Stockport County are just one win from the first round of the FA Cup after a 2-0 win over Salford City, while a Danny Whitaker penalty is enough to give Macclesfield Town victory.

FA Cup: Stockport County 2 (Lloyd pen, Clarke) Salford City 0

Stockport County moved into the FA Cup fourth qualifying round with a comfortable victory over divisional rivals Salford City.

Both sides had chances to open the scoring in a lively opening to the game before The Hatters took the lead, Danny Lloyd blasting the ball home from the spot after he himself had been brought down in the box visiting skipper Scott Burton.

The visitors came close to levelling on a couple of occasions before the break with home keeper Ben Hinchliffe saving smartly from Ammies top scorer Mike Phenix before turning a shot from Michael Nottingham behind for a corner.

Another spell of pressure from the visitors after the break came to nothing and soon after the game was won as defender Mike Clarke nudged home a Lloyd free kick to double his side’s lead and claim his third goal in four games.

As County piled on the pressure Josh Amis and Clarke were denied by keeper Jay Lynch whilst Richie Allen blocked a goal bound effort from Craig Carney.

The closest City came to getting anything from the match coming late on as Mark Ross cleared a loose ball in the box.

National League: Macclesfield Town 1 (Whitaker pen) North Ferriby United 0

The Silkmen claimed all three points against North Ferriby thanks to a first half penalty from Danny Whitaker, albeit they played for over an hour with 10 men after John McCombe received a red card for a foul.

The visitors started the game well with home keeper Scott Flinders making a smart save in the early minutes.

Moments later and skipper Whitaker slotted home from the spot after Chris Holroyd had been dragged down in the box. On 24 minutes the game changed in the favour of the visitors as McCombe was sent off.

From the resulting free-kick Flinders once again made a decent save. Despite their rearguard action Macclesfield came close to adding to their haul as Whitaker saw a long range effort tipped over the bar and another effort hit the woodwork.

Flinders ensured his side stayed in the play-off spots with a good stop to deny Connor Oliver.

Macron Cup: Squires Gate 0 New Mills 1 (Hibbert)

In probably their best performance of the season so far, Ryan Hibbert’s goal early in the second half was enough to see The Millers claim their place in the second round of The Macron Cup where they will face Silsden at home.

Garry Brown will be pleased with his side’s performance in Blackpool as they dominated throughout the game.

The only downside being that their superb approach play wasn’t rewarded with further goals.

Sandbach United 4 Stockport Town 2 (Pollard 2)

The Lions are out of this season’s Macron Cup after they suffered defeat at Sandbach United despite Jake Pollard twice giving Calum Sykes’ team the lead.

Pollard’s first goal gave his side a half-time lead and even when the home side levelled early in the second half through Matt Pearson, he struck again to put the visitors back in front.

Unfortunately, Dan Bartle levelled straight from the restart and his second of the match just after the hour mark put United in front for the first time.

Carlos Correia clinching his side’s place in the next round late on.

Hallmark Security 1st Division: Holker Old Boys 2 Cheadle Town 5 (Webb 2, Noar, Pearson, Sherrington)

Town have hopefully got their league campaign back on track as they came back from Cumbria with all three points after a superb performance on the road.

Sam Noar put the visitors in front right on the half-time whistle before both sides grabbed early second-half goals.

Sam Joel levelling for the home side, Reece Webb putting the visitors back in front. Sam Lightfoot brought the home side level again on the hour but the visitors weren’t to be denied as Luke Pearson and Chris Sherrington gave Town a two goal lead, Webb adding his second of the game late on to clinch the points.