A BREATHLESS display saw Newton Abbot Spurs run riot on Saturday as they stormed to a 9-0 Peninsula League win over Torridgeside.

James Moxon bagged a hat-trick, while Toby Pullman and substitute Owen Green each netted a pair of second-half strikes. An own-goal and a Stu Morgan header piled the misery onto Torridgeside, while Spurs boss Marc Revell was on cloud nine.

‘I said a couple of weeks ago that we would smash someone soon,’ Revell said. ‘Since then we’ve beaten Cullompton [Rangers] 6-0 and these guys 9-0.

’It’s nice to get the fruits a little bit sometimes and the rewards for the efforts. We dominated against Ivybridge [Town], we dominated against Brixham and we didn’t get the points from it, so it’s nice for the lads to get this and they were thoroughly professional to go ahead and score six in the second half.’

Spurs started brightly in the treacherous conditions and weathered the storm to take the lead on 16 minutes. Left-back Jaden Bond – who had a magnificent game – fired a spellbinding cross from wide on the flank and talismanic striker Moxon was the beneficiary as he snuck away from his marker and steered home a free header.

‘[Torridgeside] didn’t fancy it,’ Revell explained. ‘I always say that most games are won by half-time, even more so in the first 20 minutes.

‘I said to the lads to come out of the traps quick and we’ll put the game to bed with a good first 15 minutes and it’ll be a drubbing – and it was.’

The hosts looked faster and fitter than the claret-clad guests, and their liveliness again paid dividends just shy of the half-hour mark. After winning a right-sided corner for Spurs, Moxon offered himself as the short option, which Pullman made use of. Moxon swivelled as he received the ball and curled a sumptuous effort into the stanchion behind the far post.

There was still time for Newton to net another before the break. With Torridgeside out of shape following a rare venture into the hosts’ box, a wild shot was picked up and carried forward by the Spurs cavalry. A shot came in from Moxon and, in a crowd of bodies, the ball was turned in by a Torridgeside defender.

‘It’s really frustrating when you watch a game that is three-or-four-nil at half-time and it finishes 4-2,’ Revell said. ‘I like the lads to push on.

‘I think they were enthusiastic to keep pushing on because they played so well today from minute one and looked after the ball. On the game management side of things, the goals come – I always say that to them. If you keep playing, the goals will come – you don’t have to force goals.’

And the goals certainly did come. Moxon sealed his treble in the 64th minute, when Morgan’s cross somehow squeezed through the penalty area and found his strike partner at the back post. Moxon bundled home with the goalkeeper stranded.

It was to be Moxon’s last action of the game, as he made way for fellow forward Green once the celebrations had subsided.

The substitute wrote his name on the scoresheet moments after coming on. Newton quickly robbed the visitors of possession from kick-off and tore the defence open with a mouth-watering passing move. Green made a run through the centre and received the ball as he reached the edge of the box. Inevitably, the pass came in from the right and Green converted with aplomb.

A relatively quiet period of 15 minutes elapsed before Spurs scored their sixth on 80 minutes. Pullman, wide on the right, whipped a cross in for Green in the centre of the penalty area. The initial snapshot was saved well, but Green reacted first to the rebound and poked home his second of the afternoon.

‘It’s unbelievable [to have that depth] because I play a front three,’ Revell explained. ‘I’ve got four strikers and that keeps them on their toes. Nobody sits out for too long; I don’t have a ‘best three’ out of that four.

‘Owen didn’t score at Sidmouth [Town] and he hasn’t done much in the last few games but I said to him to keep persevering and if he got a chance to take it and [Green scoring off the bench] just shows the strength that we’ve got.’

Pullman finally got a goal for himself with nine minutes to play. The versatile forward had played a significant role in providing much of the threat that Spurs posed and bagged his first goal in three games with a cross-cum-shot from deep on the left that dropped into the netting behind the far post.

Three minutes later, Pullman chalked up his second of the afternoon and tenth of the season. Substitute Nick Rudge had a chance to try his luck with a shot from the edge of the box, but instead elected to slide a clever ball through for Pullman on the right. The winger cut inside and made no mistake in slamming a low shot into the bottom-left corner.

Newton’s ruthlessness yielded its ninth and final goal on 86 minutes, when a looping cross found the head of Morgan. The forward’s calm header crept into the bottom-right corner to round off a fruitful day at the office for Newton Spurs.

The win sees Newton up to sixth, with the promotion spots just five points away. Their next league action sees the visit of high-flying Crediton United.