Pinchbeck United 1 Ashby Ivanhoe 4

Sam Grouse's seven-minute hat-trick propelled Ashby to a comfortable victory at bottom side Pinchbeck.

The hosts had held Ivanhoe to a draw on the opening day, but there were no such problems for Andy Gray's side on this occasion, as Ivanhoe had the game all but sealed by half time.

The opener came on half an hour when Chris Acott drove a cross from the left into the six-yard box for the arriving Grouse to tap home from point blank range.

Acott was at the centre of the action again just two minutes later, drawing a foul in the Pinchbeck penalty area and winning a spot kick which Grouse duly converted, sending Lewis Cox the wrong way.

Now in complete control, Ivanhoe looked to put the game out of sight, and almost scored instantly from kick off as Acott's shot deflected just past the post. This proved only to be a temporary reprieve for Pinchbeck.

The hat-trick was completed just three minutes later. Following excellent attacking endeavour from Leavi Oshungbure to get forward from defence, the ball fell at Grouse's feet and after seeing his first effort saved, he slammed home for his fourth Ashby Ivanhoe hat-trick.

Ivanhoe made it four almost straight away after the break. This time Grouse was the provider as his curling cross from the left found Ash Garner's head, the midfielder guiding the ball into the far corner.

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On the hour mark, manager Gray brought off Acott and Grouse, and made a further three changes afterwards. With a busy week of fixtures ahead, squad rotation was important for Ashby.

''We want to get players on for minutes but in the back of your mind you know it will disrupt the flow. You can make five changes and implode, but the lads who came on did what was asked and that shows the strength of the group,'' said assistant manager Pete Dunn.

Pinchbeck grew into the match late on and scored a consolation goal of real quality as Oliver Fields wriggled through the Ivanhoe defence on the right and finished cooly into the far corner with ten minutes to play.

That was as tense as it got in the closing stages for Ashby who got their first victory in a week which they could end with three more. No doubt in part due to Grouse's first half heroics.

Dunn joked after the match: 'I've known Sam since he was 15 so I won't go on about his abilities, but we joked before he went out that if you don't play well, make sure you score. I guess the boy listens now and again!''

They will need Grouse to be at his best again on Tuesday night as Heanor are in town looking to repeat the nine-goal thriller when they defeated Ivanhoe in October.