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  • Kick-off: 15:00
  • Venue: The Moss Rose Ground
  • Attendance: 2288
  • Referee: Woolmer, K

Live Commentary

90 mins

That's it, it's all over, the referee has blown the final whistle.

85 mins

Macclesfield are replacing Martin Gritton with Gareth Evans.

67 mins

Tommy Wright is replaced by Ian Harty.

67 mins

Pawel Abbott is being taken off, Gregg Blundell has come on in his place.

60 mins

The referee has booked Tommy Wright.

58 mins

Chris Palmer is being taken off, Kevin McBride has come on in his place.

52 mins

Terry Dunfield is booked for unsporting behaviour.

46 mins

The second half is under way with the score currently at 0 v 0.

45 mins

Half time whistle is blown by K Woolmer

0 mins

It's 3pm on Saturday, September 1st, the match has kicked off.

Match Report

A stunning penalty save from Darlington goalkeeper Dave Stockdale maintained the Quakers' unbeaten start to the season.

However their goalless draw at a gritty Macclesfield side saw them drop two places in the early season table.

Last season Macclesfield's penalty king, Kevin McIntyre, scored nine out of nine but his successful run came to an end against former York custodian Stockdale.

Having been under the cosh in the first 15 minutes Macclesfield earned a penalty in their first run of good play when Darlington right back Tim Ryan upended livewire Danny Thomas in the box.

McIntyre struck his penalty well but at waist height and Stockdale guessed right, clawing the ball wide at full stretch.

Earlier, Darlington had the majority of the chances with midfield man Michael Cummins seeing his shot deflected over the crossbar before centre back Steve Foster moved menacingly forward only for his sharp reaction flick to be pouched by Tommy Lee.

Macclesfield grew in confidence after their penalty miss and went close in the 40th minute when former Man City defender, Richard Edghill, slid a curling shot inches past the far post.

The second half started as a tight midfield battle but, in the 70th minute, Macc's veteran striker, Martin Gritton, nearly broke the deadlock as he jinked inside his defender before Stockdale produced another outstanding full-length save.

Darlington should have sealed all three points in the 83rd minute when substitute striker Ian Harty was presented with a gift-wrapped chance from just six yards.

However, Lee acted smartly and made a super full-length save to smother the close-range attempt.

Darlington boss, Dave Penney, said: "It's another clean sheet and we remain unbeaten but I am disappointed because we can play better than that and we made some wrong decisions in important areas of the pitch."

Macc boss, Ian Brightwell, said after their fourth successive draw: "Some people point to the fact that we haven't won yet but you can also say we haven't lost.

"I was pleased with our performance once again, particularly in defence, when we worked on a number of problems and young Jimmy McNulty was very impressive in his first full outing at centre back."

Macclesfield Town Team

Darlington Team

Macclesfield Town

Darlington

Corners

8 8

Fouls

9 14

Goal attempts

6 9

Shots off target

4 5

Offsides

7 6

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