DELIGHTED Dudley Sports threw themselves a huge relegation lifeline when they pulled off a comprehensive 5-2 win at fellow strugglers Wellington Amateurs.

Leading marksman Stuart Hillman led the Sports scoring spree with a hat-trick while recent signing Richard Nicholson and Curtis Cocking also converted to seal the points.

Sports boss Tony Gore was under no illusions about the importance of the result at Wellington and said: "It was a 'must-win' game for us. We went to Wellington eight points behind them. Had we lost, it would have been 11, but instead we've closed the gap on them to just five points with four games in hand and suddenly the picture looks a great deal brighter.

"The games in hand are now crucial to us and we have to make them count.

"I sensed that when we arrived at Wellington, they thought they'd only got to turn up and win - but we shocked them.

"Now they'll be looking over their shoulder and we need to start putting pressure on them, to see how they react!"

Gore points to a recent influx of new players for the sudden upturn in form.

He has captured full backs Joe Bevan from Old Wulfs and Aaron Gordon who was recently with Wrens Nest.

Richard Nicholson has also arrived at Hillcrest Avenue and made an impact up front while Gore has also added Jake Fairhurst from local rivals Dudley Town together with Jason Wood who has been recruited from local Sunday football.

With Josh Taylor also returning to the fray from injury, Gore suddenly has plenty of players to select from and added: "It's amazing when things start picking up, that everyone suddenly becomes available again. Injuries heal up more quickly while holiday and working commitments are put to one side.

"But that said, we were spot on at Wellington Amateurs and won the game convincingly."

Sports travel to Cradley Town on January 3 for a West Midlands League Cup match before travelling to face top of the table Shrewsbury based side Haughmond on January 7.