GATESHEAD'S play-off hopes suffered a major blow as Reece Styche's hat-trick condemned them to a 3-0 home defeat at the hands of Macclesfield Town.
Despite travelling to the International Stadium on the back of an eight-game winless run, Macclesfield comfortably accounted for the Heed, with Styche doing most of the damage.
The striker opened the scoring after seven minutes when he burst clear of the Gateshead defence before rounding goalkeeper Sam Russell and rolling the ball into an empty net.
Styche claimed his second goal from close range as the Heed defence failed to deal with Danny Rowe's corner, and completed the scoring with three minutes left when drilled home a powerful strike from the edge of the penalty area.
The defeat leaves Gateshead in ninth position, four points adrift of the play-off places, ahead of Monday's trip to Lincoln City, who are a place below them in the table.
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