Chasetown FC Reserves showed that a change of manager hasn’t harmed their form as the Scholars’ second string ran out comfortable winners against Oadby Town.
New boss Andy Penny saw his side get off to a perfect start as they aim to match last season’s treble success.
The opening goal of the new campaign was scored by Chad Degville who celebrated passing his driving test earlier in the week with a bullet header into the net after 16 minutes.
Chasetown continued in a positive mood, creating numerous near misses from the likes of Theo Robinson, Gavin Hurran and Kieran Robinson. Matthew Wood also missed narrowly with a spectacular 30 yard drive, having dribbled the ball from deep inside his own territory.
Karl Edwards was a constant thorn in Oadby’s side and it was no surprise when his persistence paid off on the half-hour mark. Harassing the defence, he won possession and burst into the box to slot home past Oadby keeper Ryan Tilley.
The visitors defended boldly but only threatened on one occasion during the half when a Dan Gent curler was brilliantly palmed away by Mark Wiggins.
Oadby produced their best period of the game at the restart as Michael Lucas forced another stretching save from Wiggins. But the spell of pressure only lasted for the opening minutes as Jack Hulin and Wood were alert to keep the scoreline intact.
Unfortunately it was all the visitors could muster and it wasn’t long until Robinson went skipping through to make it 3-0.
This signified the start of the onslaught. Last season’s champions were now enjoying the occasion, knocking the ball around with both style and confidence. Penny deemed it an appropriate time to utilise some more of his strong squad. As he introduced substitutes the momentum still showed no signs of letting up.
Edwards doubled both his own and Chasetown’s tally as he pivoted with his back to goal to fire home from close range.
On 81 minutes Edwards passed the ball out to Degville on the right. He dragged it back to Robinson on the edge of the area and the striker lost his marker with a quick shimmy before placing an unstoppable shot in the bottom corner of the net.
It was then the turn of midfield maestro Andy Westwood to complete the six goal rout. After finding space in the jaded defence, he latched on to Edwards’ through ball to unleash a shot beyond Tilley’s reach.
The goal-fest leaves the Scholars top of the Midland Combination Reserve Division One, two goals better off than second place Boldmere who enjoyed a 5-1 victory over Chasetown’s next opponents Stratford Town.
There was one note of concern from the game. Craig Deakin, who had been outstanding since coming off the bench, was taken to hospital after falling awkwardly in a collision. He was released after being diagnosed with a muscle spasm and is hoping to return to training within a week.
Chasetown: Wiggins, Degville (Deakin), Wood, Hulin, Jones (Gould), Sowe, A Westwood, K Robinson (Brown), Hurran, Edwards, T Robinson. Subs not used: Breeze, Faultless.