A Kyle Belmonte hattrick helped Worcester City to a comprehensive 5-0 win against Grantham Town at Claines Lane in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division.

City made the perfect start to the game, keeping the ball alive from a throw in before Kyle Belmonte played a great ball to the onrushing Adam Mace who put a fantastic cross into the box for Felix Miles to volley home to open the scoring in the 1st minute.

Following the goal, Grantham were happy to keep the ball in the air and take their time from set pieces to take the sting out of the game.

A feature of the first half was Worcester playing direct balls in behind the Grantham defence, with their goalkeeper Curtis Hall often rushing out to claim or clear the ball. This backfired in the 23rd minute as Hall was late to a ball, causing him to hit a clearance off a Grantham defender with Kyle Belmonte picking up the rebound and slotting the ball into an empty net for 2-0.

Claines Lane briefly celebrated a third in the 36th minute when the ball was put right on top of the Grantham keeper from a corner, with the ball coming off a mass of bodies and going in, however the referee had signalled for a foul on the goalkeeper.

City weren’t left to rue this decision as in the 43rd minute Adam Mace played a long ball into the box from a free kick, with Zac Guinan holding off his man excellently and knocking the ball down for Kyle Belmonte to rifle into the net for 3-0.

It was 4-0 before the end of the half, with Zac Guinan going from creator to scorer in the 45th minute by getting a brilliant header to a whipped cross from Adam Mace on the left.

Grantham came out aggressively at the start of the second half and were able to maintain pressure through a series of set pieces. One of Grantham’s best opportunities came in the 52nd minute, with a Freddie Allen free-kick deflecting off the wall and pulling a great fingertip save from Haydn Whitcombe.

City largely controlled the rest of the second half before substitute Dylan Hart robbed Grantham defender Adedapo Adelekan of the ball and was brought down in the box for a penalty in the 80th minute.

Kyle Belmonte stepped up and powered the ball into the net to complete his hat-trick and make it 5-0 to the Blue and Whites.

That huge win moves City in to second place in the division above Corby Town for now. They travel to Anstey Nomads for their last game before Christmas next Saturday.

Match report by Sam Thomas