GORNAL Athletic moved into third place in the West Midlands (Regional) Premier League with an excellent win over Bloxwich.

A goalless first half saw both sides scrapping for possession with the best early chances falling to Gornal.

First Dave Meese fashioned a goalscoring opportunity for himself on 19 minutes which was well saved by Bloxwich keeper Tony Simkiss and then two minutes later Chris Waterhouse connected with a Lee Wherton cross and hit the post.

The second half burst into life thanks to three goals in just four minutes from the home side as Gornal dominated possession and chances.

First, excellent work by Marvin Nisbett and Cameron Morgan helped set up Kristian Green to open the scoring on 54 minutes.

A minute later, Morgan – an early replacement for Calum Martin – took advantage of hesitation by Tony Simkiss to squeeze home from a tight angle.

And then with Bloxwich reeling, Green made it three after another unfortunate mistake by Simkiss.

As Gornal piled on the pressure, a slalom-like run by Nisbett saw him beat three men before Simkiss helped redeemed himself with an excellent save.

Nisbett did make it four on 73 minutes when a Lee Wherton corner reached veteran Pete Wood whose effort eventually fell to the pacy striker to crash home.

Dave Meese almost made it five when he picked up the ball on the halfway line, beat two Bloxwich players and shot narrowly wide from 30 yards.

Bloxwich grabbed a consolation goal on 88 minutes when Martin Lewis’ shot deflected in off a Gornal defender.

Deep into injury time, the four goal margin might have been restored but for a good save by Simkiss from a Chris Waterhouse header after a corner from Richard Young.

Gornal: James Pemberton; Richard Young; Pete Wood (Kieron Parsons, 76); Paul Henley; Chris Waterhouse (Captain); Gurdeep Wilkhoo; Dave Meese; Lee Wherton (Jake Morgan, 73); Calum Martin (Cameron Morgan, 15); Marvin Nesbitt; Kristian Green.

Bloxwich: Tony Simkiss; Steve Coyne (Andrew Worley, 57); Jon Walker; Ryan McAllister; Adam Simkiss; Lewis Perry; Carl Morris; Richard Joyce (Captain); Martin Lewis; Alan Wilkes; Karl Edwards.