New Hereford boss Richard O'Kelly had to settle for a point as his side threw away a two-goal lead at Macclesfield.

Will Evans scored from 20 yards to give his new manager a dream start in the first minute and then drove into the same corner from five yards further.

Sam Wedgbury's low volley from George Donnelly's cross pulled the home side back into the game.

And Matt Hamshaw's pinpoint drive into the top corner secured a point for Macclesfield with 11 minutes left.

VIEWS FROM THE DRESSING ROOM.

Macclesfield Town manager Gary Simpson told BBC Radio Manchester:

"I think from the situation we're in it's a good point and we're probably a bit unfortunate we didn't win it.

"It took the wind out of our sails with their great strike from the kick off, then we're 2-0 down, and we're facing a massive uphill battle.

"We had to change, put another striker on, change the shape and we got the goal and it was a case of would we get the next one.

"It's another point on the board, it's not ideal, we would have liked three but at half-time we would have taken it."

Lineup, Bookings (6) & Substitutions (6)

Macclesfield

  • 40 O'Donnell
  • 03 Tremarco (Mendy - 41' Booked )
  • 05 Brown
  • 35 Futcher (Mukendi - 46' )
  • 36 Connolly
  • 11 Daniel
  • 14 Diagne
  • 15 Marshall (Fairhurst - 68' )
  • 17 Wedgebury
  • 20 Hamshaw
  • 09 Donnelly Booked

Substitutes

  • 12 Mendy
  • 10 Mukendi
  • 18 Fairhurst
  • 23 Tomlinson
  • 34 Bakare

Hereford

  • 28 Cornell
  • 05 Townsend
  • 12 Purkiss
  • 18 Clist Booked
  • 22 Anthony Booked
  • 06 Purdie
  • 11 Lunt Booked
  • 19 Taylor (Colbeck - 80' )
  • 21 Barkhuizen (Clucas - 59' Booked )
  • 34 Evans
  • 10 Facey (Elder - 64' )

Substitutes

  • 01 Bartlett
  • 16 Williams
  • 17 Colbeck
  • 27 Clucas
  • 25 Elder
Ref: Webb
Att: 1,676

Match Stats

Shots

15 7

On target

10 7

Corners

8 3

Fouls

7 9

Live Text Commentary

90:00 +4:07 Full time

Full Time The final whistle goes and the game is over.

90:00 +1:58

Inswinging corner taken by Sam Wedgbury from the left by-line.

90:00 +1:16

Free kick awarded for a foul by Will Evans on Colin Daniel. Richard O'Donnell restarts play with the free kick.

88:43

Tony Diagne challenges Nathan Elder unfairly and gives away a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Robert Purdie.

84:28

Waide Fairhurst takes a shot. Blocked by Robert Purdie. Sam Wedgbury takes the inswinging corner, Nathaniel Brown takes a shot. Save by David Cornell. The assistant referee flags for offside against Sam Wedgbury. David Cornell takes the free kick.

84:00

George Donnelly takes a shot. Michael Townsend gets a block in.

83:31

Matthew Hamshaw takes the direct free kick.

83:31 Booking

Booking Byron Anthony booked.

83:20

Byron Anthony gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on George Donnelly.

82:48

Nathaniel Brown gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Nathan Elder. Robert Purdie takes the direct free kick.

79:20 Substitution

Substitution Joe Colbeck on for Lyle Taylor.

78:24 Goal scored

Goal - Matthew Hamshaw - Macclesfld 2 - 2 Hereford Matthew Hamshaw finds the back of the net with a goal from just outside the box to the top left corner of the goal. Macclesfield 2-2 Hereford.

77:18

Free kick taken by Matthew Hamshaw. Inswinging corner taken from the right by-line by Sam Wedgbury.

77:18 Booking

Booking Samuel Clucas receives a caution.

77:06

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Mark Connolly by Lyle Taylor.

75:31

Mark Connolly takes a shot. Byron Anthony gets a block in. Vinny Mukendi has a header from close range and clears the crossbar.

71:35

Inswinging corner taken from the left by-line by Sam Wedgbury.

70:13

Nathan Elder is caught offside. Richard O'Donnell takes the indirect free kick.

69:07

Samuel Clucas takes a shot. Save by Richard O'Donnell. Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Arnaud Mendy by Lyle Taylor. Direct free kick taken by Richard O'Donnell.

67:43 Substitution

Substitution Waide Fairhurst joins the action as a substitute, replacing Marcus Marshall.

65:46

Shot from long range by Colin Daniel misses to the left of the target.

63:42

Marcus Marshall is caught offside. David Cornell takes the free kick.

63:15 Substitution

Substitution Nathan Elder comes on in place of Delroy Facey.

