GRIMSBY Town were again made to settle for one point as they were held by Macclesfield Town.

At a freezing cold Blundell Park, the Mariners were second best for much of the first half but they took the lead against the run of play when Jamie Devitt opened the scoring three minutes before the break.

Grimsby had chances to add to their lead but they were pegged back by a superb free kick from Richard Butcher midway through the second half.

From then on, the game was up for grabs but neither side was able to capitalise and the night ended on a sour note when substitute Nathan Jarman was sent off in stoppage time.

After a run of two home games where players and supporters were hoping to collect six points, the Mariners had gathered just two, leaving them in trouble at the wrong end of the table.

Just one change was made to the Town XI that battled to a 2-2 draw with county rivals Lincoln City last time out.

Dean Sinclair was the man to drop out of the side because of a knee injury and he was replaced in the centre of the park by Michael Leary.

Nick Colgan continued in goal, with Peter Bore, Olly Lancashire, Rob Atkinson and Joe Widdowson again making up the defensive quartet.

Devitt started on the left side of a four-man midfield, with Michael Coulson operating down the right and Mark Hudson partnering Leary in the middle.

Lee Peacock was looking to add to the two goals he grabbed against Lincoln as he renewed his attacking partnership with Tommy Wright for a second successive game.

There were changes on the bench, as Jarman and Ashley Chambers were both named as substitutes after missing out on the squad against the Imps.They were joined by Leigh Overton, Adam Proudlock, Nick Hegarty, Paul Linwood and Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro.

Former Town striker Keith Alexander brought his Macclesfield side to Cleethorpes looking for a win that would keep the Silkmen ahead of the danger zone at the bottom end of League Two.

They were eight points and three places ahead of the Mariners at kick-off, with Town desperate to close that gap and boost their own survival hopes.

Macclesfield kicked off and won an early free kick to the left of the Mariners box, given for a foul on striker Ricky Sappleton.The whipped delivery was headed out for a corner, which led to a foul on Bore and a free kick to Town.

Grimsby were playing into a very strong wind in the first half, attacking towards the small band of travelling supporters from Cheshire in the Osmond Stand.

That wind was making it difficult for the hosts to get the ball out of their own half in the early stages, with visiting keeper Jon Brain reduced to being a spectator.

A nasty clash of heads between Leary and Nat Brown on the halfway line meant a delay while both players received treatment.

It proved to be the end of the former Barnet midfielder's involvement in the game with just eight minutes on the clock as he was forced off with what appeared to be concussion.Akpa Akpro was the man to come off the bench sooner than boss Woods might have wanted.

The first good chance of the game came on 11 minutes and went the way of the away side.A corner from the right from Lee Bell found centre-back Shaun Brisley, who powered a free header just over the bar.

Akpa Akpro looked to take Town forward with a run down the left on the quarter-hour and referee Oliver Langford played a good advantage when the Ivorian was fouled by Nat Brown, eventually bringing play back for a free kick when the striker lost possession.

The set-piece led to Coulson being fouled on the left, level with the 18-yard line.From the resulting free kick, the Barnsley loanee worked a clever routine with Devitt, who played a short ball for Coulson to have a first-time shot from the edge of the area that was deflected for a corner.

Grimsby's next attack saw Akpa Akpro beat Brisley down the left before getting to the by-line but his cross was too close to Brain, who gathered comfortably ahead of Wright.

Macclesfield were still shading possession and territory and their next half-chance fell to former Lincoln midfielder Richard Butcher, who sliced a 20-yard snap-shot wide.

Town's main threat was coming through the pace of Akpa Akpro, who looked to have the beating of Brown and Brisley in the Macc defence.The substitute combined with Coulson on 23 minutes before Bore had a shot blocked and the visitors cleared the danger.

Ross Draper and Colin Daniel both had long-range opportunities for the visitors as they continued to create chances but the former went well wide, with the latter comfortably gathered by Colgan.

Then came the best chance of the night so far and a golden opportunity for Grimsby to take the lead.After good work from Coulson, the overlapping Widdowson stopped the ball from going out for a goal kick.He played it back across the six-yard line and Wright swung a boot at it but could only watch his shot drop wide.

