Tony Philliskirk was a happy man after seeing his under-18 side seal the League Championship with a 4-0 win over Macclesfield yesterday.

Goals from Deane Smalley, Lewis Alessandra, Kallum Higginbotham and Aaron Chalmers sealed the victory, which gave Latics an unassailable lead at the top of the standings despite other teams having games in hand.

Philliskirk's side now face a crunch grand final against the winners of the other Northern section - which has not yet been decided - to determine the overall Northern champions.

"Funnily enough we didn't play as well as we have done - it was quite a tired performance and some of the lads said they were a bit lethargic", he said.

"They nearly all played in the reserves again in midweek, but they knew that the league was won if they got the right result against Macclesfield.

"I was pleased with the overall performance - to win any game 4-0 is good.

"To win the league is a great achievement, particularly for the third year in a row.  It's an indicator of the quality of lads we've got coming through the youth system here.

"Hopefully two or three of the current crop will go on to emulate the lads in the past and get professional contracts and first-team squad places next season.

"The ultimate goal of the youth set-up is to produce good young players for the first team, and hopefully they'll kick on and get even stronger next year."