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EastleighEastleigh0MacclesfieldMacclesfield Town2

Eastleigh 0-2 Macclesfield Town

Last updated on .From the section National League

Macclesfield Town players and fans celebrate their promotion at the final whistle
Macclesfield Town players and fans celebrate their promotion at the final whistle

Macclesfield Town have been promoted to the English Football League after their win against Eastleigh crowned them National League champions.

Victory for the Silkmen means they cannot be caught by second-placed Tranmere, with their six-year stay in non-league set to come to an end.

John Askey's side took an early lead when Tyrone Marsh latched on to David Fitzpatrick's cross to fire home.

Mitch Hancox scored on the hour-mark to wrap up victory on the south coast.

Macclesfield will return to the EFL having been relegated in 2011-12, with their final game of this campaign against Dagenham & Redbridge on 28 April.

It has been an eventful season for the Silkmen, who issued an apology to players and staff in February after they went unpaid due to a "technical issue".

Despite the uncertainty over wages, Macclesfield have been top of the table since 9 December and continued their fine form in the National League.

Aldershot closed to within a point of them on 27 January, but a sequence of just one defeat in the games that have followed has seen them pull away from the rest of the league.

One other fifth-tier side will join Macclesfield in League Two next season.

Six teams will be involved in a new National League play-off format in 2017-18:

  • Games will be one-legged, with teams in fourth and fifth hosting the seventh and sixth clubs in a qualifying round.
  • The winners of those matches will then move into the semi-finals before the promotion final at Wembley on Saturday, 12 May.
  • Teams that finish second and third will progress straight to a semi-final at their home ground, in theory giving them an advantage as they will play one match fewer and have a home tie.

Line-ups

Eastleigh

  • 13Flitney
  • 2Hoyte
  • 5Johnson
  • 19HollandsBooked at 45mins
  • 10Yeates Substituted forWilliamsonat 64'minutes
  • 7Wood Substituted forGreenat 64'minutes
  • 12Broom
  • 24Miley Substituted forObileyeat 74'minutes
  • 26Matthews
  • 11Zebroski
  • 9McCallum

Substitutes

  • 3Green
  • 4Togwell
  • 15Obileye
  • 22Boyce
  • 25Williamson

Macclesfield

  • 1Jalal
  • 2Hodgkiss
  • 3Fitzpatrick
  • 16Hancox
  • 5Pilkington
  • 4Lowe
  • 17Evans
  • 18Whitehead
  • 23Whitaker
  • 13Blissett
  • 8Marsh

Substitutes

  • 9Wilson
  • 12Ramsbottom
  • 15Kennedy
  • 19De Girolamo
  • 20Burgess
Referee:
Carl Brook
Attendance:
2,372

Live Text

  1. Post update

    Match ends, Eastleigh 0, Macclesfield Town 2.

  2. Full Time

    Second Half ends, Eastleigh 0, Macclesfield Town 2.

  3. Substitution

    Substitution, Eastleigh. Ayo Obileye replaces Cavanagh Miley.

  4. Substitution

    Substitution, Eastleigh. Michael Green replaces Sam Wood.

  5. Substitution

    Substitution, Eastleigh. Ben Williamson replaces Mark Yeates.

  6. Goal!

    Goal! Eastleigh 0, Macclesfield Town 2. Mitch Hancox (Macclesfield Town).

  7. Second Half

    Second Half begins Eastleigh 0, Macclesfield Town 1.

  8. Half Time

    First Half ends, Eastleigh 0, Macclesfield Town 1.

  9. Booking

    Danny Hollands (Eastleigh) is shown the yellow card.

  10. Goal!

    Goal! Eastleigh 0, Macclesfield Town 1. Tyrone Marsh (Macclesfield Town).

  11. Kick Off

    First Half begins.

  12. Post update

    Lineups are announced and players are warming up.

As It Stood

Team P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Macclesfield 45 26 11 8 65 46 19 89
2 Tranmere 44 24 10 10 76 42 34 82
3 Sutton United 45 22 10 13 65 52 13 76
4 Aldershot 45 20 15 10 63 50 13 75
5 Fylde 45 20 12 13 82 56 26 72
6 Boreham Wood 45 19 15 11 61 46 15 72
7 Dover 45 19 13 13 60 43 17 70
8 Ebbsfleet 44 18 16 10 58 47 11 70
9 Bromley 44 19 12 13 73 53 20 69
10 Wrexham 45 17 18 10 49 39 10 69
11 Dag & Red 45 19 11 15 69 60 9 68
12 Maidenhead United 44 15 13 16 59 64 -5 58
13 Leyton Orient 44 15 12 17 55 54 1 57
14 Gateshead 44 12 18 14 59 50 9 54
15 Halifax 45 13 15 17 48 58 -10 54
16 Eastleigh 45 12 17 16 61 71 -10 53
17 Hartlepool 45 13 14 18 51 62 -11 53
18 Maidstone United 45 13 14 18 52 64 -12 53
19 Solihull Moors 44 13 12 19 46 55 -9 51
20 Barrow 44 11 15 18 50 61 -11 48
21 Woking 45 13 9 23 54 74 -20 48
22 Torquay 44 10 11 23 41 68 -27 41
23 Chester 45 7 13 25 40 78 -38 34
24 Guiseley 44 6 12 26 39 83 -44 30
View full National League table