Alton manager Kevin Adair was delighted after his side beat ten-man Horley Town 5-0 in the Combined Counties Premier Division South on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors were reduced to ten men in the 30th minute when Ben Drake was sent off after catching Alton’s Jamie Phillips with a high foot. Phillips receieved a nasty blow to the head from the challenge and had to be substituted.
Alton made their numerical advantage count in the second half and took the lead in the 60th minute when Jamie Hoppitt headed home.
The Brewers doubled their advantage on 63 minutes when Perry Coles fired home from close range.
Ross Stepney scored the third in the 73rd minute when he headed home from Coles’ corner, and Pat Cox made it 4-0 on 86 minutes when he fired home.
Oli Kavanagh completed the scoring in stoppage time.
“I’m delighted with five goals and delighted with a clean sheet and three points,” said Adair.
“We went in at half-time and when Jamie was in the changing room it was difficult to focus on looking after him because I had to address the issues we had as a team.
“When we came out for the second half I did have a quick look and it didn’t look great so he went to hospital. There’s five or six marks on his head and a lot of swelling, but no signs of concussion.
“I don’t think there’s any malice in the challenge. I don’t think he’s meant to do it but it is not a great challenge.”
Adair admitted he had to address a few issues at half-time to get his team firing again in the second half.
“We just needed to be better,” said Adair.
“We had a gameplan we were told we needed to deliver but we didn’t do it, which made it really difficult.
“Half of the group were doing one thing and the other half were doing the other – it’s basics from us.
“We don’t normally miss that or get that wrong so it was one of them where we needed a reminder and obviously the reminder worked.
“It was one of those games where once we got one we settled right down.
“We almost need to concede early or score early in games because we can’t seem to get a tempo about us when there’s no apparent reason to – we don’t seem to be able to do it ourselves.
“That’s something we’ve probably got to look at as a coaching group, but at the end of the day how can I be fussy at 5-0?
“We shared the goals about. Louis Russell made his return and another good performance from Oli Kavanagh was capped off with a goal.”
Alton’s injury list is easing heading into a key stage of the season, and Adair is pleased to have more options at his disposal.
“Last week there were 11 to 13 people unavailable – we have got that down to seven this week,” said Adair.
“It’s probably the strongest we’ve been all season – not just the personnel but also numbers-wise.
“Going into this part of the season if we can start getting a few more back fit and everyone challenging for shirts then it’s a tough job for me.
“I’ve been lucky enough not to have people knocking on the door because of the unavailability.
“Maybe that’s going to happen in the last couple of months of the season, but if it is because players are playing well enough to keep the shirts and people aren’t in because other people are doing their job that should mean we’re getting the results.”
Saturday’s win followed a 3-3 draw for Alton at Fleet Town in the Combined Counties Premier Division South last Tuesday night (February 13).
The visitors took the lead in the fourth minute through Pat Cox, but Dan Bone equalised for Fleet from the penalty spot on nine minutes.
Alton regained the lead in the 17th minute through Perry Coles, and Cox made it 3-1 from the penalty spot on 68 minutes.
Brad Manning pulled a goal back for Fleet in the 79th minute, and Josh Nunes headed home in stoppage time to make it 3-3.
Next up for Alton is a trip to Epsom & Ewell in the Combined Counties Premier Division South on Saturday afternoon (3pm).