Wanderers comfortably disposed of Syngenta, but had to play out a scrappy second half in tricky conditions.

With Ian Griffiths unavailable, Darren Wakeley made his first start of the season on the right side of midfield.

On a poor pitch, Wanderers fell behind in the opening ten minutes as Mellor was left exposed and was beaten by a sliced shot low to his left.

Minutes later the Blues nearly fell further behind, but Dan van der Laan O'Donnell did well to clear.

The nerves were settled with an equaliser from Anthony Prior.  Darren Wakeley hit a cross from the right which was only cleared into the path of Prior who side-footed home.

Wanderers wasted little time in taking the lead as Wakeley provided another assist, this time for Tom Soane to finish with a well-placed shot.

Wakeley and Soane then linked up again and the latter crossed for a Syngenta player to divert the ball into the net for 3-1 as Wanderers started to dominate.  

The goals served as a confidence-booster to Wanderers and the quality of football improved in all areas of the pitch.  Chris Hillsdon and Chris Orbell took the opportunity to get forward and helped create further chances for Paul Martin, Soane, Prior and Tom Mansfield.

With five minutes of the half remaining, Wakeley hit in another accurate centre for Soane to sweep home Wanderers' fourth.  Then in the final attack of the half, Clint Falcus burst through and hit a low centre which ended up in the back of the net via a Syngenta defender.

At half-time Wanderers introduced Lewis Trusty, Scott Ford and Jamie Ryall in place of Falcus, Mansfield and Wakeley.

Playing uphill in the second half, Wanderers found the second half to be very different to the first.  A strong wind blowing from right-to-left also made it difficult to pass the ball with any accuracy.

Syngenta battled well in the second period and Mellor did well when called upon, despite the conditions hampering his handling.

At the other end Wanderers created chances for Martin and Soane, but the sixth goal didn't arrive.  The Blues should have had a penalty when Soane's ankles were clipped in the box, but nothing was awarded.

In the closing fifteen minutes Wanderers were grateful for the composure of Andy Corless and van der Laan O'Donnell as the Blues came under further pressure.

After two unconvincing performances before Christmas, this convincing victory sets Wanderers up well for their title assault.   Eight successive wins and eleven matches without defeat are club records which the Blues will hope to extend in the coming weeks.

TEAM: Allan Mellor, Chris Hillsdon, Andy Corless, Dan van der Laan O'Donnell, Chris Orbell, Darren Wakeley, Clint Falcus, Tom Mansfield, Anthony Prior, Paul Martin, Tom Soane.