Eccleshill United 4 Grimsby Borough 0

A MARCUS Edwards hat-trick led the Eagles to a comfortable home victory in the Toolstation Northern Counties East Division One as basement outfit Grimsby Borough ended with nine men.

The game was won and lost in the minutes before and after the break. Calamitous defending by the visitors let Eagles' forward Josh Rosenstraugh in and he kept his composure and got into the area before laying the ball back for Edwards to net his first via the inside of the post.

In stoppage time of the first period, Boro's Oliver Hamilton was guilty of a bad challenge on Jacob Conde and got his marching orders. Three minutes into the second half, Edwards pounced to control and net after a Rosenstraugh shot had come back off the base of the post.

Just seven minutes after the break, Edwards was lining up his treble from the penalty spot after a handball offence in the area. Boro skipper David Unsworth was the guilty man as he raised his hands to stop James Queerie's shot after a corner had only been half-cleared.

With Grimsby two men down, there was no way back but, if Eccleshill had taken their early chances, the game would have been out of reach in the first 20 minutes.

Edwards had an effort cleared off the line after just four minutes and Rosenstraugh was denied by a magnificent save, while Edwards, Steve Rivera and skipper Charlie Flaherty all wasted good chances.

Rivera added the last goal in the final minute to put the gloss on the Eagles' fifth win from their last eight games.

Eccleshill's head coach Gerard Jones said: "It was a comfortable win but too comfortable.

"My players need a high intensity game to be at their best. I'm lucky in that I have Marcus and Charlie who are both on top form and playing with confidence. Jermaine Springer is as well. They all played well but, after a good performance and a clean sheet, I could name every one of my players because they all stood up."

THACKLEY enjoyed a good result as they earned a point from a 1-1 draw at high-flying Cleethorpes Town in the Premier Division. Mike Garrod put the Dennyboys in front in the 74th minute but third-placed Cleethorpes levelled through Louis Grant four minutes later.

LIVERSEDGE were beaten 4-1 at home after a three-minute second-half hat-trick from Handsworth Parramore's Kieran Wells. The visitors took a 17th minute lead through Bruno Holden but Sedge hit back midway through the first half when Joel Farrer netted. Wells scored his treble between the 65th and 67th minutes.

ALBION SPORTS also suffered a heavy loss as they went down 4-0 at Barton Town with three of the home side's goals coming in the first half. Scott Philips, Corey Mortimer and Sam Belcher were all on target, with Phillips adding his second after the break.