Daisy Hill recorded their biggest league win of the season in the North West Counties League First Division North on Saturday, with a convincing 4-0 win at Steeton.

After an own goal gave Daisy an early lead, Sam Twist and Ryan Talbot added two more to put their side 3-0 ahead inside 26 minutes.

Although Steeton rallied briefly in the opening stages of the second half, Talbot’s second goal of the afternoon midway through the second half put the result beyond doubt, and rounded off a fine all-round team performance.

Daisy assistant manager, Tom Brown, praised his side after the game.

“It was a great start from the lads, they really came out of the blocks in the opening 20 minutes”, said Brown.

“Recently, the performances have been there, they have been good for large parts of games but we’ve just not scored the goals we deserved.

“But today was a different story, we’ve scored goals and created good chances.

“I thought the front three were brilliant, but really to a man they were all excellent.

“Everyone would get a seven or eight out of 10 at least, and the lads who came off the bench all made an impact, too.

“We had Steeton watched last weekend, which gave us an understanding of how they played, and then in the week we worked on a few things.

“I think the 4G pitch suited us and our passing game, and that probably helped us a bit, too.

“These small details all come together and it all just clicked today.

“Sometimes you need a bit of luck, which we got with the first goal. We’ve not had that sort of break all season, and goals change games.

“It just gave us a bit of belief and built confidence, and I felt we controlled the game from then on.

“Steeton came out with a bit of a reaction in the second half, but I thought the lads stood up to that brilliantly in that first 10 minutes or so, and then we went on and got a fourth goal which really killed it.”

It was a game Daisy dominated with some excellent attacking play the home side failed to cope with, although there was a touch of good fortune about the goal that gave them the lead in the ninth minute .

A long ball sent Twist free down the right flank, and when he drove a low cross into the box, Steeton defender James Edgley stuck out a foot to deflect the ball past his own keeper, James Catlow.

Catlow was almost guilty of handing out another gift four minutes later, when he dropped a cross into the path of Talbot, but his shot and follow-up were scrambled away by some desperate defending.

But two more goals in the space of four minutes at the midway point in the half put Daisy in the driving seat.

Twist had been causing the home defence problems with strong running down the right flank, and he doubled the lead when he collected a long ball with the defence posted absent, rounded the keeper and rolled the ball into the net.

The third goal four minutes later was created by Jamie Ramwell, who did well to win the ball in a challenge on half way before picking out Talbot with a terrific pass, which the striker collected and drilled past the keeper.

The home side were visibly rocking and with Daisy relentless in their pursuit of more goals, they could easily have added to the tally before half time.

Jack Iley hit the side-netting with a shot from the edge of the box, Ben Unsworth had a header cleared off the line, and then Dean Singleton headed wide as Daisy finished the half on a high.

In the opening 15 minutes of the second half, Steeton did begin to enjoy more possession and exerted some pressure, but the well-drilled Daisy defence presented formidable resistance, and keeper Morgan Newns was rarely tested.

Any lingering hopes Steeton might have had of staging an unlikely comeback were ended on 66 minutes, when Daisy scored their fourth of the afternoon.

Good work by Alex Dodd saw him win the ball in midfield and play a neat pass through to Talbot in the inside right channel, and the big striker cut inside a defender and rifled a shot from 20 yards into the far corner of the net for his 13th goal of the season.

Talbot came close to bagging his hat-trick with 12 minutes remaining when he just failed to connect with a Ramwell cross, and Daisy substitute Aaron Hart was unlucky when his shot at the end of a free-flowing move flew across the face of goal.

Daisy are quickly back in action again tomorrow night when they host Ashton Athletic at the Plumb Factory Stadium in another league fixture (7.45pm).