HANCOX HAS HALF HOUR OF MASTERY

MITCH HANCOX was the hat-trick hero as play-off chasing Macclesfield clinically put Boreham Wood to the sword with four first-half goals.

Three goals in a scintillating 15minute first-half period proved too hot for the usually watertight Wood defence after David Stephens had earlier cancelled out Anthony Dudley’s opener.

Bruno Andrade got one back for Wood, but it was never enough to upstage the visitors.

“I would have been more than happy with a draw” joked Macclesfield boss John Askey. “It’s a tough place to come and they don’t concede many, but we found a way by playing good football and scoring at the right time.”

His opposite number Luke Garrard was less than impressed with his side’s first-half display. He said: “No matter what league you play at, Fish and Chips league or Champions League, you can’t play like that in 45 minutes and expect to win.”

Dudley put Macc in front on six minutes, finishing off a wonderful team move with a tidy finish from six yards out.

Wood, however, were back level eight minutes later – centre back Stephens given time to turn and thump a shot home through a crowded area.

Then came the Hancox show. First, the wide man pounced onto a loose ball to stab home after Grant Smith spilled a shot from Dudley.

Next – in the first of two goals in a minute in first-half injury time – he slotted his second from Rhys Browne’s squared pass from the byline before then latching onto Dudley’s threaded pass to beat Smith with a side-footed finish.

Andrade gave the home side hope with a fine goal from outside the box on the hour mark, but Wood were unable to put any real pressure on the visitors’ lead.