Nantwich Town recovered from a heavy defeat in midweek at Hyde to thump Stalybridge Celtic 4-0 at the Swansway Stadium yesterday.
A Kai Evans hat-trick (pictured) helped the Dabbers secure a comfortable win, and sees Jon Moran’s side up to third in the Northern Premier League West.
Byron Harrison completed the scoring as the hosts put their 1-4 loss in midweek against Hyde firmly behind them.
A minute’s silence preceded kick off as players, staff and fans paid tribute on Remembrance weekend to those who gave their lives in war and conflict.
Both teams had chances early on after kick off as their attacking intentions were made clear.
But Nantwich made the breakthrough on 21 minutes when a fine Callum Saunders cross was fired home at the far post by Evans.
The Dabbers continued to attack and Evans and Tom Pratt both had chances to extend the lead before the break.
And it didn’t take the hosts long to find that second goal after half-time.
Just six minutes in, Evans was helped by a defensive slip but the rest was brilliant as he curled from the left of the box, giving McClenaghan in the visitors’ net no chance.
Moments later Kelvin Mellor had to clear a Stalybridge chance off the line as the visitors did not give up hope.
It took until the 66th minute for Nantwich to seal victory with a third.
This time, Harrison benefited from a fine run by Melhado who set him up for a simple finish.
Modi threatened for Stalybridge on more than one occasion, but the home defence stood firm.
Then in the 88th minute Evans delighted the 600+ crowd by completing an excellent hat-trick.
After a big slip by Tongue in the visitors’ backline, Evans was played in and onside and sprinted through to finish with aplomb and complete the whitewash.
The Dabbers are now third on 31 points, just three behind leaders Widnes with a game in hand and two behind second place
Vauxhall Motors.
(pics by Jonathan White)
Fantastic performance from the Dabbers, since the new manager took over it’s clear to see a more attacking set up from the team,all areas on the pitch are playing with far more passion and working for each other far more than I have seen for a long time.
Keep it up Dabbers we are all starting to dream of what we can achieve if we carry on playing with such great commitment and drive.