At the other end, Macc striker Ben Wright fired a 25-yard shot narrowly over Colgan's bar, before Sappleton fed Butcher and his long-range effort had to be parried by the Town stopper.

Sappleton was the recipient of the game's first yellow card when he kicked the ball away after being caught offside.

As the half moved into its last 10 minutes, the Mariners were well behind in terms of shots on and off-target as their visitors continued to make most of the running.The Town strikers were finding it difficult to make much of an impression as Brain was left to spend long periods pacing around his area.

Despite the visitors' dominance, their finishing had been poor and they were made to rue missed chances when the Mariners took the lead against the run of play.

Coulson had a snap-shot pushed away by Brain but the ball was kept in play and after the keeper got fingertips to an Akpa Akpro cross to deflect it away from Wright's head, the ball was retrieved by DEVITT, who cut in from the right and curled a left-footed shot into the roof of the net.

The Hull City loanee almost doubled Grimsby's lead moments later when he took advantage of a slip in the Macclesfield defence to get onto a loose ball and run into space down the right.Devitt took the ball into the penalty area before pushing it past Brain, only for it to run wide of the far post, ahead of the advancing Wright.

Devitt was involved in another break as the game moved into four added minutes but Peacock smashed wide from 20 yards.

A late Macclesfield corner was eventually cleared to ensure the Mariners retained their advantage going into the break and although they had been on the back foot for long periods, the home side had taken one of their chances and had something to build on after the interval.

The second half started with Akpa Akpro getting the better of Reid down the left to win a corner but the ball was cleared from the flag, before Bore sent a 30-yard effort well wide.

Brain had to be at his best to stop the Mariners from doubling their advantage four minutes in when the visiting defence failed to clear a loose ball inside their own penalty area and Akpa Akpro looked to take advantage.The striker looked for the bottom corner with a left-footed strike but the keeper got down well to push the ball away.

The roles had been reversed from the first half as Grimsby, with the wind at their backs, did most of the attacking and Macclesfield found it more difficult to force openings.

Striker Matthew Tipton replaced Wright for the away side as Alexander looked to freshen up his attack.

And soon afterwards, the men from the Moss Rose had their equaliser, thanks to a terrific free kick.The set-piece was given for a foul by Akpa Akpro on Draper, 25 yards out and in a central position and BUTCHER stepped up to curl it beyond Colgan and into the net.

With a little more than half an hour to go, the remainder of the game took on extra significance as Town were forced once again to dig deep in search of that elusive first victory since September.

Devitt used some super skills to plot a course into the Macclesfield penalty area on 67 minutes but his mazy run was eventually halted and a Town corner was the result.Atkinson won the header from the flag-kick but the ball went out for a goal kick.

Bore won another corner as the Mariners stepped up the tempo but after Devitt's corner was played back to him, the winger crossed but the referee spotted an infringement inside the box and blew for a free kick to the visitors.

Akpa Akpro forced Brain into another good save when he hammered a shot from 12 yards, before Colgan was called into action to palm a curling effort from Sappleton around his far post.

Town had the ball in the net with a quarter of an hour to play but after Coulson played Devitt in, the offside flag went up before he could take a shot on.Devitt put the ball into the net regardless and received a yellow card for his troubles.

A free kick to the left of centre gave Devitt another chance to test Brain but his shot from 30 yards was straight at the keeper.

Nathan Jarman was introduced in place of Peacock and Adam Proudlock replaced Wright in a double substitution aimed at brightening the Town attack up for the last 10 minutes.

The game now appeared to be drifting towards yet another draw though, with neither side really looking like forcing the crucial breakthrough and chances now few and far between.

Sappleton won a corner with four minutes to go when his 18-yard shot was deflected out and from it, Brown's header took a touch off a Town defender to give the visitors another flag-kick.This time, the danger was cleared.

Macclesfield were finishing the game well and they won another corner soon afterwards.Bell's kick was headed away by Hudson before Butcher's volley was stopped by Colgan.

Three extra minutes were signalled by the fourth official and in the first of them, things took a turn for the worse when Town were reduced to 10 men.Substitute Jarman was the one to see red, going in strong on Sean Hessey before reacting again against the centre-back.

It was a sad end to a game that had shown promising signs for the men in black and white at the break but yet again, had yielded just one point when three looked to be there for the taking.

Town are next in action when they head to Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday.