Silkmen end their winless run

New Year’s Eve 2017. It might not mean much to many people but, to Macclesfield Town fans, that date was becoming a very irritable monkey on their backs.

It was on that day that Macclesfield last won an English Football League match, 2-1 against Port Vale. Until Saturday.

The Silkmen were relegated to the National League at the end of that 2011-12 season and their exile from the EFL lasted until promotion back in May.

They picked up 122 league wins in non-league’s top tier during their absence, but before kicking off against Carlisle United in League Two on Saturday were just 90 minutes away from creating an unwanted piece of history – 37 EFL matches without a win.

Prospects looked bleak when they fell behind after 50 minutes to Ashley Nadesan’s goal for the visitors,

However, fortune was finally on Macclesfield’s side when they turned the game on its head with two goals in the space of four minutes.

Michael Rose levelled from the penalty spot and then Peter Vicenti sent the majority of the 2,153 inside Moss Rose into raptures as he netted the deciding goal in a 2-1 win.

Macclesfield are still bottom of League Two – without a manager – after parting company with Mark Yates fortnight ago. But both they and Derby County will be joint-holders of the longest run of English league matches without a win at 36.