61:20

The assistant referee flags for offside against Matthew Hamshaw. David Cornell takes the indirect free kick.

58:40

Direct free kick taken by Richard O'Donnell.

58:40 Substitution

Substitution Samuel Clucas on for Tom Barkhuizen.

58:40 Booking

Booking Booking for Kenny Lunt.

58:29

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Sam Wedgbury by Kenny Lunt.

56:30 Booking

Booking George Donnelly is cautioned by the ref for unsporting behaviour.

56:21

Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Byron Anthony by George Donnelly. David Cornell takes the free kick.

54:05

Corner taken by Sam Wedgbury, Tony Diagne takes a shot. Save made by David Cornell.

52:05

Effort on goal by Matthew Hamshaw from long range goes harmlessly over the bar.

50:34

Colin Daniel crosses the ball.

47:09

Matthew Hamshaw provided the assist for the goal.

47:09 Goal scored

Goal - Sam Wedgbury - Macclesfld 1 - 2 Hereford A goal is scored by Sam Wedgbury from inside the penalty box to the bottom right corner of the goal. Macclesfield 1-2 Hereford.

46:05

Header from close range by Vinny Mukendi misses to the right of the target.

45:30

Ben Purkiss challenges Sam Wedgbury unfairly and gives away a free kick. Free kick taken by Matthew Hamshaw.

45:01

The second half kicks off.

45:01 Substitution

Substitution Vinny Mukendi replaces Ben Futcher.

45:00 +4:02 Half time

Half Time The ref blows to end the first period.

45:00 +3:01

George Donnelly takes a shot. Save by David Cornell. Corner from the left by-line taken by Matthew Hamshaw, Delroy Facey manages to make a clearance.

45:00 +2:24

Will Evans challenges Arnaud Mendy unfairly and gives away a free kick. Richard O'Donnell takes the free kick.

45:00 +1:58

The ball is delivered by Matthew Hamshaw, David Cornell makes a save.

45:00 +0:07

The official flags Lyle Taylor offside. Indirect free kick taken by Richard O'Donnell.

44:11

Robert Purdie restarts play with the free kick.

44:11 Booking

Booking The referee shows Arnaud Mendy a yellow card.

44:00

Unfair challenge on Will Evans by Arnaud Mendy results in a free kick.

43:04

Tom Barkhuizen takes a shot. Save made by Richard O'Donnell.

42:38

The ball is delivered by Ben Purkiss, Ben Futcher manages to make a clearance.

40:12

Free kick taken by Mark Connolly.

40:12 Substitution

Substitution Arnaud Mendy is brought on as a substitute for Carl Tremarco.

40:12 Booking

Booking The referee books Simon Clist for unsporting behaviour.

39:57

Simon Clist gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Colin Daniel.

38:36

Corner taken right-footed by Matthew Hamshaw from the right by-line, Delroy Facey makes a clearance.

31:40

Will Evans takes a shot. Save made by Richard O'Donnell. Tom Barkhuizen takes a short corner.

30:59

Free kick awarded for a foul by George Donnelly on Robert Purdie. Simon Clist restarts play with the free kick.

30:18

Tom Barkhuizen takes a outswinging corner to the near post, clearance made by Carl Tremarco.

28:32

Headed effort from inside the area by Carl Tremarco misses to the right of the target.

27:57

George Donnelly takes a shot. Save made by David Cornell.

26:40

Inswinging corner taken right-footed by Matthew Hamshaw from the left by-line, Delroy Facey manages to make a clearance.

25:24

Assist on the goal came from Kenny Lunt.

25:24 Goal scored

Goal - Will Evans - Macclesfld 0 - 2 Hereford A goal is scored by Will Evans from just outside the area to the bottom right corner of the goal. Macclesfield 0-2 Hereford.

23:50

Robert Purdie takes a shot. Blocked by Sam Wedgbury.

19:24

Outswinging corner taken by Tom Barkhuizen. Delroy Facey takes a shot. Richard O'Donnell makes a save.

17:00

Mark Connolly takes a shot. Save by David Cornell.

15:25

Free kick awarded for a foul by Marcus Marshall on Tom Barkhuizen. David Cornell restarts play with the free kick.

5:10

Sam Wedgbury fouled by Lyle Taylor, the ref awards a free kick. Direct free kick taken by Richard O'Donnell.

3:37

Foul by Ben Futcher on Delroy Facey, free kick awarded. Tom Barkhuizen takes the free kick.

2:43

The referee blows for offside. Richard O'Donnell restarts play with the free kick.

0:06 Goal scored

Goal - Will Evans - Macclesfld 0 - 1 Hereford Will Evans finds the back of the net with a goal from just outside the box to the bottom right corner of the goal. Macclesfield 0-1 Hereford.

0:00

The referee gets the game started.

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