Macclesfield 2 City 2

 It was a bit like Jordan complaining about publicity-seekers obsessed about being in the papers.

Macc boss Keith Alexander had a pop after the game and claimed that only one side had tried to play football.

This was not Arsene Wenger bemoaning the lack of quality but Alexander, whose Silkmen are hardly the purveyors of the silky game.

True, Macclesfield are not quite as agricultural these days but to criticise City for a long-ball approach was slightly rich.

McCall, though, took Alexander’s barb on the chin and even agreed to an extent.

It was not a match rich in quality and the rock-hard surface did not help. The exaggerated bounce felt like a throwback to the plastic pitches of 20 years ago.

It was not easy to get the ball down and pass. And once City discovered that James Hanson had the beating of Macc’s defence to every aerial assault, the visitors realised they didn’t need to.

McCall said: “We were direct for the simple reason that James dominated their centre half. Every time the ball went in the box, he created problems.

“There are times when you can play pretty passy, passy football and if you dominate the midfield that’s great. But our danger came from putting balls in the box.

“You play to your strengths and it would have been folly not to keep getting the ball up to James because he was dominating.”

Four Macc players, including City old boy Paul Bolland, had been ruled out the night before after a bout of vomiting.

But McCall was the one feeling pig-sick after watching his side gift them a shocking opening goal. Steve Williams didn’t deal with a long punt downfield from keeper Jonny Brain and Colin Daniel caught Simon Eastwood off his line to nudge home almost apologetically.

It was an awful piece of defending and right under the eyes of the stunned away support, who were once again pointing fingers at a soft centre.

City spent the rest of the half thrashing away at the Macclesfield box but the ball wouldn’t go in.

Hanson twice nodded wide and other shots from Gareth Evans and Chris Brandon were blocked.

Macc’s nervy backline even got in on the act, with Paul Morgan a slither away from back-passing into his own net.

Scott Neilson looked on his game from the start.

It has been an up and down spell for the winger as he gets to grips with the pro game.

Neilson got little change out of Dagenham’s Scott Griffiths in City’s last away outing but he gave left back Carl Tremarco the run-around on Saturday.

Every possession threatened something and he was at the centre of the best moment of football of the afternoon.

Taking the ball just inside the home half, Neilson surged forward before swapping passes with Michael Flynn. He received the return inside the penalty area with only Brain to beat but the keeper made the one good save of his otherwise unconvincing afternoon.

City were in control but their defence still creaked at times and Luke O’Brien had to clear off the line from Ross Draper.

Macc then added salt to the wounds with a second just before half-time.

It was a well-worked move from a throw-in with one-time City trainee Emile Sinclair’s driven cross converted by Algerian Hamza Bencherif. But that did not make it easier to stomach as City contemplated a two-goal deficit at the break.

The message in the dressing room remained upbeat. McCall kicked backsides because he knew the result was far from settled. Dagenham had recovered the same deficit at Moss Rose the previous week and sooner or later City’s chances had to go in.

Brandon, troubled by illness, had run himself into the ground. Having not trained on Friday, he was running on empty and Michael Boulding came on in a switch to 4-4-2.

Immediately City were back on it, with Brain spilling a Hanson header. Eastwood also denied Sinclair at the other end – a save that was to prove critical in the long run.

Within a minute, City had a foothold back in the game. Hanson eased above Shaun Brisley and nodded home James O’Brien’s corner to spark jubilation on the terrace behind the goal.

The fans’ volume hit maximum as City poured forward. And eight minutes later they were level.

Again Flynn could claim an assist as his shot proved too hot to handle for Brain and Williams tapped in the rebound. But Zesh Rehman also deserves a credit for keeping the ball alive on the touchline and creating the space for Flynn to let fly.

Now the scene was set for City to complete an Accrington-style revival. O’Brien, Boulding, Neilson and Hanson were all close to finding that elusive third.

Then Macclesfield nearly shook City with a brief revival of their own as Ben Wright headed against the post and Draper drilled into the side-netting after Jon Bateson did just enough to put him off when clear.

But the game finished in the Macc penalty area with City doing everything but scoring. Even in stoppage time, Rehman’s prod was dug out from the line by Brisley and Evans smashed a deflected shot onto the bar.

Hence the down-trodden reaction at the final whistle. The team coach heading back along the M62 seethed with frustration.

McCall said: “I had to give them a kick up the backside at half-time. I genuinely felt we would win the game because I knew we’d have half a dozen chances.

“I told the players to go out and show character. It was about getting heads up, chests out and having a right go and give them credit for doing that.

“Chance-wise, pressure-wise, territorial-wise, everything-wise we deserved to win the game.”