Strugglers land
MACCLESFIELD Town saw their winning run come to an end after they suffered a shock home defeat to strugglers Guiseley.
Two goals from Michael Rankine earned the visitors all three points at the Moss Rose, despite a strike from Chris Holroyd.
It leaves the Silkmen in 10th place in the National League table, six points off the play-offs with two games in hand on most of the teams above them.
It was a quiet start to the game, with the first chance coming in the 12th minute when Kingsley James saw his effort fly narrowly over the crossbar.
The Silkmen continued to push in search for the first goal of the afternoon, and Holroyd nearly got it when he got on the end of a cross from Danny Whitaker, but his header was off target.
Holroyd had a chance to make amends for the miss just a few minutes later when it was Mitch Hancox who turned provider on this occasion, but once again he couldn’t test Guiseley goalkeeper Johnathan Maxted with the header.
Maxted was finally capped upon on the 25th minute though when James tried his luck, making a good save to deny the Macc midfielder.
The home side were dominating the action, with Whitaker the next to go close when his shot going over after good work from David Fitzpatrick.
Despite all of Macclesfield’s hard work, they couldn’t find a goal, and they were made to pay when Guiseley were awarded a penalty on 29 minutes.
John McCombe tripped James Wesolowski in the box, allowing Rankine to step forward and convert the spot-kick to make it 1-0 to the away side.
Guiseley’s goal had come against the run of play, but they weren’t leading for long as Macclesfield managed to immediately hit back.
Holroyd made a good run with the ball before firing past Maxted to level things up and make it 1-1.
Both teams had chances just before the interval, with Hancox seeing a volley saved by Maxted before Scott Flinders was required at the other end to keep out Derek Asamoah.
It was all square at the break, but Guiseley were gifted another chance to re-take the lead at the start of the second half when they were awarded another penalty.
Flinders was tripped by Will Hatfield, but the Macc goalkeeper appeared to make amends when he saved Rankine’s spot-kick.
The celebrations were short-lived though, as Rankine easily tucked away the rebound to put his team back in front.
Macclesfield thought they had hit back for the second time in the game when James had the ball in the net, but it was disallowed for offside.
Danny Whitaker came on for his second Macc debut following his loan signing from Wigan, and he nearly made an immediate impact when his shot just went wide.
The Guiseley defence had their backs against the walls in the final moments as the Silkmen did all they could to find a goal, but it wasn’t to be and they lost 2-1.
Macclesfield were hoping to return to winning ways with a midweek trip to Eastleigh, but the planned match at the Silverlake Stadium was postponed due to a frozen pitch.
It means that Macc’s next game comes on Sat- urday when they have an away game against North Ferriby United.
MACCLESFIELD TOWN:
Flinders; Fitzpatrick, Byrne, Pilkington, McCombe; Hancox, James, Norburn (Dudley 61’), Perel ( Whitehead 57’); Holroyd, Whitaker (Browne 79’). Subs not used: Ross, Halls.