FOR a side yet to lose a league game so far this season, Drighlington were initially made to look second best before scoring a 6-1 win over Dalton Dynamoes in the Under 12 Division III.

Dalton’s Elliot Smith and Tom Jefferson forced Drighlington into some last line defending in their RCD League clash.

One such attack was broken up when a panicky tackle led to a Dalton free kick from which Drighlington failed to clear and Tyree Cheeseman pounced to fire home the opening goal for the visitors.

Cheeseman might have doubled their lead just minutes later when he latched onto a Jefferson pass, but the Dalton striker fired just wide of the mark.

Although the home side had now awakened to the danger, it still took an excellent block from Lucas Scott to deny Josh McManus as Dalton continued to threaten.

Scott was again in the action minutes later when his right wing throw found its way to George Taylor, whose first time shot flew into the net at the near post to make it 1-1.

Dalton quickly regained their composure and were unlucky not to restore their lead just before half time when Jefferson found space, but after firing a shot over the bar the striker was further denied by two superb saves from keeper Callum Ashworth.

Dalton’s hopes of an upset received a double setback soon after the re-start when first Lewis Oldfield fired an unstoppable shot into the top corner and Scott netted a third for Drighlington to put them firmly in the driving seat.

A clumsy penalty allowed Ryan Surman to add a fourth for the home side and, sadly, Dalton’s challenge was ended at 4-1 down.

Despite the score, keeper Connor Lemon had produced a confident display in the Dynamoes’ goal, but he was helpless to stop a perfectly-weighted chip from Surman making it 5-1, before Scott completed his hat trick to give Drighlington a deserved, if stuttering, victory. Dalton’s first-half performance certainly gave the leaders a scare and, if they could have maintained their workrate for the whole game, the outcome might have been different.