Nantwich Town 4 Skelmersdale United 0

NANTWICH Town shrugged off the absence of manager Phil Parkinson and a delayed kick-off to record a comfortable victory over struggling Skelmersdale on Tuesday night.

Matty Bell scored twice at the Weaver Stadium, with Andy White and Joe Mwasile also on target to lift The Dabbers up to seventh in the Evo-Stik Premier Division table.

The victory was their second in a row and follows up their impressive 3-1 victory at high-flying Whitby Town on Saturday, which came thanks to an Osebi Abadaki hat-trick.

With Parkinson already absent through illness in a build-up bordering on farcical, traffic problems led to a 25-minute delay to kick-off and also resulted in Skelmersdale being forced to wear a borrowed Nantwich kit.

It took Nantwich only 10 minutes to open the scoring when Bell drove in his second goal of the season from outside the area.

Proceedings settled down after this frantic start, but The Dabbers doubled their lead just before the half-hour mark when a long corner found its way to Mwasile, who remained calm to slot home.

Crewe loanee Ollie Finney was impressive in midfield and a strong run ended with him flashing a shot just wide as Nantwich ended the half two goals to the good.

The visitors’ task became even greater just before the hour mark when captain Kenny Strickland’s heavy challenge on Sam Hall resulted in a straight red card.

With ten minutes left, White received the ball outside the area and produced a superb curling effort that left Skem keeper Martin Fearon with no chance.

The only blight on the home side’s evening came when Theo Stair was dismissed for a second yellow card, but Bell ensured the game finished positively by crashing home his second in injury time.

Next up for The Dabbers is a home game against Frickley Athletic on Saturday, kick off 3pm.

Nantwich Town: Parton,White, Touray, Jones, Stair, Hall (Sanders, 61), Mwasile, Bell, Brooke (Walker, 72), Finney, Abadaki (T Stair, 64). Subs not used: Riley, Quinn.