IT'S quite simple really. Cherries just need to build another North Stand at the south end where the Main Stand used to be.

For the sixth time this season, Sean O'Driscoll's troops came from behind to avoid defeat after attacking the end where their own fans are housed.

And they did it by taking their tally of goals in front of the North Stand to 22 after drawing their 12th blank at the opposite end where they have managed just nine all season.

O'Driscoll's side were in desperate need of a compass at the interval having hopelessly lost their bearings during the first half when goals from Danny Whitaker and Chris Priest had put Macclesfield in a commanding position.

But after the break, the mass of red and black on the terrace behind the Macc goal was like a magnet as firstly a goal from Wade Elliott and then a stunning James Hayter effort were sucked into the back of the net.

Even the normally non-superstitious O'Driscoll was happy to admit that his side's unbalanced goalscoring patterns are starting to border on the uncanny.

He said: "It does make a difference attacking the North Stand. There's more atmosphere and the crowd get behind us so I always fancy us to turn things around. If we can get to half-time and still be in contention then we've always got a chance." Never mind Kids for a Quid, Macclesfield must have thought it was more like taking candy from a baby as they tore into hapless Cherries throughout the opening period.

The hosts' inept first-half display was neatly summed up by a bemused Cherries fan chatting to his young son in a corridor at half-time. He said: "If you defend like that in your game tomorrow, you'll get hammered."

Macclesfield could have been three up inside the opening 10 minutes with Priest screwing a great chance wide, Chris Tardif denying Matthew Tipton and Kyle Lightbourne slipping as he prepared to pull the trigger.

And although Elliott and Hayter were both off target as Cherries responded, it was no surprise when the Silkmen took the lead after Whitaker had profited following Narada's inadvertent assist in the 27th minute.

Initially, Whitaker was thwarted by an instinctive one-handed save from Tardif who dived to his left to scoop away the Macc midfielder's effort after he had arrived to meet Lee Hardy's centre.

But disaster struck for Cherries when Tardif's good work was undone by Narada who instead of lashing the ball to safety, tried to dribble it out and ended up putting it on a plate for Whitaker who gleefully rammed home his 10th, and arguably, easiest goal of the season.

Steve Fletcher then missed an open goal he knew very little about when the ball struck him on the head and trickled wide after Macc goalkeeper Steve Wilson had flapped at Elliott's hoisted cross from the right. Surging runs from Garreth O'Connor created chances for both Hayter and Elliott, the first smartly saved by Wilson and the second hitting the goalkeeper's outstretched legs.

But sandwiched between Wilson saving the day at one end, Priest left Cherries with a mountain to climb at the other when he tucked home Macc's second goal two minutes before the interval.

O'Driscoll admitted: "The first goal was a poor goal especially after Chris had made the save and they caught us from our corner for their second goal.

"It would have been an injustice if we had come in leading and we were just trying to keep it to 0-0 until half-time so we could change a few things.

"It's difficult to know what to do when you go 2-0 up so early because the team that's ahead knows the next goal will dictate how the game goes. If they get it, the game's dead and if we get it, then it's game-on.

"We've been in that position before and it's a strange one because you're 2-0 up and you're worried about conceding a goal. We got one back and threw caution to the wind, but never really felt comfortable."

Hayter was again denied by Wilson at the start of the second half before O'Driscoll switched to a 4-3-3 formation with O'Connor and Danny Thomas replaced by Warren Feeney and Brian Stock in the 54th minute.

But it was almost game, set and match on the hour when another Macc break resulted in the impressive Hardy seeing his rasping left-foot drive come crashing back off the angle of post and crossbar.

Cherries were also thwarted when defender Steve Hitchen cleared a Steve Fletcher effort off the line before Wilson parried Marcus Browning's follow-up shot.

The hosts were thrown a lifeline when Wilson was finally beaten by Elliott's neat left-foot finish in the 68th minute, the chance created by Browning's intelligent ball over the top.

And five minutes later, O'Driscoll's side were back on level terms when Hayter dispatched a venomous right-foot drive past Wilson via the underside of the crossbar after he had been released by Steve Fletcher's flick.

The visitors could have crumbled like Cheshire cheese, but only Jason Tindall's timely tackle on substitute Neil Ross prevented Macc carving out another goalscoring.