Leeds keeper.  The ball was worked out to the right wing and a deep cross found Westlake unmarked at the far post and the former Ipswich midfielder volleyed home from close range to the delight of the travelling contingent.

Leeds then looked comfortable to run the clock down and play out time with Macc not looking likely to find an equaliser.

Substitute Beckford should have wrapped the match up with three minutes to go when he was put through, but Lee stood his ground to block his effort.

Simon Wiles came on for Murray with two minutes to go but saw little of the ball and the home side unfortunately couldn't produce a chance to take the game into extra time.

Another good performance from the Silkmen can only give them more confidence and after outplaying League One opposition for long periods there is no reason why the Macc faithful shouldn't be optimistic for the season ahead.

Next up at the Moss Rose will be the "welcoming" back of Paul Ince and his MK Dons side and if Macc can produce another similar performance then the first win of the season could be chalked up on Saturday.

Andy Brinkhurst