MINEHEAD were in the goals again on Saturday as they won 5-0 away to Ilminster Town in Diivison One West of the Somerset County League.

They seemed to master the treacherous conditions far quicker than their hosts, and with the returning Si Dennehy pulling the strings in midfield, the lively Aaron Ireton put them in front midway through the first half with a superb right-footed strike from 25 yards which went in off the inside of the post.

Andy Gubb then went close with a header from a corner which ended up comfortable for home custodian Ben Kingman.

It wasn’t until the start of the second half that Minehead’s current vein of scoring form came to the fore.

Five minutes in, Ireton scored his second after a slick four-man string of parallel passes across the edge of the box featuring Mike Graddon, Luke Bloys and Damion Redman found the youngster unmarked and his shot from 15 yards gave Kingman little chance.

Fellow teenager Mike Graddon then headed home at the near post from a corner to put the result beyond any real doubt, and on the hour mark top scorer Guy Burns picked himself up after being fouled in the box to make it four from the penalty spot.

And in the final five minutes he doubled his personal tally after bursting clear from the chasing pack and rounding the overworked Kingman to complete the Blues’ second nap hand in three games.

This workmanlike performance took the Blues closer to the top four, who have only lost one match between them.

At this stage and with only 24 league games this season, promotion looks like being decided on the results between the five leading clubs as they open up a gap at the top of the table.

Man of the match was Si Dennehy.

Minehead: S Tarr, T West, M Cracknell, S Lynch, A Gubb, S Dennehy, M Graddon, A Ireton, D Redman, L Bloys, G Burns, subs F Ndiomo, G Hodgson, M Ronan (all used).

l Tomorrow (Saturday) sees Minehead made the difficult journey to Chilcompton Sports, who leap-frogged them last season to take their place in the Premier Division.

The match in the lgeaue cup for premier and first division sides should give Minehead a good marker on how their re-building is going.

With the possibility of extra time being played, the game kicks off at 1.45pm.

l Watchet’s league fixture away to Cutters Friday last Saturday was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

Tomorrow the Red and Blacks are due to visit Ilminster Town, who were relegated last season, in the League Knockout Cup for Premier and First Division teams.