Ahenkorah the hat-trick hero as Town shatter Saints

STRATFORD Town began life without Richard Gregory in perfect fashion as they recorded a 5-2 victory over St Neots Town at the DCS Stadium.

Town’s top scorer left the club this week to sign for local rivals Leamington, but Carl Adams’ side responded in emphatic fashion against the struggling Saints.

Edwin Ahenkorah helped himself to a hat-trick, while Mike Taylor and Liam Francis were also on target.

Stratford came flying out of the blocks and raced into a 3-0 lead inside the opening 13 minutes.

Francis got the first, heading home Will Grocott’s cross at the far post in the fifth minute.

And the visitors were 2-0 down on nine minutes, when a misdirected clearance fell to Kieren Westwood, who sprinted to the byline before producing a peach of a cross for Taylor, who turned it in from six yards out.

Town continued to press and in the 13 minute a Grocott free-kick was handled in the box, earning Stratford a penalty, which Ahenkorah confidently converted.

It went from bad to worse for the Saints when Ahenkorah got his second just before half-time. The livewire striker beat two defenders before burying the ball past Alex Archer.

Town supporters had barely got comfortable for the second half and they were celebrating a fifth.

Ahenkorah shrugged off a challenge before unleashing a fierce strike from the edge of the area, which sailed past Archer.

With the game over as a contest, Adams took the opportunity to introduce new signing Justin Marsden and youngsters Charlie Evans and Dylan Parker to the fold, the latter coming on for his full debut.

However, the changes seemed to disrupt Town and St Neots enjoyed their best spell of the game. It resulted in two late goals from Declan Rogers and Nassim L’Goul, which added some respectability to the scoreline.

The win moves Town up to 16 in the Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division, five points clear of the relegation zone.

Stratford Town: Niall Cooper, Daniel Summerfield, Kieren Westwood, James Fry (c), Liam Francis, Guy Clark (Justin Marsden 62), Simeon Tulloch, Will Grocott, Mike Taylor (Dylan Parker 79), Ben Stephens, Edwin Ahenkorah (Charlie Evans 69). Subs not used: Jean Kalenda, Trey Brathwaite.

St Neots Town: Alex Archer, Miles Smith, Jonathan Hall, Michael Hyem (c), Tom Wood, Taylor Parr, Charlie Day, Peter Clark (Dan Gleeson 48), James Hall (Nassim L'Goul 26), Sam Mulready, Declan Rogers. Subs not used: Erhan Nurettin, Chevron McLean, Jackson Colicott-Stevens.

Full report in next week's Herald.