HORWICH St Mary’s Victoria ended their Bury hoodoo with a 7-2 win in the Premier Division.

Bury GSOB’s Buckley Wells home has been an unhappy hunting ground for Horwich in recent times.

But, thanks to five first-half goals, Danny Holmes’ side strolled to an emphatic first victory of 2018, not bad going for a side having to change formation because they had no full-backs.

“It’s probably a bit of a bogey ground, we’ve always had tight games there but never done well. But it was a great performance on Saturday and we got a much-needed win,” said Holmes.

“For one reason or another we went there with no full-backs so we had to switch to three at the back.

“It was a case of needs must, we’ve done it before and it’s not really worked for us but they made it work on Saturday, they slotted in well and it was a really good performance from all of them.

“Our goalkeeper Joel [Trickett] wasn’t happy about letting two in, he was sent off and we lost 4-1 when we last played them at home, but it didn’t really matter, the game was won.”

Tyler Hill got the goal glut going 10 minutes in, cutting in and letting fly to find the top corner of the GSOB goal.

Dean Spencer’s first goal doubled the lead five minutes later, chipping the keeper after breaking through the back line then Horwich’s captain Matt Makinson made it three when he drilled in from the edge of the box from Matt Hancock’s cut-back.

Connor Dalton pounced to force in number four in a goalmouth scramble and Spencer’s second, in a one-on-one with the Bury keeper,

ensured Horwich were coasting by the break.

Although GSOB pulled one back shortly after the restart through a shot that deflected in off Makinson, Johnny Shacklady volleyed in a brilliant sixth goal from Tom Walsh’s free kick to the back post.

Shacklady turned provider for Martyn Naylor to score their seventh.

Although there was a second goal for the hosts as time ran out, it had been a good afternoon’s work for Horwich.

“It was a similar performance to when we played Rossendale but lost 2-1 the previous week,” said Holmes, whose side host Mostonians on Saturday.

“We saw it as a must-win game, with Bury being down near the bottom, because it’s a tight league and even though we’re seventh we’re three points off the top five and four from third-bottom.

“We’re looking up towards the top of the table and not down, but we’ll be happy to finish in the top half of the table this season.

“We’ve had a few years where we’ve been rebuilding but it’s starting to slot together now. We’ve recruited from within, with a few good lads stepping up from the reserves and hopefully next season we can keep the same squad. They’re a tight-knit group and if we can get that continuity we’ll do well.”

Premier Division leaders Old Boltonians bounced back from their first defeat of the season to beat champions Failsworth Dynamos 3-0 with Nick Holt, Sean Rushton and Rob Taylor on target.

Little Lever, who inflicted that defeat on the table-toppers, moved up to second with a 2-0 win at Rochdale St Clements, Ryan Talbot and Austin Almond scoring.

Division One side Bolton Wyresdale, the town’s last remaining team in the Lancashire FA Amateur Cup, finally made their exit, losing their quarter-final at Burnley Belvedere 4-1.