ETHAN MEADOWS scored a hat-trick as Rugby Borough cruised to a 6-0 win against Friar Lane and Epworth to maintain their promotion charge.
Meadows put Borough into a two-nil lead before completing his treble after the break with Brad Harris, Dale Linton and Halim Halim also on target at Kilsby Lane.
The result means Rugby sit second in the Leicestershire Senior League Premier Division table, one point behind Allexton and New Parks with five games in-hand.
Borough took the lead on 10 minutes when Meadows pounced on a poor back pass before chipping the goalkeeper.
And Meadows doubled his tally for the game on 20 minutes when he planted a header in the corner after Halim’s corner was headed back into the box by Lewis Commins.
Rugby had their third goal on the half hour mark when Brad Harris found the roof of the net from Tommy Glasscoe’s pass.
And it was more of the same for Rugby after the break when Linton picked out the top corner from Lee Thomas’s quick throw-in.
Meadows then completed his hat-trick on 70 minutes when the Friar goalkeeper played the ball straight to the Borough man who duly fired is straight back into the empty net.
And Halim finished the rout when he broke through the Friar defence before firing into the corner.
Borough are next in action at home to Glenfield United on Saturday, February 19 with kick-off at 2pm at Kilsby Lane.
And Rugby also learned their opponents in the semi-finals of the Birmingham Vase with Borough set to take on Midland Football League Second Division side Cadbury Athletic with the tie scheduled for Saturday, March 19 at 2pm at Kilsby Lane.
Elsewhere, Borough’s Reserves won 2-0 away at St Andrews Reserves thanks to first-half goals from Josh Turton and Adam Roberts
The result leaves Borough in third place in the Leicestershire Senior League Division Two table after securing a third win from their last four matches.
Rugby went ahead when Turton headed home from Addie Thomas’s free-kick before Roberts tapped home Borough’s second after the former proved a nuisance to the St Andrews defence.
The wind played havoc for both teams and forced the Borough goalkeeper to tip a wind-assisted cross onto the bar.
Turton then struck the crossbar at the other end before Kyle Locklin saw an effort cleared off the line and captain Tom Ford hit the post.
And Rugby’s Reserves welcome St Andrews to Kilsby Lane in their next fixture on Saturday, February 26 with three games remaining in the season.
