RACING Club Warwick continued their assault on the MFL Division 1 summit after Saturday’s 5-1 thumping of hosts Hinckley AFC.
It proved Warwick’s eighth successive win, which was always looking likely after taking a 4-0 first-half lead.
The visitors were forced to make a couple of changes to the side, with Chris Johnston and Danny Bartle back in the starting 11, replacing Luke Cole and George Curry.
A penalty inside the opening couple of minutes handed Racing the initiative to take the game after Ben Mackey was fouled, allowing the forward to slam home from the spot.
Hinckley almost levelled immediately when Tyrone Burton looked to slide home from a promising cross that just fell out of his reach.
It was 2-0 when Trea Bertie turned and finished superbly low into the corner on 18 minutes, followed up by his second 19 minutes later when receiving goalkeeper Charlie Bannister’s long punt downfield and nudging a shot past the keeper.
Richard Powell drifted inside and teed up Bertie for a strike at goal, deflected for a corner that resulted in Warwick’s fourth.
Daniel Bartle whipped a ball into the box that was thumped home by the head of Joe Smith at the far post.
Further efforts saw Bertie strike the post in his hunt for a hat-trick goal, while Mackey found the keeper’s gloves on the rebound.
It was Mackey who rounded off the scoring with his second of the afternoon – initially laying through Bertie to force the keeper into a save, before Henry Leaver squared up Mackey to slam the ball into the roof of the net.
Bertie was again denied by the post when the keeper pushed his strike onto the woodwork, whilst Mackey was a blocked effort away from a hat-trick.
Sam Belcher grabbed Hinckley’s consolation in the 90th minute after Lewis Hayden’s foul brought a penalty for the hosts, sending Bannister the wrong way.
Warwick next host NKF Burbage on Saturday (3pm), who sit seventh.
