Nantwich Town made it two wins from three and remain unbeaten with a 5-2 victory over Lancaster City at the Weaver Stadium, writes James Brown.
A first-half brace from Callum Saunders and a first Dabbers goal for Danny Glover from 30 yards out made it a comfortable 3-0 lead at the break.
Lancaster came out fighting in the second half and replied with two quick-fire goals from Robert Wilson and Sam Bailey.
Glover netted his second of the game to give Nantwich some breathing room with ten minutes to go.
James Lawrie was shown a second yellow for bringing down a Lancaster player in the box.
But Will Jaaskelainen made a superb save to keep the Dabbers two goals ahead.
Man of the Match Saunders rounded off his hat-trick in added time to complete a second win of the season and a five-star performance.
The opening attack from the Dabbers brought the opening goal on eight minutes as a Joe Mwasile cross was headed on by Glover into the path of Saunders, who thumped the ball home on the volley.
Nantwich suffered a double injury blow inside the opening ten minutes as Louis Barnes and Joel Stair went off.
It didn’t stop the flowing Dabbers attacks as a great strike from Lawrie heading towards the top corner was well-saved by Lancaster keeper Aiden Stone before Glover saw his header also kept out.
With nine minutes left of the opening half, Saunders scored his second after a superb ball from Cotterell took the Lancaster defence out of the game, finding the run of the striker who finished well under the keeper.
The visitors had an opportunity to pull one back straight away, however Wilson struck the post.
Moments before the half-time whistle, it was 3-0 to the men in green.
A fantastic strike from Glover more than 30 yards from goal rocketed into the roof of the net for his first goal as a Dabber.
It could and perhaps should have been four at the break when Glover played in Saunders who beat the offside trap but couldn’t find the bottom corner, dragging his effort just wide.
A good chance came for Glover to score his second in the early stages of the second half from a corner which saw an audacious overhead volley kept out by the fingertips of Stone.
Lancaster got themselves on the scoresheet soon after when the Dabbers switched off at the back, which allowed a ball to be played to the edge of the box for Wilson to fire past Jaaskelainen.
It was game on two minutes after the hour when the visitors grabbed their second, as a corner fell for Sam Bailey who curled into the bottom corner.
Wes Fletcher went close to equalising as the poor start to the half for Nantwich continued, firing wide from a tight angle.
The Dabbers took time to settle, but once they did, Lancaster struggled to deal with the fast-paced counters as they committed more men forward.
Glover was able to add another to his tally for the day, rising highest from a corner to head home.
That joy was short-lived as the visitors were given a chance to respond moments later when Lawrie brought a man down in the box and was shown his second yellow card.
Ryan Wynder stepped up for Lancaster but was denied by a superb Jaaskelainen save down low to his left, making a brilliant two handed stop.
The pressure was still being applied as the visitors looked for a goal with Craig Stanley coming closest after heading against the bar.
However the points were safe in the fifth minute of added time as Saunders completed his hat-trick when a poor back-pass from Glenn Steel was pounced on and drilled into the bottom corner.
That proved to be the final action of the game as Nantwich move to the top of the Evo-Stik Premier Division.
Dabbers make the short trip to face Witton Albion on Bank Holiday Monday before a long trip to face South Shields at Mariners Park on Saturday.
Both fixtures will have a 3pm kick-off.
Nantwich Town: Jaaskelainen, Morgan, Barnes (Lindfield 10’), Stair (Cotterell 9’), Bourne, Mullarkey, Mwasile, Hughes (c), Glover (McDonald 88’), Saunders, Lawrie (off 85′). Subs not used: Hawkins (GK), Malkin
(pics by Mark Welton)
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