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An impotent Hereford side failed to avoid their sixth straight defeat as a Paul Dawson brace saw Macclesfield rise to third in the National League North table.
The latest defeat, the seventh of Aaron Downes' 13 games, sees the Bulls languish in the relegation zone, where they stay six points from safety with games in hand rapidly vanishing.
Having been beaten 3-1 by Macclesfield less than three weeks ago, the Bulls - visibly leggy after their 10th match of the month - failed to match the tempo and desire of their opponents.
With three changes to the side that fell to a 2-0 defeat against Buxton on Saturday, Matt Preston Keziah Martin and Andy Williams replaced Keenan Quansah, Lewis Hudson and Mikey Lane, Hereford did manage to avoid going a goal down early on. The Silkmen did threaten though as James Gale's powerful effort was blocked, and the Bulls scrambled to deal with pressure as Luis Lacey's eventual cross from the left was pinged around by Paul Dawson and James Edmondson before being cleared.
An early Bulls' free kick was then easily dealt with by Gale, before an Isaac Buckley-Ricketts cross flashed across the face of goal with no player, including the onrushing Luke Duffy, able to connect with it. The Bulls then had to deal with a flurry of chances from the visitors as Gale mistimed his strike from a corner, Howkins heading a dangerous Dawson cross just wide of his own goal and Preston heading a floated cross clear.
While the Bulls struggled to create chances with hopeless long balls down the middle and an apparent reluctance to use livewire Cormac Daly on the left, Buckley-Ricketts continued to look dangerous for the Silkmen as he burst forward and pulled the ball back for skipper Dawson to blaze over.
The best, or perhaps only, chance of the half for the Bulls came from a free kick, though Andy Williams - donning the captain's armband with Hudson absent after picking up a knock - headed down into space from point-blank range with the goal gaping.
While Gale then got the better of Hereford's defence which was sometimes guilty of being disorganised, he failed to strike his effort cleanly before Daly burst forward down the left, cut in and forced a save from Barnsley loanee Rogan Ravenhill.
Half time: Hereford 0 - Macclesfield 0
While Hereford were lucky not to be behind at the break, their lack of creativity and reliance on ineffective hoofball didn't change after the break and they were soon punished. Within three minutes of the restart, Bulls stopper Theo Richardson had already been called into action to deny Buckley-Ricketts' shot from an acute angle - and it was from the resulting corner the Silkmen took the lead. As the inswinging corner came in from the right in front of the Meadow End, Paul Dawson easily connected with the ball unmarked at the back post to head home.
A flurry of chances then came for the visitors to double their tally, with Hereford still struggling to cope with being closed down so quickly and the pressure leaving them unable to string passes together and, at times, even keep the ball in play. After chances for Lacey, Buckley-Ricketts and Dawson, Mikey Lane was introduced by Downes in place of Williams to try and add fresh legs to the attacking options - though that had limited success.
As Macclesfield kept searching for a second, pegging Hereford back deep in their own half, Richardson pulled off a decent save to deny Gale who'd got on the end of Buckley-Ricketts' through ball, it wasn't until the 72nd minute when the Bulls had their second decent chance of the evening. Matt Preston's headed effort was denied by the woodwork after rising highest to connect with a floated cross.
As the Bulls looked to be building momentum, time-wasting by Macclesfield soon saw that fizzle out. While the visitors went close with a curling free kick from Lacey from 25-yards, Dawson secured a brace in the 86th minute to put the game out of reach of Hereford. The tenacious Freddie Wilcox, who had been trying to link play from his position in defensive midfield, was dispossessed by James Edmondson. The Blackburn loanee then sent captain Dawson on a surging run towards Richardson's goal, burying the ball in the back of the net off the post.
After eight minutes on injury time, Lane could have grabbed a late consolation goal but his shot from a Daly cross was denied by the upright.
Full time: Hereford 0 - Macclesfield 2
Attendance: 2,403
Macclesfield secured their sixth win in eight games as Hereford have now lost six on the bounce. A thoroughly disappointing evening at Edgar Street in all. While no excuse, the players looked tired - add that to individual errors, a lack of a cutting edge and being devoid of ideas and creativity means the match was only going to go one way.
Brace yourselves for the Easter weekend against play-off hopefuls. Kidderminster Harriers and Merthyr Town.
Hereford: Richardson, Skinner, Preston, D'Ath, Williams (Lane 58'), Munday, Daly, Martin (Oppong 87'), James, Willcox, Howkins
Subs not used: Lewis, Donawa, Quansah, Tustin.
Macclesfield: Ravenhill, Matheson, Dawson, Buckley-Ricketts, Duffy, Heathcote, Lacey, Gale, Osbourne, Edmondson, Bothwick-Jackson
Subs: Fensome, Menayese, Dos Santos, Popoola, Chapman, McHugh, Pasiek