TENBURY United edged to within a point of Herefordshire League Premier Division leaders Wellington Reserves after romping to an 8-1 win at home to Westfields Reserves on Saturday.

And a third straight win at Hinton this weekend would take the Palmers Meadow side to the top with their title rivals out of action.

Leading scorer Mike Foster bagged an early goal for Tenbury and although the visitors levelled, the home side hit back to go into the break with a 5-1 lead.

Second half substitutions stemmed the flow a little but according to joint manager Aaron Morris, the winning margin could have been more.

“Chris Patton and Mike Foster scored two apiece and on another day we could have been in double figures,” he said.

“They were difficult conditions with the grass quite long but the whole team was excellent with Matt Kurkus and John Bradley in central midfield absolutely outstanding.”

Kurkus and Bradley were also on target with Ryan Morris and substitute Dale Withers completing the scoresheet, the latter finding the net with an excellent header from a corner. The joint boss would also have added to the tally had he not missed a penalty.

And Morris added that the team were now looking to guarantee second place to champions-elect Wellington who will have three games in hand after this weekend.

He said: “We’ve worked out that we need nine points from our last five league games to guarantee the runners-up spot. If we’d been offered second place at the start of the season we’d have taken it.

“We’ll keep pushing Wellington and will be there in case they slip up but they’re unlikely to drop that many points.”

Hot shot Foster is set to miss the trip to Hinton as his partner is expecting a baby. But Morris is satisfied that there is enough strength in depth in the side to fill the void.

“It’s great that we have so many players available at the moment and I can honestly say that the side would not be weakened whoever comes in.

“Saturday’s game at Hinton will be difficult, we always seem to struggle against them. We were a little bit lucky when we beat them at the start of the season. That was probably our worst display of the season and yet we still managed to win.”

Withers scored both goals in a 2-1 win back in October and with Foster set to miss out, another two-goal haul would be most welcome.