1874’s unbeaten run in the North West Counties continued after Saturday's 4-0 win over Hanley Town.

The game saw 1874 not particularly challenged by a young Hanley side as the league leaders put in a dominant performance to secure the victory.

1874 saw four different scorers as Scott McGowan, Jake Parker, Lee Knight and Stuart Wellstead put the Greens seven points clear at the top of the table.

> 1874's adaptability shines through in Hanley victory

The game began with an extremely fast and dominant start from 1874 as Scott McGowan put them ahead with a well-timed volley inside the penalty area which beat Dominic Kurasik at his near post.

Soon after, 1874 had another flurry of chances to double their advantage.

Lucas Weir came close through two efforts one from 20 yards out which was pushed round the post by Kurasik and he nearly doubled the advantage moments later as his shot was cleared off the line in an excellent piece of last-ditch defending.

Shortly after, however, Hanley came close to getting an equaliser as a superb free kick from Timothy Sanders rattled the crossbar from 30 yards out and thankfully, Matt Woolley managed to clear to safety.

The rest of the half saw ‘74 dominate proceedings – they could not find a second goal but came closest through an audacious overhead kick from left back Jack Tinning, which just looped over the bar to keep the score 1-0 at the break.

By Paul Bowyer’s own admission, he gave the lads “a bit of a rocket” at half time and it clearly paid off as ‘74 made a fantastic start to the half, getting that much deserved second goal.

After several mis-hit goal kicks by Kurasik, the ball fell to Parker just outside the penalty area and even though his initial effort was saved by the keeper, Parker was on hand to tap the ball home.

Shortly after, 1874 had a third – another poorly hit kick found Knight, who managed to take it round one defender before smashing the ball into the roof of the net to put the game out of sight.

The rest of the half followed very much like the first, with ‘74 scoring early and then dominating the remainder of the half and looking good value for the lead

A much-changed back four for ‘74 put in an excellent defensive display, nullifying any sort of chance from the experienced Chris Budrys.

However, before the final whistle, 1874 managed to make it four.

Wellstead rounded off a good passage of play and cut past his man as he slammed the ball home bringing the three points back to Cheshire after a confident performance in the Potteries.