Kevin McIntyre of Shrewsbury Town and Isak Reid of Macclesfield Town

Rarely in football is a 96th minute equaliser followed by a chorus of boos at the full-time whistle.

But it says much for another below-par Shrewsbury Town display that a surreal Boxing Day encounter at the Prostar Stadium ended in such circumstances.

Evidence for the argument that Town still haven’t recovered from their FA Cup humbling at the hands of Staines was given further credence on Saturday as the hosts were forced to rely on a late, late show from Dave Hibbert to salvage a point against struggling Macclesfield.

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The overwhelming emotion when Hibbert’s flicked header hit the back of the net was relief, but disenchanted supporters still vented their frustration at the final whistle.

On the credit side, Town at least found the net twice after three games without a goal while Paul Simpson’s side deserve marks for perseverance on a day when they were dreadfully low on confidence.

But this disjointed and error-strewn display – albeit on a pitch which cut up – ensured the underlying concerns which have built up over the last two months remained after they were forced to settle for a point from what had been billed as a ‘must-win’ fixture.

Macclesfield will certainly be cursing their inability to put the game to bed.

The Silkmen created the clearer chances, missed a first half penalty with the scores still goalless and then claimed they were denied a match-sealing third goal when David Button scooped back a strike from Ben Wright, a shot that they insisted had crossed the line.

Yes, this was a Town performance littered with problems.

Defensively, there were times when they were stretched badly by the pace of Emile Sinclair and the class and guile of Colin Daniel.

And Shrewsbury once again laboured badly as an attacking force, a lack of confidence all too evident as the hosts gifted away possession and looked inhibited on the ball.

“We were fortunate to get it (the point) because it’s late on in the game,” said Simpson.

“It was a horrible, scrappy performance on a day when you just had to get players turned.

“When you had opportunities you had to put crosses in and you had to earn the right to get set pieces.

“We had one quality cross in the first half which we scored from and we had one quality ball from a set piece in the second half which we got the second goal from.

“It might work out to be a good point. We could very easily have lost the game and taken nothing out of it and those boos could have got even louder.”

It could all have been so different had Shrewsbury used a fine penalty save from David Button as a catalyst to emerge from their recent trough in form.

The decision to award the spot kick was debatable – Shane Cansdell-Sherriff appearing to make minimal contact as he lunged on Sean Hessey – but Button ended any arguments with a fine save from Carl Tremarco.

If the visitors were frustrated with giving up that opportunity, delight was soon to follow as the opening goal came in first half injury time, Nat Brown heading home a corner from Tremarco from 12 yards.

It was to prove the start of a manic three-minute spell before the interval which saw Town level, only to fall behind again less than 60 seconds later.

Slickest

The Shrewsbury equaliser came at the conclusion of their slickest move of the match, Lewis Neal and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff combining to set up Fairhurst, who volleyed home from close range in his final act before being replaced due to an ankle problem.

But things quickly turned sour again for the hosts as they fell behind before the changearound, the excellent Daniel playing a one-two with Sinclair before drilling a low 20-yard shot past the helpless Button.

And it was Macclesfield who looked the more likely to grab the defining fourth goal as they constantly stretched Town in the second period.

Aided by the pace of Sinclair, Macclesfield forced a number of scrambles in the Town 18 yard box and were left furious when the officials ruled Wright’s shot was legally scooped back by Button when it appeared – at first glance – to be over the line.

At the other end, Shrewsbury couldn’t muster so much as a second half shot on target as John Brain enjoyed a straight-forward afternoon.

Capitalised

But that all changed in the sixth minute of injury time when Hibbert capitalised on an excellent delivery from Lewis Neal to flick a header past Brain.

It was a goal which lifted a little of the gloom, if few of the doubts.