Frustrated Cambridge United manager John Taylor had few regrets about wasting a golden opportunity to go straight into the FA Cup third round draw.
His side had just missed two penalties, himself taking the second, as ten-man Macc held them to a 1-1 draw, but he said it was a great FA Cup tie.
"It was magnificent to play in and magnificent to watch.
"I don't really want to talk about the penalties. You step up and take them and if you miss them than that's that." His side had come up against a giant obstacle in Macclesfield's magnificent keeper Steve Wilson who produced a stunning display.
On 60 minutes he blocked Andrew Duncan's spot kick after George Abbey had brought down Luke Guttridge inches inside the box.
Then, after Abbey had been sent off, he pulled off another penalty save to deny Taylor himself after Karl Munroe had fly-hacked the livewire Guttridge.
To cap Wilson's display he then tipped John Turner's drive onto the upright before finger-tipping wide a Shane Tudor shot deep in injury time.
Macclesfield had taken the lead in the 20th minute with their own spot-kick. Matthew Tipton was brought down by Taylor before slotting home his seventh goal in ten starts from the spot.
Macc's lead however was short-lived, a fatal lapse in concentration from Munroe allowing Turner to bury the ball from ten yards.
Macclesfield manager John Askey said: "Our performance was disappointing today and we owe our place in the third round draw to Steve Wilson.
"I thought George Abbey was unlucky with the first penalty award but the second against Karl Munroe was blatant."