SHAFTESBURY 1 CHICKERELL UNITED 5

JOSH Why bagged a hat-trick as Chickerell United continued their scintillating form by hammering the Rockies at Cockrams.

Entering the match off the back of a three-game winning streak, confidence oozed through the Chickens in the opening half as they ran Shaftesbury completely ragged to take a 3-0 lead into the half-time interval.

Liam Miles, Sean Stewart and Steve Welch combined to set up Why for the opener on five minutes before more classy build-up play saw Nick Etherington play in Josh Tennant for the second just 13 minutes later.

The hosts simply had no answer to Chickerell’s free-flowing game and on 25 minutes they conceded a third when Etherington met Steve Welch’s diagonal ball and thundered a strike into the top corner from the edge of the box.

To their credit, Shaftesbury continued to battle after the break but two further goals from Why rubberstamped the visitors’ dominance, even though the home side did grab one back through a dubious penalty from Luke Crane.

United boss Maurice Welch said: “It was the best we have played all season, particularly in the first half when our passing was crisp and precise, and our intelligent use of the ball really tore them apart.

“Everything just came together and to be honest we could have grabbed a few more before half-time.

“Shaftesbury are a decent side but they just couldn’t handle us and although we took our foot off the gas a bit in the second half we still created a lot of chances.

“Everyone did exactly what we asked of them and it was just a fantastic team display.”

The victory has taken the Chickens up to fifth on goal difference where they sit just six points off the top.

Chickens: Boore, D Welch (Lambert 80), Burton, Butcher, S Welch, Miles (Connor 65), Stewart, Etherington, Sibley, Tennant (Pattison 70), Why.