Hucknall Town claim first win of the season by putting four past St Andrews

Hucknall Town claimed their first victory of the season with an impressive 4-0 win over St Andrews at Watnall Road on Saturday (6 August).

A brace from Kieran Knight, along with a goal each from Craig Westcarr and Morgan Bell secured all three points for The Yellows.

In a cagey opening quarter of an hour, the first chance of note arrived for the visitors in the 14th minute. Ben Law's free kick from the left edge of the penalty area forced Louis Kinnerley in the Hucknall goal into a decent save as he palmed the ball behind for a corner.

It took the hosts until after the half hour mark to have an effort on target. Westcarr's corner picked out an unmarked Aaron Short at the back post but his header was well blocked by goalkeeper Luke Pickering who spread himself well.

Hucknall grew in confidence as the half progressed and Westcarr nearly found the breakthrough as he headed Ashurst's cross just wide of the target.

With half time nearing, Kieran Lane burst down the left wing and squeezed a cross into the box which was met by Ashurst but he could only head the ball straight at Pickering.

After the interval, Hucknall played with far more intensity and confidence after a rather scrappy first half.

They nearly took the lead less than three minutes after the restart with another dangerous delivery from a Westcarr corner picking out Short who headed the ball into the side netting; it was so close that some of the home fans did briefly celebrate having thought the ball had ended up in the back of the net.

Two minutes later, Hucknall carved out a fine opportunity. Knight played a wonderful through ball which put Westcarr in on goal. He controlled the ball well and unleashed a powerful strike but Pickering made himself big and the ball cannoned off his chest and away to safety.

At this point, with the game so finely poised there was a feeling that Hucknall would be left ruing that missed opportunity. However, they kept plugging away and two minutes later they had the lead with Westcarr this time finding the back of the net. He started the move on the left side and floated the ball into the penalty area to pick out Bell. He had his back to goal but managed to hold the ball up and shield it from his marker before laying it back to Westcarr who drilled it into the net from eight yards.

Less than five minutes later Hucknall doubled their advantage as a free kick found Westcarr who headed the ball across the goal for Bell to tuck it away from just a couple of yards out.

The hosts then added their third goal in the space of six minutes when Short's long ball played in Knight who from the edge of the area spectacularly volleyed the ball into the top corner sending the Watnall Road crowd into raptures.

Hucknall's dominance continued and on the hour mark they thought they had a fourth when Knight tapped in Aaron Lamb's low cross only for the assistant referee to raise his flag for offside.

Ashurst was the next to try his luck curling an effort from the edge of the area only to see it smash the crossbar and bounce away.

With just over ten minutes remaining, Knight helped himself to his second goal of the afternoon as he burst into the right-hand side of the penalty area and from a tight angle hammered the ball into the net to make it 4-0.

Hucknall saw out the last ten minutes comfortably before the referee's final whistle drew a huge cheer from the home crowd who were very impressed with what they had witnessed in the second half.