Struggling Cheltenham Town made life hard for themselves against mid-table Macclesfield despite leading 3-0 with less than 10 minutes left.
The Robins controlled the majority of the game and looked on course for only their third clean sheet of the season before Macclesfield substitute Steve Brackenridge pulled a goal back for his team with a crisp finish after a defensive header had fallen to him 15 yards out.
Two minutes later they were right back in the contest when a corner taken by Stuart Whitaker was flicked on by Martin Carruthers and Matt Haddrell touched in at the far post.
By that point Cheltenham were in disarray and Haddrell sent another shot onto the top of the post and a header by Michael Welch appeared to strike the hand of a Cheltenham defender in the area. Referee Paul Armstrong told Macclesfield manager John Askey that he did not see a handball and Cheltenham held on to collect three important points.
The first 80 minutes of the game had been a completely different story with Cheltenham taking the game to the visitors and pressing them into defending deeply.
Veteran striker Bob Taylor hit the base of a post before helping to set up Damian Spencer for the opening goal on 30 minutes. He nudged a through-ball from Brian Wilson into the path of Spencer, who beat goalkeeper Steve Wilson with a cool finish.
Spencer returned the compliment on 57 minutes, laying on a pass for Taylor to beat Wilson from 12 yards and score the 200th Football League goal of his career.
Spencer then provided Martin Devaney with a pass for the third goal, the winger taking his time to sidestep a defender before beating Wilson with a low shot.
At that point the game should have been sealed but the driving wind and a series of substitutions - Macclesfield's worked and Cheltenham's didn't combined to make it an uncomfortable ending to the game for the home supporters.
"After being 3-0 up and really in control of the game you have to be mindful that every team in this league will always give you a good game," said Cheltenham Town coach Bob Bloomer.
"We had enough chances to be out of sight but if you don't take those chances you have to keep working to make sure you don't' give goals away at the other end.
"The lads have got a well-earned win but they're still disappointed with the way it ended." Macclesfield boss John Askey said: "It was not one of our best performances. We were up against it first half but should have made the conditions work for us in the second.
"We didn't do that and although we should have been given a penalty to make it 3-3, we didn't really deserve a draw out of it."