THEY say there's no easy games - especially in cup finals - but Eastwood Town may beg to differ after they coasted to Senior Cup glory on Wednesday night.

Matt Rhead scored twice in the space of five first-half minutes as The Badgers claimed their third success in this competition in three years.

Eastwood hardly needed to get out of second gear as Ollerton struggled to make an impact against opponents from five divisions above them.

And the signs were bleak early on as Eastwood created two clear cut chances in the opening four minutes.

First, Rhead saw a close range effort saved after Ollerton got in a mess at the back, then Danny Brooks fired a ball forward that bamboozled a central defender and set Ricky Hanson through on goal, but his shot was saved by the legs of goalkeeper Shaun Morris.

A lull then fell over Meadow Lane as both sides adjusted to the bigger, if somewhat less atmospheric, surroundings than they might be used to, but Rhead was soon ready to administer the first blow.

On 18 minutes, left-back Chris Shaw, whose sat-nav had seemingly broken resulting in him appearing on the right hand side for a moment, released Hanson down the flank with a lesser-seen 'over the shoulder' through ball.

Hanson took a touch before crossing low and finding Rhead who, despite the attentions of two defenders and keeper Morris, calmly tapped home.

Five minutes later Rhead was on hand again to put the game beyond any doubt.

Brooks' free-kick from the right wasn't cleared properly by the Ollerton defence, and after Paul Mitchell knocked the ball out to Shaw, who had found his way back to familiar territory on the left, he threaded a pass to Rhead who fired a powerful left-foot shot through the legs of Morris and high into the net.

It remained one-way traffic for most of the game, Ollerton's best moment coming when Ashley Grayson got free and saw his shot deflected into the side netting just before half-time.

Paul Mitchell nearly scored before the break too when he broke into the six-yard box but a swarm of Ollerton defenders contrived to block any shot he might have been able to muster.

The second-half was a similar story to the first, with Eastwood hardly breaking sweat as they looked for a third.

Lindon Meikle was his usual hyperactive self, but saw his best effort fly over the bar after a mistake by Tony Buchanan let him in.

Rhead saw a volley fly wide and Brooks threw himself headlong at a cross from Meikle but his effort was well saved by Morris.

Mitchell headed Hanson's cross over before the end, but that was that and Eastwood had finished their fine season on a comfortable winning note.



Eastwood: Deakin, Hanson, Shaw, Cooper, Screaton, Mathews, Breach, Mitchell, Rhead (Howell 68), L Meikle (Smith 68), Brooks. Subs not used: D Meikle, Stevenson, Swinscoe. Ref: Mark Jones. Att: 674.