Macclesfield’s FA Cup dream ends: Heroic non-league side fall short in bid to cause greatest cupset – again – as own goal gives Brentford narrow victory

Macclesfield’s FA Cup fairytale came to an end as Sam Heathcote’s own goal saw the National League North side knocked out by Brentford on Monday night.

Heathcote, the PE teacher from Altrincham and one of the heroes of the incredible third-round win over holders Crystal Palace last month, headed in midway through the second half and there was no way back for John Rooney’s giantkillers.

So it’s Brentford who go through to meet West Ham in the fifth round after beating a team 116 places below them in the football pyramid. It’s not the first cup dream that Keith Andrews’ side have killed off this season after knocking Manchester United’s Carabao Cup conquerors Grimsby Town out of the other domestic cup competition.

For a while, it looked as though Brentford might suffer the same fate as Palace after Andrews made seven changes to the team that drew with Arsenal on Thursday, and they struggled to make the gulf between the two clubs count.

In the end they deserved their win, but there was absolutely no shame in that for Macclesfield, and Heathcote in particular. Once again they punched well above their weight and had several opportunities to spring another shock.

‘Against All Odds’ declared a banner that was unfurled behind the goal in the Star Lane End before kick-off, and there was a palpable sense of belief among the home fans that their team could do it again.

Sam Heathcote (left) was the unfortunate soul to score an own goal after 70 minutes

Macclesfield manager John Rooney was immensely proud of his players, who had defeated Crystal Palace in the third round to reach this stage

It had been fuelled by Andrews’ team selection. No Jordan Henderson or Igor Thiago in the squad. Record £42.5million signing Dango Ouattara was left on the bench until Brentford had gone ahead.

The team sitting seventh in the Premier League had trained on astroturf ahead of this tie and inspected Macclesfield’s 4G pitch earlier in the day, but their starting line-up suggested that they had not totally heeded Palace’s humiliation here in the third round.

There was very little between the sides in a first half in which the non-leaguers gave as good as they got, and looked as hungry as ever to cause another upset.

The game was less than 10 minutes old when a stray pass allowed Luke Duffy to fire over from 20 yards, and captain Paul Dawson went even closer with a low effort from the edge of the box. Vitaly Janelt was booked for a cynical foul on Mellor as he threatened to go clear.

Dawson had spoken beforehand about relishing his duel with Henderson but in the absence of the England midfielder, he led the fight by getting into the Brentford players physically and verbally.

Brentford inevitably had periods of dominance, and goalkeeper Max Dearnley had to make smart saves from Mathias Jensen and Reiss Nelson, but it was Macclesfield who finished the first half on top.

The visitors began to find more spaces and stretch the game after the restart though as the underdogs, who have only been able to train once a week, began to show the first signs of fatigue.

They attacked from both flanks and Macclesfield’s defending became increasingly desperate which led to the decisive goal in the 70th minute.

Aaron Hickey had been a menace down the Brentford left all game and it was no surprise that he crossed towards the near post. Heathcote thought he had it covered and threw himself at the ball to head it out for a corner, only to guide it past Dearnley and into his own net.

Macclesfield gave it everything in the final minutes, but it was Romelle Donovan who went closest to scoring for Brentford as they went safely through.