A bumper crowd of 1,672 saw Workington lose 1-0 to Macclesfield in the NLP West’s match of the day and edged the visitors nearer the title and automatic promotion.
Leek’s surprise 3-1 home defeat to Trafford means the Reds stay two points behind the Staffordshire side as they seem destined to battle out the runners-up slot.
For the Silkmen it was another major step towards the championship as the win at Borough Park put them 12 points above the Cumbrians and they are nine points better off than Leek Town.
A goal on 18 minutes from Alex Curran was enough to settle a tight contest in which there were few clear cut opportunities for either side.
He went on to fire home after Reds skipper Conor Tinnion misplaced a pass on the edge of his own area.
In fact the Silkmen should have scored before that but Dan Sweeney shot past the post when goalkeeper Jim Atkinson did well to force him wider than he wanted to be.
Both sides defended strongly but Workington thought they should have had a penalty when Ruben Jerome was blocked off by keeper Will Stanway.
Dav Symington had two efforts blocked by defenders and when he did get one through Stanway couldn’t hold at the first attempt but held on at the second as Jerome arrived a fraction too late.
Atkinson saved at full length to deny Curran early in the second-half while Macclesfield’s outstanding skipper Laurent Mendy had his own keeper scrambling to smother a deflected cross from Symington.
The second-half did develop into a more feisty affair and Workington centre-half Sam Smith was shown a straight red by referee Tom Wilson late on after a strong tackle.
It was a significant sending off as far as Workington were concerned as Smith will now miss the next four games as it is his second suspension of the season.
Manager Danny Grainger thought his side had deserved to get something out of the game and was pleased with how they had performed.
