MACCLESFIELD Town and Lincoln City played out an entertaining 1-1 draw at Moss Rose on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors took the lead on fifteen minutes when Terry Hawkridge’s free-kick was nodded in by Jamie McCombe.
Danny Whitehead spectacularly volleyed the Silkmen level early in the second half and though both sides pressed hard neither could find a crucial second goal.
The draw means the Silkmen are still without a league win since January 2 whilst Lincoln haven’t won on their travels since November 21.
The visitors came out of the traps the quickest. The midfield duo of Alan Power and Greg Tempest dictated the pace of the game as the visitors looked to make a lightning start. Tempest nearly opening the scoring on six minutes but his ferocious 25 yard drive was tipped over by Shwan Jalal in the Macc goal.
Lincoln’s quick start was rewarded on the quarter-hour mark when Jamie McCombe was given the freedom of the penalty area to head home Hawkridge’s lofted free-kick.
Macclesfield livened up after a lacklustre opening 20 minutes and had a sustained spell of pressure on the visitor’s goal. Chris Holroyd, who scored on his Silkmen debut against Lincoln in 2012, fired into a crowded penalty area but the ball was hacked to safety.
At the other end Macc were grateful to their Iranian goalkeeper Jalal for keeping the deficit at one when Hawkridge shot low towards the corner of the goal after James Caton’s long run upfield.
The Silkmen were unlucky not to equalise on the half-hour but a spate of penalty-area pinball which included efforts at goal from Danny Whitaker, Holroyd and Kristian Dennis didn’t lead to a breach of Paul Farman’s goal.
McCombe nearly scored at the wrong end when he flicked a Whitehead cross backwards but it fell just wide of the post and Lincoln’s lead remained intact over the interval.
Two minutes after half-time and Lincoln spurned a golden chance to add to their advantage. Bradley Wood launched a long-ball into the Macclesfield penalty area and that man Jamie McCombe again found himself unmarked but unlike in the first half the former Bristol City man nodded wide.
The Imps paid the price for their wastefulness when Macc equalised three minutes later. Dennis played the ball into Jack Sampson’s chest who laid into the path of Whitehead and the on-loan Wigan man blasted into the corner of the goal leaving Farman with no chance.
One spectator described Chris Moyses men as ‘punch-drunk’ at the start of the second half and they could have fallen behind when Macc centre-back John McCombe, the brother of Lincoln’s Jamie, blasted over the bar before Jack Sampson’s effort was beat away by Farman.
Lincoln nearly restored their advantage in an end-to-end contest when a swift breakaway culminated in Hawkridge’s low drive but Jalal was equal to the attempt.
An open last ten minutes saw both sides chase a winner but their efforts failed to bear fruits which extended Macc’s winless run in the National League to eight games and Lincoln’s streak without success on their travels to seven matches.
Teams:
Macclesfield Town: Jalal, Halls, McCombe, Pilkington, Fitzpatrick, Whitaker, Turnbull, Whitehead (Rowe ’83), Holroyd, Sampson, Dennis.
Subs not used: Branagan, Cowan, Phillips, Styche
Lincoln City: Farman, Wood, Bush, McCombe, Beevers, Power, Caton (Maris ’70), Tempest (Sparrow ’92), Hawkridge, Rhead, Muldoon (McDaid ’78)
Subs not Used: Grant, Wildin
Booked: Beevers
Referee: Mr Martin Coyle
Attendance: 1,676 (301 visitors)
By Jordan Davies at Moss Rose
@Jordandavies09
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