BREIGHTMET United manager Simon Wilcox is confident his players have what it takes to make a big impression in the top half of Division One.

The Moss Park men won 4-0 at Wilmslow Albion on Saturday – their second league win of the season – with a confident, commanding peformance on a difficult surface.

Having previously beaten table-toppers Old Alts, the win lifted Breightmet into the mid-table mix and gave Wilcox reason to believe they can continue to improve.

“The win against old Alts a couple of weeks ago seems to have given the lads a bit of confidence,” the United boss said.

“We looked switched on before the game and we played well.

“The squad seems to have settled down, the formation seems to have settled down, the lads all know what their roles are and I can only see us getting better and better as the season goes on.

“They are a great set of lads to work with and everyone can see where we are going now.”

United were a goal up after just five minutes thanks to the combination of two of last season’s under-18s squad – Junior Ralphson’s through ball setting up Osman Karakan, who scored with a tidy finish.

And although it remained 1-0 at half time, Breightmet had done enough to suggest their set-pieces could be key to extending their lead – and so it proved with skipper and central defender Carl Banks a pivotal figure.

Five minutes after the break a Banks header from a corner caused a scramble in the Wilmslow goalmouth and Chris Coyne pounced to double the lead.

Banks made it three with a towering header from a corner and 10 minutes from time Jordan Mulligan made it four with a follow-up shot after his inital effort had cannoned back off a defender.

Premier Division champions Hindsford were denied a deserved victory with an agonising last-gasp equaliser at home to Stockport Georgians.

Leading 2-1 well into added time, they looked home and dry before a deflected shot wrong-footed impressive keeper Matty Ince and trickled over the line.

“We had it won and paid the penalty for not seeing the game out at the other end of the field. I was devastated,” said manager Barry Massey.

One-nil down after a scrappy first half, the Squires Lane men – forced into a number of team changes because of withdrawals – clicked into gear and took total control of the game, goals coming from Nathan Bond and Luke Sylvestre.

Atherton Town manager Shaun Lynch’s fears that his players might struggle on Royton Town’s 3G pitch were realised when they crashed to a 5-0 defeat.

“I’m thinking of playing kids next time we are on a 3G surface,” the Town boss said.

“We are a big side and we always seem to struggle on those surfaces.”

The Howe Bridge-based side trailed 1-0 at half time after a relatively even first period, but Royton’s young side made the most of their home advantage and pitch conditions after the break.