Resurgent Stables run riot to tame Gotham City with remarkable win

The second-from-bottom hosts, whose previous victory in the league came on 13 September against Sporting Icapb, struck five second-half goals to sweep aside Gotham, who themselves went into the match looking for a win that would take them from second to first in the standings.

With the comprehensive rout of their visitors, Stables continued a recent resurgence that has seen three cup victories for the club in the past three weeks and, now, an unbeaten record in their last five matches.

Stables manager George Letham says fresh blood and his squad's new-found belief are the factors behind his side's impressive renaissance.

"We've signed a few new players in the past three or four weeks, who have obviously made a difference," he said. "That's four wins in a row now, and the confidence in the players has had a great effect."

Gotham rarely threatened their opponents' goal and struggled to impress any authority on the game, especially after first-half strikes by Rory O'Connaire and Mark Pickup set Stables on their way to a precious three points that draws them to within four points of a clutch of teams that are neck-and-neck in the middle of the table.

A surface devoid of much grass in an open location exposed to every breath of a fierce wind put paid to any silky football in either half of the contest, but it didn't stop Stables emphatically reinforcing their superiority in the second period.

Ross Gibson and Pickup both spurned gilt-edged chances early on after the restart, but a five-goal salvo within the final 25 minutes was sparked by a superb strike by Robert Letham.

The No.9 took a forward pass in his stride and shielded the ball from two defenders en route to goal, before firing a low strike into the left-hand corner. Gotham goalkeeper Mark Atkinson would have been particularly frustrated at the errors committed by his defence in the lead-up to the goal, especially as his day-job is one that concentrates on eradicating mistakes.

Atkinson was remarkably one of three Evening News employees who lined up for the fixture, the others being fellow sub-editor, and team mate, David Lewis, and page designer Steven Chisholm of Stables.

Five minutes later, more defensive dallying led to Stables' fourth of the game, as Gotham's Stephen Read failed to protect the ball in his own penalty area, refusing to clear it to safety, and allowing Pickup to steal possession and net easily. In the last ten minutes, a hat-trick of Stables' strikes added some gloss to an already foregone result.

Firstly, Robert Letham cut across the edge of the penalty area from the left and unleashed a sweet strike into the top right-hand corner of Atkinson's net.

Then, Letham's father, and the team's manager, George, freshly on as a substitute, turned the ball in from close range as the ball fell to him after a corner from the left.

With Gotham downcast and a rampant Stables seemingly able to score at will, Pickup completed his hat-trick and notched his side's seventh goal of the game by ghosting behind a sparse City backline and latching on to Robert Letham's clever through-ball and winning the subsequent one-on-one duel.

Stables: Gavin Barclay, James Archibald, Chris Shaw, David Barclay, Tony Ward, Steven McIver, Rory O'Connaire, Ross Gibson, Robert Letham, Neil McGlade, Mark Pickup, George Letham, Steven Chisholm, Derek Brown.

Gotham City: Mark Atkinson, Stephen Read, Harry Kolinsky, Paddy O'Dwyer, Nigel Green, David Lewis, John Patterson, Sean Oswald, Christopher Mason, Kevin Block, Alastair Houston, Douglas Mackenzie, Nathan Peckham.