Thackley 6, Lincoln Moorlands Railway 2

Thackley hit six of the best to spank the club immediately above them in the Northern Counties East Premier Division table and ease their relegation worries.

Striker Nicky Matthews was the tormentor-in-chief, helping himself to four goals as the Lincoln express left the rails.

Despite the margin of victory, Thackley spokesman Chris Frank revealed the players were not all together happy.

"We hope this sets us up for a good run over the holiday period but the players were a bit down after the game," he said.

"They said they didn't feel they had hit their best form and were disappointed by the overall performance. If this is them not clicking, I can't wait to see the game when they do!

"If they are right then someone is in for a serious going-over in the next few weeks."

The rout began inside the first minute. Danny Forrest took possession just inside Railway's half and burst through before casually clipping a shot past the visitors' advancing keeper.

There was not long to wait before the second was converted. Matthews got his name on the score sheet in the 11th minute.

He lost his marker and sidestepped another defender before shooting in from the edge of the area.

The visitors responded minutes later when Ryan Creane profited from an ineffective offside trap.

Thackley still had a two-goal lead at the break after Matt-hews won the ball deep in his own half and set off.

His run, which again saw him ride tackles from defenders trying to dispossess him, ended with an emphatic finish which put his team 3-1 up.

So often a side dominates one half and either settles for what they have or faces a backlash from the opposition. But that was not the case at Dennyfield, as the home side won the second half 3-1 as well.

Just seven minutes after the interval, Matthews muscled past two challenges before completing his hat-trick. Ten minutes from time, Matthews rounded the visitors' keeper before stroking the ball into the empty net for his fourth.

Lincoln snatched one back, Stuart King beating Thack-ley's debutant keeper Danny Trueman, but the balance was restored when Joel Etienne threaded a shot through a forest of legs inside a packed area.