THE Blues missed the chance to haul themselves out of the League Two drop places as their four-match unbeaten run came to an end in this afternoon’s Cheshire derby.

First-half goals from John Rooney and Gareth Evans ensured the Silkmen made the short journey home with a victory which all but guarantees their survival after a six-game winless sequence threatened to drag them back into trouble.

City, however, remain deep in the mire although their cause was helped by defeats for chief relegation rivals Grimsby Town and Bournemouth.

At a sun-kissed Deva Stadium, Chester made one change to the team that won so dramatically at Notts County seven days earlier, with goalkeeper James Spencer coming in for his debut and his first competitive start of the season after his arrival on an emergency loan from Rochdale.

Spencer was joined in a side also containing David Mannix, the midfielder who this week was charged by the FA for breaching betting rules along with team-mate Jay Harris, who was named on the bench after overcoming illness.

Spencer, replacing the injured John Danby, dealt well with a testing early corner but there was little he could do to stop Macclesfield from opening the scoring in the ninth minute.

A left-wing free kick deflected back into the path of Rooney and the younger brother of Manchester United and England star Wayne was given the time and space to flash a 25-yard drive low into the bottom corner.

It was the worst possible start for Mark Wright’s men, but they had the chance to level almost instantly when the ball broke in the box for Ryan Lowe. Although he adjusted his feet well, Lowe’s left-footed strike flew harmlessly over.

City were enjoying plenty of possession but they would have fell further behind had it not been for a superb Spencer reaction save from Evans from just inside the area.

Evans was not to be denied, however, as he raced on to a Colin Daniels through pass and, from a similar position from where he had just been foiled, smashed the ball in off the bar to double the Silkmen’s advantage with 29 minutes on the clock.

Blues boss Wright decided to act, withdrawing Mannix for Harris. And, although Lowe and Laurence Wilson were not too far away from distance following the substitution, it was the visitors who came closest again before the break when Shaun Brisley’s header from Lee Bell’s free kick dropped just past the post.

Wright made a further change at the interval, throwing rookie striker Ben Jones on for defender Glenn Rule and switching to a 4-4-2 formation in a bid to wake the hosts from their slumber.

A goal soon after the restart would certainly have done that, but the unmarked Kevin Roberts could only plant his header wide after Anthony Barry’s corner picked him out.

Macclesfield, as resolute as you would expect from a Keith Alexander team, were holding out comfortably so Wright decided to take off the anonymous Richie Partridge and push young centre-back Shaun Kelly up front with Jones and Lowe.

But that last, desperate throw of the dice would have been rendered irrelevant had Roberts not atoned for his miss by getting back brilliantly to clear Daniels’ goal-bound shot off the line.

That let-off sparked Chester into life and, after Paul Rutherford tested John Brain from 20 yards, the previously-underworked keeper got down low to collect Kelly’s header from Lowe’s cross.

City were dominating and Lowe cracked an excellent strike wide before he played in Rutherford, who beat Brain but was unable to force the ball past the bodies on the line.

And with that went their hopes of salvaging the point which would have moved them level with Grimsby.

CHESTER: Spencer, Vaughan, Rule (Jones 46), Roberts, Linwood, Wilson, Barry, Mannix (Harris 32), Rutherford, Partridge (Kelly 64), Lowe. Subs: Smith, Owen.

MACCLESFIELD: Brain, Brisley, Brown, Morgan, Deen, Yeo (Thomas 62), Rooney, Bell, Tolley, Daniels, Evans (Green 75). Subs: Reid, Hadfield, Sinclair.

GOALS: Rooney 9, Evans 29.

REFEREE: Andy Woolmer (Northamptonshire).

ATTENDANCE: 2,248 (459 away).