What Does The Last 6 Weeks Mean In Title Race Over The Years?

John Askey’s men are looking to return to the Football League where they last appeared in the 2011-12 season.

With just ten games remaining for the Silkmen, do they have the nerve to go all the way and end a tremendous season with the biggest prize?

Can they also follow a trend that has continued over the past five National League campaigns?

We have good news for the Silkmen: the last five winners of the division all led the way at this exact stage of their respective seasons.

Mansfield Town, Luton Town, Barnet, Cheltenham Town and Lincoln City all set the pace in mid-March and went on to claim the title. Here's a look at what happened those years.

Mansfield Town 2012/13 winners
Eventual winners Mansfield Town led the way at this point in their title-winning campaign. A ninth successive win in the league came when they collected all three points in a 2-1 victory against fellow promotion challengers Forest Green Rovers.

At this stage of the season, the Stags topped the league by just two points with Wrexham in second. Paul Cox’s men held their nerve to win seven of their remaining nine games as they clinched promotion on the final day of the season, coincidently narrowly beating Wrexham.

In what turned out to be a two-horse race between themselves and Kidderminster Harriers, Mansfield wrapped up the title with a points difference of just two more ahead of their rivals.

Luton Town - 2013/14 winners
It’s fair to say that Luton Town romped home with the National League title in 2013/14. With John Still at the helm, the Hatters were 15 points clear and on an unbeaten run of 27 games as they snatched a late equaliser against second-placed Cambridge United in March 2014.

Despite seeing that outstanding run ended at home to Woking in the following game, Still’s men won eight of their final 10 games to emphatically secure the title with 101 points – 19 clear of Cambridge who eventually secured promotion via the play-offs.

Barnet 2014/15 winners
The 2014/15 campaign was as tight as it could ever be. Barnet and Bristol Rovers battled it out for the title right up until the final day.

An impressive 2-1 success over play-off chasers Eastleigh in March 2015 meant that the Bees returned to the top of the league on goal difference.

Five wins from their final eight ensured that they lifted the title after finishing the season just one point ahead of Darrell Clarke’s Pirates who did go on to gain promotion via the play-offs.

Both teams won on the final day as the slip-up that Bristol Rovers needed from Barnet didn’t happen.

Cheltenham Town 2015/16 winners
Cheltenham led the way in mid-March, although the race for the title was a lot tighter at this point than when the season ended.

After 38 games, the Robins sat on 83 points – just two ahead of closest challengers Forest Green. However, six wins from their last eight ensured that Gary Johnson’s team became champions with ease.

Forest Green’s form took a major dip in the final month or so of the campaign as they won just one of eight and went on to lose to Grimsby Town in the play-off final at Wembley.

Lincoln City - 2016/17 winners
Let’s now take you back to last season and our current National League title holders. Lincoln held a six-point lead at the top of the table in March 2017, ahead of Forest Green and Tranmere Rovers.

FA Cup defeat at Arsenal was followed by a 2-0 slip-up at Boreham Wood; however the Imps won eight of their remaining 11 games as they wrapped up the title against Macclesfield with two games to spare.

Danny Cowley’s men ended the campaign on 99 points, four ahead of Tranmere.

BY LUKE TURNER