Eastbourne 0 Aldershot and Farnham 10: JONNY GROVES scored five times as the Shots repeated the 10-0 victory they achieved over Eastbourne earlier this season.

But despite the margin of victory, head coach Ian Jennings admitted there were elements of the performance which left him a little disappointed.

Some teams in the South East Division 1 West have used the festive break to reinforce their squads.

So Jennings knows his side can afford no let-up as they continue their bid for promotion.

“I think with what has been shown in the results is I’m right in my constant badgering for us to constantly improve,” he said.

“I am more than aware, with the experience I have, how easy it is for us to trip up, which has been the case for a lot of the teams since the restart.

“I was very keen in our team talk to set our targets and look at specific areas to improve to prepare for the harder battles ahead.

“To that end I was disappointed with elements of the performance – but was pleased we are still able to score double figures and carry on from our multi-faceted attacking options.

“However, being the ever- critical person I am, I’m disappointed in the lack of outcomes for the amount of possession we had.

“Some players were clearly not on top of their games.

“However, despite the journey we were all on time and discipled – not many other sides would commit to the small elements of improvement that get us through each game.”

There have been some surprising results since the season restarted – notably Surrey Spartans beating Brighton – but that’s nothing Jennings had not expected.

“We have no idea what the recruitment has been like over the Christmas period, with some teams picking up a couple or more key players,” he said.

“As we reiterate at the start of each game, it’s 0-0 and the opposition are always in the game until we put it beyond doubt.

“Our urgency to establish ourselves early on is crucial in our game plan as we look to take the game beyond the reach of the opposition.

“Jonny scored five goals but to me it’s instrumental that goals come from a number of different sources.

“We are starting to understand the ball can be delivered from different places – it doesn’t matter the distance it has been delivered from, it’s about being in the right place at the right time.

“We continue to work on our far-past work and this is the product of this – we missed only one chance because of this.

“For me, Phil Rushmere was our man of the match.

“He is getting his lines right, popping up now not just in goalscoring positions, and he gained confidence from his two goals.

“It’s great to have someone through from his self-induced sticky patch and come out the other side with a renewed positivity about his own individual ability and what he brings to the group.”

The Shots were bolstered in their four-hour round trip with some McDonalds-fuelled restoration on the trip to Eastbourne – and they were raring to go when the first whistle blew.

The game started in predictable fashion with lowly Eastbourne attempting long balls into the channels.

Aside from a few scares early on, these were ably covered by the defensive experience of Tom Herring and Hamish Hall, assisted by Kevin McCaffery.

Aldershot’s relentless pressure paid dividends early on with some incisive work down the right producing a tap-in for Phil Rushmere.

The midfield endeavours of Chris Boot and Joe Whelan soon carved further openings and some pinball in the D resulted in the ball falling at the feet of Jamie Weston who fired home to make it 2-0.

With Eastbourne reeling, the game continued in the same vein with openings in the Eastbourne defence appearing with increasing frequency, with multiple chances spurned by the travelling side.

However, it did not take long for Groves to finish off a flowing move to get the first of his five to make it 3-0.

More great midfield work from Perry down the left was ably supported by the two young players Dan Cryer and Jake Coombes, with the latter adding to the scoreline with a neat finish.

Groves added one more before the half-time whistle to make it 5-0 at the break in what had been a bitty performance.

Aldershot struggled to find any fluidity for much of the second half – uncharacteristic mistakes and turnover allowed Eastbourne to capitalise with a few more forays into their D.

This would never materialise into shots on goal, however, and the scoreline was added to by Stuart Morhall, who had been carving open several opportunities down the right all game.

Rushmere added his second – and the Shots’ seventh – before Groves added three more of his own.

The best of these was a smartly-taken finish whereby he floored and rounded the goalkeeper before rolling the ball into the empty net.