CHRIS Casper is finding out the hard way just what a funny game football can be.
With his side cruising towards their first victory in 15 games, the Bury boss was left flummoxed as referee Jarnail Singh awarded Macclesfield a penalty deep into stoppage time.
Glynn Hurst had headed the Shakers into the lead, but when Tom Kennedy was adjudged to have brought down David Morley in the 93rd minute - Kevin McIntyre confidently rescued a point for Paul Ince's side from the spot.
There was cruel symmetry in the Silkmen's late leveller, as just eight days earlier, Bury had deprived Wrexham in a similarly dramatic manner at the Racecourse Ground.
The irony was not lost on Casper, who said he had to choose his post-match comments carefully after clearly feeling aggrieved by the penalty decision.
"If you are going to make those types of decisions in the 92nd minute, you have got to be very sure that it is a penalty," he said.
"I have seen there is an element of doubt about it. In fact, the foul was actually the other way. It was a very, very poor decision to be fair.
"But you usually find that what goes around, comes around in football - so I suppose we did the same to Wrexham last week, and Brian Carey was feeling exactly the same as I am now."
Macclesfield created the best chances of a scrappy first half as twice they had goal-bound shots cleared off the line.
The visitors were always a threat at set pieces, and Morley was unlucky to see his 18th-minute header deflected off the line by his own player, Matty McNeil.
Just before the interval, Richie Baker was also in the right place to prevent John Murphy's towering back post header from crossing the line.
Bury picked up the pace after the restart and could have opened the scoring when Andy Bishop got the right side of his marker, skipped down the right channel, but blasted his shot well over the bar.
Bishop was becoming more and more influential, and he was thwarted by a fine challenge from McIntyre on 64 minutes after a great cross from the left by Tom Kennedy.
When the breakthrough was made, however, it was Bishop's strike partner Hurst who reacted quickest to claim his 12th goal of the season when Jason Kennedy miscued his swipe at Dave Buchanan's left-wing cross.
The Silkmen never looked likely to steal a point, never seriously testing Andy Warrington in the game's finale. But when emergency striker Morley poured forward in injury time, assistant referee John Stokes gave them a lifeline out of nowhere to deem Tom Kennedy's challenge a foul.
Referee Singh acted on Stokes' advice and pointed to the spot - giving McIntyre the chance to convert his ninth penalty of the season.
With Torquay now cast hopelessly adrift at the foot of the table, the Shakers and Macclesfield are among a group of five teams separated by only four points contesting the final relegation place. Performances such as this should see Casper's side safe - although the only sure thing is that there is bound to be another sting in the tail.
Shakers: Warrington 6; Scott 7; Tom Kennedy 8; Challinor 7; Bishop 7; Baker 6; Buchanan 6; Pugh 6 (Bedeau 6, 67); Jason Kennedy 7; Kempson 7; Hurst 8 (Speight 83). Subs not used: Fitzgerald; Wroe; Parrish.
Referee: Jarnail Singh, Middlesex.
Attendance: 2,561
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