MACCLESFIELD were forced to fight to the finish in securing three points at London Road.

After taking a deserved lead through Izak Reid, Gareth Evans’ red card forced ten-man Macc to battle through more than 40 minutes of Peterborough pressure.

It was a new-look Silkmen side, with debuts for all four of Ian Brightwell’s loan signings.

With Neil Ashton at left-back, Ryan Cresswell partnered Sean Hessey in the centre of defence. James Ashmore and Michael Symes also started the game and each can be proud of his performance.

Evans almost gave Macc the perfect start when his pace helped him beat Claude Gnakpa to a long ball. His shot failed to trouble Joe Lewis in the Posh goal.

Reid leapt on Jamie Day’s attempted back-pass to Lewis but turned the ball over. Macc were defending in all areas of the pitch and Posh were forced into pot-shots from distance.

Macc dominated the first half and, vitally, their pressure led to a 35th-minute goal.

An excellent period of passing set up Ashmore for a pop at goal and, when the ball fell to Reid’s feet, his shot deflected off Kieran Charnock and looped beyond Lewis.

The goal was undeniably fortunate, but Macc’s work-rate and intelligent play meant that their luck was both deserved and overdue.

Shortly before the break, Peterborough looked certain to equalise through Aaron McLean, who was unmarked at a corner. Jonny Brain’s reflexes saw him palm the ball to safety and the Silkmen went in one-up.

Cresswell suffered an injury just moments into the second half and had to make way for Luke Dimech, but the game’s turning point came on 51 minutes.

As a crowd of players jostled for position at a corner, Evans reacted to Lewis’ niggles and lashed out an elbow at the keeper. Referee Michael Jones was just yards away and had no option but to dismiss Evans.

From that point on, Macc were forced to defend their lead, with Symes and, in the later stages, Nick Blackman as the lone striker.

George Boyd found himself in space between defenders when he received a long throw-in, but Dimech made a last-gasp save.

Brain was grateful that Posh’s countless long-range efforts were way off the mark, and he was indebted to Terry Dunfield’s goal-line clearance from Chris Whelpdale’s header.

Dimech produced a similar last-gasp header to deny Posh substitute Liam Hatch.

Riding their luck, Macc’s ten men defended for their lives and survived four minutes of injury-time to see out a welcome victory.