Hallmark Security League Division One: Eccleshall 0 Silsden 5

JOE Gaughan scored a hat-trick as Silsden made it 12 league wins from 12 games to continue their fantastic start.

The Cobbydalers travelled to Staffordshire on the back of two scrappy wins, in which centre half Dan Illingworth had been sent off twice.

But this was far from scrappy as Silsden – who included new signing Craig Bentham in defence following his signing from Thackley – romped to victory.

Boss Danny Forest is hoping the professionalism of his former Bantams team-mate will rub off on his team and his debut could not have gone much better.

Inexperienced Eccleshall had only one win and three draws behind them but the Cobbydalers were taking nothing for granted. At the end of last season, only two late goals saw the Cobbydalers secure victory.

Silsden almost opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Arley Barnes fed Kyle Hancock, who dipped his shoulder and hit a low drive from 25 yards out. Keeper Matt Johnson gathered it at the second attempt.

Gaughan shot wide soon after but was soon on the score sheet on 11 minutes when he latched on to a Josh Eastwood header before curling his shot round the keeper.

Eccleshall played some neat football but found it difficult to get behind the Silsden defence, Eastwood breaking up their most promising move before Barnes volleyed over at the other end.

Eastwood then had a shot parried by Johnson but Hancock won the race for the ball to make it 2-0. Two minutes later superb interplay between Matty Moses and Niall Sultan set up Barnes, who hit the bar from the edge of the area.

It was one-way traffic with Gaughan having a shot deflected wide and Bentham seeing his header punched clear.

Five minutes before the break Silsden went three up through the persistence of Sultan, who won challenges against Lewis Dunne and Jack Warren before sliding the ball home from a narrow angle.

The second half began with Hancock curling a shot wide before Gaughan notched his second. Goalkeeper Callum Jakovlevs hit a long ball from outside his area and the striker, 25 yards from the Eccleshall goal, pulled it down before rifling a superb shot wide of Johnson. If anything highlighted the gap between the teams, that was it.

Forrest used the remainder of the game to ring the changes, using all three subs. Eastwood had a shot deflected before Gaughan completed his hat-trick having been set up by Nicky McNally. Both Barnes and McNally went close while, in the dying minutes, Hovik Nersesyan headed over for Eccleshall.

Forrest was delighted with the result and performance, and was pleased to see his new acquisition Bentham slot in so comfortably.

Silsden are in action tomorrow night when they host Premier Division side Burscough in the League Cup (7.45pm).

SILSDEN: Jakovlevs, Moses (Holt 73), Everingham, Kaine, Bentham, Eastwood (Rhodes 70), Barnes, Hancock (McNally 60), Tomas, Gaughan, Sultan.