South maintained their recent good form with a convincing victory over Horncastle 2nds which saw them net twice in the first half and a further four times in the second.

Chris Graveling gave South the lead after three minutes, catching the visiting keeper in no-man's land with a firm strike, and after two Horncastle breaks had been nullified by determined work from Peter Carey, John Taylor made it 2-0 in the tenth minute.

South exerted strong pressure for the next quarter of an hour, with Rob Sprawson, Andy Rose and Rob Barton all having shots saved and Graveling unlucky not to add to the score when a beautifully angled flick cannoned off a post, but then rather lost their shape in a disjointed passage of play up to half time. However, Jim Thorpe's no-nonsense tackling and a brief volley of saves from goalie Steve Parker, one from a clever deflection, kept the sheet clean.

Timely words from Mick Beasley at the interval helped South to re-organise and re-focus and, with incisive approach work based on good, simple triangles, the upper hand was swiftly regained. Sanjay Agarwala scored the third goal after thirty-nine minutes with a deceptively paced push, whilst Barton, Rose and Sprawson - the latter in a splendid imitation of Concorde without the sonic boom - were again to the fore. But it was Taylor who extended the lead in the fifty-seventh minute, drilling into the bottom corner after Rose gone in hard and had his shot only half-stopped.

Five minutes from the end, a snaking move involving Chris Massey, Rose and then Agarwala, who held the ball up teasingly to strand the keeper, left Sprawson unmarked in centre D to drive smartly in past a lone defender. Yet more chances followed, with Rob Hay and Rose combining neatly, but the last word was left to Taylor, who completed his hat-trick on the whistle by controlling well in the circle and shooting through the pads of the Horncastle keeper, who had nevertheless done much to avert an even bigger defeat for his side.

Whilst South showed their class in all areas of the field, rarely letting their opponents into the game, they should be under no illusions that stiffer challenges lie ahead. Skipper Steve Parker, who for once was rarely called into action, was delighted with the size of the victory but stressed that the side would need to learn how to keep its shape and composure in the face of tougher opposition.