Skenfrith United 4 Bringsty Sport 2

SKENFRITH capitalised on Bringsty's recent drop in form at the weekend, dismissing the former league leaders with a comprehensive four-goal display led by hat-trick hero David Ellias.

Ellias was returning to the side after a couple of weeks out but his heroics came only after a very slow start for United.

Visiting Bringsty soon took an early lead when the Skenfrith defence missed three tackles to let the goalscorer ghost through.

Ellias himself then equalised by dancing his way down the right hand side, beating three or four men and dummying the keeper to slot the ball home for into the other corner 1-1.

Then just minutes from half time Oliver was put through and was unlucky to see his strike come back off the bar.

Manager Darren Brown put across some home truths at half time about the effort levels from his players, and to all their credit he received the response he wsa after with a much improved second half display.

United were 3-1 up within 20 minutes of the restart, as Ellias completed his hat-trick with a fantastic curling shot in to the top left hand corner.

With James Hughes and Craig Edwards picking the game up Skenfrith created more chances without taking them, and with 15 minutes still to play, an out-of-breath Hughes came off to be replaced by Paul Brown.

Just minutes after the change the official awarded a contested penalty for hand ball, which Bringsty converted to pull the tie back to 3-2. But Skenfrith continued to press and got a fourth late on through an own goal.

Speaking after the win, Brown said it had been a very important game, a 'must win' with regards to staying in Herefordshire League Division One. He added: "The boys pulled out a real strong second half performance. It was really pleasing."

The team would like to thank Tyran Webb, of TW Cladding, and Broad Oak Garage for sponsoring Saturday's game. Next week Skenfrith are away to Bartestree Reserves in the semi-final of the Junior Cup, kick off at 2pm.

Skenfrith United: Jenkins, Hartley, Macdonald, Pound, Acton, Byron, Hughes, Edwards, Oliver, Ellias, Tynan. Substitutes: Oxford, Brown.