We take a look at how the watching press viewed our 1-1 draw at Macclesfield Town on Saturday.

Notts fought back from a goal down to claim a welcome point thanks to Richard Butcher's goal having fallen behind midway through the first half.

Nottingham Evening Post Report by James Pallatt

It never seemed like it was going to be a day for Notts County to gather any momentum in their battle against relegation in League Two - even before a ball was kicked.

The route to Moss Rose from Nottingham is lined with an unbelievable number of speed cameras, 13 in a 50-mile stretch to be precise, and some unnecessarily just a stone's throw apart to enforce steady rather than speedy progress.

It was a pattern that was carried into parts of the game, with Notts gaining great impetus on several occasions, only to be knocked badly out of their stride.

First, Macclesfield scored horribly against the run of play after the Magpies had seized the early initiative and complete command of the encounter. Then they lost left-winger Myles Weston, who offered their best avenue of attack, to injury near the end of the first half.

Weston made several rapid and purposeful surges down the left wing that might have stirred a speed camera into action had there been one inside the ground, before steering crosses into the penalty area.

He pounced on an early mistake from home keeper Jonathon Brain and quickly whipped a cross into the box that Luke Dimech had to be alert to clear under pressure from Ryan Jarvis.

And he raided down the left again minutes later, only to direct a cross to the far post that eluded Danny Crow.

His best two moments came after The Silkmen had unbelievably taken the lead.

First, he sent a pinpoint cross into the penalty area that Mike Edwards directed over the crossbar with a close-range header. That came just a minute after Izak Reid had struck the opener.

And then, minutes later, he seized possession just outside his own box and carried it all the way to the left edge of the home side's penalty area, showing great strength en-route.

His execution at the end didn't match his incredible effort, with his cross failing to find Jarvis or Crow who had charged into the box in anticipation.

But Crow kept the move alive, crossing the ball back across the face of goal, only for Richard Butcher to miscue an effort wide.

The two flashes of skill from Weston, though individually impressive, also showed the youngster's inconsistency.

In the first, he measured a great cross for Edwards and in the second he made an extraordinary raid forward, only to deliver poorly.

But still, he was the Magpies' chief attacking threat and it was a blow when he was forced off with an injury four minutes before half-time.

It just added injury to insult as Notts headed for the dressing-room somehow 1-0 down. Reid took his chance brilliantly to break the deadlock on 22 minutes, rifling the ball past the exposed Russell Hoult from close range.

But it was borne from yet more poor defending from the Notts back-line.

First, they failed to deal with a break down the left and then midfielder Gareth Evans was given space to cross the ball into the penalty area and then, perhaps worst of all, Reid was completely unmarked as he burst into the box from the right to thunder the ball past Hoult.

It was not a quick, slick, move that tore Notts apart. It was slack defending. Full-stop.

Paul Mayo came so close to making amends just after the half-hour mark. The left-back ghosted in behind the home defence and controlled a delightful angled pass from Jay Smith in his stride before trying to prod the ball past Brain.

But the keeper had rushed off his goal-line to narrow his angle of opportunity and blocked it away at the expense of a corner. Mayo should have done better, like Edwards before him.

It was another glorious chance wasted and that was the difference between the two sides. Notts had created much and taken none. Macclesfield had crafted a single chance and taken it - clinically so.

Edwards spurned a second, more gilt-edged, opportunity in the second half when the ball fell to him inside the six-yard box and he miscued his attempt to force the ball over the goal-line, allowing Brain to block it.

It looked, at one point, like Notts would pay a heavy price for their misses and fall even deeper into relegation trouble in League Two.

Manager Ian McParland made a double substitution just after the hour mark, introducing Neil MacKenzie for Ali Gibb and Jason Lee for Stephen Hunt.

And the Magpies switched to a 4-3-3 formation, with Lee joining Jarvis and Crow in a three-man attack and MacKenzie making up a midfield trio with Butcher and Smith.

But still, they struggled to open up the home side.

Even Butcher's superb strike in the 72nd minute to level the game was a piece of out-of-this-world opportunism from outside the penalty area.

The ball fell invitingly to the midfielder and he instinctively lifted it over Brain and dipping under the crossbar, for his 11th goal of the season and perhaps his best and most important of all.

He has quite a scrapbook of memorable goals this campaign. And even though Notts still have not won in a game he has scored, they would have lost so many more if he had not staged his heroics.

The Magpies could have clinched the victory they deserved in the end as Mayo fired into the side-netting and the ball fell to Crow inside the penalty area in the closing minutes, but he failed to control the ball and the chance to score a late winner and join Butcher as a hero was gone.

It is two points dropped and the draw still leaves Notts deep in trouble near the foot of the table - but it could have been so much worse.

Manchester Evening News Report by Simon Carter

New Macclesfield boss Keith Alexander was denied a dream start by Richard Butcher's superb 72nd minute strike in a 1-1 stalemate against relegation rivals Notts County.

Even though Alexander was pleased with his new team's workrate and commitment, he wasn't about to start wearing rose-tinted spectacles.

"I was pleased with the workrate, but we are obviously lacking a goalscorer," he said. "Considering the boys have been at it for only two days, I thought they worked very hard, but we gave the ball away too often and could have been two down in the first 20 minutes."

Instead his new charges took the lead against the run of play after 23 minutes when Neil Ashton made his way to the by-line before crossing perfectly for Gareth Evans.

The young striker intelligently clipped a neat ball across the box for Izak Reid to drill home from 10 yards on the half volley.

"We have worked on that in training," said Alexander. "Izak gets up and down the pitch well, but it is something he has got to do much more of in the future."

Macc were then indebted to Jon Brain for two fine saves.

As the back three were caught flat-footed, Paul Mayo darted in from the side only for Brain to make a stunning block. Then, after the break, Michael Edwards seemed bound to score from only four yards, but his mis-hit allowed Brain to save with outstretched legs. However, in the 72nd minute youngster James Jennings, brought back from a loan spell at Altrincham in the week, lost Butcher allowing the free scoring midfield man to notch his 11th of the season with a looping volley.

"It was a great strike from Butcher and sometimes you have just got to hold your hand up," admitted the Macc boss. "We could easily have let our heads go down but the belief was good and we kept going."

Alexander then brought on his first acquisition in Nigerian enigma Fola Onibuje, a sprinter of international standard, who has yet to make a real impression in football.

Alexander added: "Fola can play like Maradona but he can also play like Mrs Maradona."