HIGHWORTH Town boss Jeff Roberts said his side totally outplayed Moneyfields after the Worthians claimed a comprehensive 5-1 success in Southern League Division One South on Saturday.

Edjidja Mbunga netted a hat-trick while Sam Morris and James Harrison also got on the scoresheet at the Save on Tyres Stadium.

After a gutsy 2-2 draw away at Evesham United last weekend, the Worthians continued where they left off and did the majority of the hard work in the first 45 minutes.

Mbunga opened his account for the afternoon after three minutes before laying the second goal on a plate for James Harrison to score on his home debut in the ninth.

Mbunga made it three midway through the first half with a well-placed strike from outside the box, but visitors Moneyfield made sure their would be no clean sheet for Roberts’ men shortly after the break.

Morris finished off a hectic period of play just after the hour to make it four and the goalscoring was finished by the man who started it – Mbunga – with 20 minutes left.

Roberts was delighted with how well his team stuck to their task on home soil while the Highworth manager said it was some of the best football his team had played this season.

“Especially in the first half, I thought we looked very lively on the attack,” said Roberts.

“Every time we went forward it looked like we were going to score.

“Our shape was superb – we looked really compact in midfield, and defensively we looked nice and strong.

“They’re quite a big, physical side anyway, but I thought our movement and our football – we just totally outplayed them.

“We could have gone in five or six nil up at half-time. I thought we had that grittiness about us, we looked composed on the ball and we were full value for the win.”

Highworth’s victory moves them up to eighth place ahead of a busy period of fixtures around Christmas.

Roberts said it was important for his young team to start building momentum as there will not be much time to work on things once the midweek fixtures begin in earnest in December.

The Worthians manager said: “We’ve got a young side and it’s just about giving them time to blend together really.

“The players are starting to get used to each other and how each other plays.

“The communication on the pitch was much better than what it has been. Players are starting to chat and organise each other.

“We’ve always said that as long as we work hard, we’ll compete with most sides in this division because we’ve got the ability in there too.”