STEETON extended their unbeaten run in the North West Counties Football League First Division North to five games with a superb 3-0 win at Daisy Hill.

Despite spending the majority of the second half on the back foot, two first-half goals were complemented with a late strike from Andy Briggs to seal the three points on the road.

The win, straight off the back of beating leaders Pilkington, moves Steeton above Daisy Hill into seventh.

The opening exchanges of the game were even, with Jamie Ramwell coming closest for Daisy Hill.

The winger turned the ball wide though, and collided with the post to add insult to injury.

Steeton then had an opportunity, but Kier Barry turned Josh Walne’s effort out for a corner.

From the resulting corner, the ball bounced around the box, but Steeton kept it alive.

Nathan Tayo flicked the ball on, despite receiving a heavy hit from behind, and it fell into the path of Jordan Townend.

The midfielder knew exactly what was required, and scored one of his now trademark thunderbolts by smashing the ball into the bottom corner.

The only downside from the goal was that the initial collision forced Tayo from the field moments later, the centre-half being substituted off with a knee injury.

His replacement, Jake Townsend, immediately got among the action and earned his side the opportunity to double their lead.

Townsend raced through on goal, drawing a foul from Daisy Hill keeper Barry to win a penalty.

His skipper, Briggs, stepped up to finish from 12 yards for his 25th goal of the season.

Now chasing the game, the home side grew into the game and forced two good saves out of James Catlow, while at the other end, Briggs agonisingly headed just over from close range.

Daisy Hill then had a brilliant opportunity to get back into the game just before half-time.

With his man racing through on goal, Walne misjudged a 50/50 tackle and brought down Jake Parker inside the area.

Parker stepped up to take the spot-kick, but his tame effort was saved comfortably by Catlow.

Daisy Hill were determined to right that wrong after the break, as they penned Steeton back inside their own area for most of the second half.

They could not find a breakthrough though, and probably realised it was not going to be their day when their own centre half inadvertently denied them a goal.

Steeton failed to clear their lines from a corner and Parker found himself free inside the area.

His shot hit team-mate Joshua Tinker on the line and deflected past the post for a goal kick, much to the striker’s frustration.

On the back foot, Steeton put in some heroic defensive efforts with even forward players such as Townsend and Briggs tracking back to block crosses and head clear corners.

Parker was left ruing his bad luck in front of goal once more, as he found himself free inside the area but fired wide of the far post.

And, on a rare push forward after the break, Steeton netted the third goal to kill the game off and secure another three points away from Marley.

First, Barry pulled off a sensational fingertip save to turn a Briggs strike wide.

But he was beaten moments later, as Raeece Ellington played a superb ball over the top into the path of Briggs.

The striker left both Barry and the Daisy Hill centre-halves in his wake to fire into the open goal, much to the delight of both his teammates and the healthy band of travelling supporters behind the goal.

It is a win that gives Steeton an outside chance of making the play-offs, though that seems unlikely given they are still 12 points off that coveted top five.