A Charlie Mulchrone hat-trick and a brace from brother Fergus helped seal a confident bonus-point victory for Macclesfield and extend their winning run to five matches.

Macc haven’t lost since late November – against league leaders Jersey – and were in destructive form as they out-classed their opponents comprehensively at Goresbrook.

The game started frenetically with both sides looking dangerous with ball in hand which created a highly charged atmosphere in East London.

Frankie Barker, who had an injury scare in the week with a potentially broken hand, showed no signs of it being an issue as he stole an early lineout to disrupt the opposition’s set plays.

Fergus Mulchrone scored the first of his tries on five minutes, capitalising on good quick ball to touch down next to the posts.

The lead was extended two minutes later, Mulchrone again in action, receiving an inside pass from brother Charlie to score well.

Ross Winney couldn’t add a second conversion but a 12-point lead was established and the dominance was paying off.

Barking did reduce the deficit after 13 minutes through Stephen Hihetah, scrum-half Jack Gash moving the ball behind the scrum before off-loading for the winger to score.

Craig Ratford added the conversion to reduce the arrears to just five points.

The try seemed to reinvigorate Macc and they began to probe the Barking defence, employing a ‘we do what we want attitude’ to get back on the front foot in the game.

Matt Owen restored Macc’s 12-point advantage before Charlie Mulchrone scored the first of his three tries, collecting the ball at the back of the scrum and darting the line to finish in the corner.

Shortly after, a strange set of events followed, which saw the home side have a penalty advantage. Radford took the opportunity to successfully slot home a drop goal.

The referee then deemed the effort to be going wide before going back for the earlier penalty.

Charlie Mulchrone was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul, and the ensuing lineout allowed Jordan McIntyre to score just before the break.

Blues came out after the break and looked to consolidate, given the absence of the influential Mulchrone.

Winney took over the scrum-half duties before adding a penalty to extend the visitors’ lead to 15 points.

Mulchrone returned to the fray and was in the action immediately and ran through under the posts, capitalising on Matt Davenport’s initial run.

Barking’s replacement prop Ed Ambrose was then sin-binned for dissent, which allowed Mulchrone to complete his hat-trick.

Ed Stobart completed the rout for his side as he gathered a one handed off-load from Jack Moorhouse to finish a sublime running move.

The result – Macc’s fifth league victory in a row – means they find themselves just nine points off the new National League One leaders Jersey.