ALTON 6, YATELEY II 0

THREE more points and a fifth straight win for Alton who put six goals past Yateley 2nd XI at Amery Hill.

Despite the scoreline, Yateley proved to be a decent side and had good spells of possession in this Hampshire 3 fixture.

It was a midfield battle early on, with not much goalmouth action, but Alton, who had scored nine goals in their previous outing, started to wear down the visitors’ hard-working defence.

James Goulding-Stewart finally broke the deadlock, calmly sliding the ball past the keeper.

Goulding-Stewart soon doubled the lead after finding himself on the end of a superb ball from James Wilson in midfield.

Yateley replied with a flurry of short corners, but stubborn defence and a fine flying stick save by keeper Lawrence Jones kept the visitors out.

Alton began the second half at a furious pace and immediately increased their lead, Tom Singleton crossing for Stuart Gagen to finish neatly.

Thereafter, it was all Alton. Kevin Scowcroft netted from close range and Goulding-Stewart completed his hat-trick.

Finally, Gagen added the sixth with a perfect deflection from a well-worked penalty corner.

A defiant Yateley won another series of short corners, but the Alton defenders were in no mood to yield their clean sheet.

Now five points clear, leaders Alton face their hardest challenge this Saturday when they visit second-placed Fareham IV.

Alton III 7, Bournemouth V 0 (Hants 9). Both teams boasted a 100 per cent record, but Alton took an iron grip on the game and scored seven times without reply to go three points clear at the top.