SHAKERS 1, MACCLESFIELD 0: There was certainly no happy homecoming for Keith Alexander as he left Gigg Lane without a point and with the barracking of the Bury fans still ringing in his ears.

The former director of football, who was sacked in January, hardly endeared himself to the terraces by making a gesture to the fans of the Main Stand towards the start of the game in answer to some of the banter being thrown his way.

That prompted a rough ride for the Macclesfield Town boss, and a torrid 90 minutes was hardly improved by his side's performance as Bury strolled to a fifth consecutive home victory in relative comfort.

It was also the perfect riposte to last week's horror show at Barnet.

"We said before the game that good sides shouldn't lose two on the trot, and we didn't," Alan Knill said.

"It was fantastic to bounce back from last weekend against tough opposition and I thought we could have won by more in the end.

"We knew Macclesfield would be a tough proposition and it wasn't going to be pretty - but we competed and that was the biggest thing for me."

Macc started the game well and Francis Green should have done better with a wild volley from James Jennings' cross 10 minutes in.

Efe Sodje had endured a shaky start against the club that brought him to league football over a decade ago and it was only his powers of recovery that prevented Danny Thomas from pulling the trigger after an uncharacteristic slip from the big defender.

Bury eventually found their stride, leaving keeper Jim Provett a virtual spectator for the rest of the game.

Andy Bishop twice tried his luck from distance but was unable to seriously test Jonathan Brain in the Silkmen goal.

The game burst into life three minutes before half-time - Paul Scott had a goal harshly chalked out for offside before Bennett crashed home his first for the club from close range.

The strike had an element of fortune about it, both by the way it arrived at Bennett's feet via a skewed shot from Bishop and the fact that the winger himself had two bites of the cherry in eventually forcing the ball past Brain.

But judging by the reaction from his team-mates as the ball hit the back of the net, there would have been few more popular goalscorers at Gigg Lane on Saturday afternoon than the affable Midlander.

One who might have fitted the bill was Dave Buchanan, the full-back who has yet to score in over 100 appearances for the Shakers.

He will never have had a better chance of opening his account than the one Bishop fashioned for him midway through the second half, when, with a clear sight of goal, he side-footed his shot narrowly over.

Bennett could have scored a second when he latched on to Richie Baker's through ball before stabbing his effort into the side netting and Bishop wasted another golden chance with the final kick of the game.