Barking & EH Utd 0
Bishops Stortford 4
(Ryman League division one)
THE BLUES put the disappointment of their midweek cup exit behind them as they romped to a 4-0 victory over Barking & East Ham United at Mayesbrook Park on Saturday.
Striker Vinnie John helped himself to a hat-trick as Stortford took full advantage of a red card to Barking's Christian McCann.
Manager Martin Hayes said: "It will be good to get a run together now to set us up for where we want to be at the end of the season."
The visitors started the game brightly and got their reward in the 12th minute.
Troy Braham was brought down in the box by former Blues keeper Jason White and Vinnie John fired the resulting penalty into the roof of the net.
Paul Kyriacou and John both had chances to double the lead but a scrappy first half ended with just one goal separating the teams.
Ten minutes into the second half, McCann was sent off after a scrap with Kyriacou which saw the Stortford player booked.
The Woodside Park outfit pressed forward and Phil Gridelet scored his first goal for the club on 60 minutes.
The home side rallied briefly with Maskell's free-kick hitting the crossbar and Micky Desborough being forced to make a great save to protect the clean sheet.
John, who has continued where he left off last season as one of the division's most-feared strikers, completed his hat-trick with goals in the 78th and 90th minutes to give the Blues their first away win of the season.
Although he was pleased by the result, Hayes feels there is much more to come from his team.
He said: "It was nice to win 4-0 but we didn't play well at all.
"After they had a man sent off, we didn't play like we had a one-man advantage.
"We have played better in games this season when we have drawn or lost.
"It has at least given us a positive goal difference."
Last Tuesday saw an early exit in the AXA FA Cup for the Blues as they lost 1-0 to Northwood in a preliminary round replay at Woodside Park .
Stortford Reserves travelled to Harrow Borough last Wednesday and came away with a 1-0 win.
They got off to a winning start in their Capital League campaign thanks to an 88th minute winner from Warren Strutt.
There were excellent performances from Andrew Denney, Owen Beale and Ryland Mynott against a Harrow side who finished third in the league last season.
The best chance of the first half fell to Dominic Gentle who could not convert the rebound after Beale's jinking run ended with a shot which bounced against the post.
Blues continued to look dangerous after the break and got their reward when substitute Strutt finished off a neat passing move by curling the ball over the Harrow keeper from 25 yards out.
The reserves play their first home match in the Capital League tomorrow (Thursday) evening against Havant & Waterlooville at Woodside Park, kick-off 7.45pm.
The firsts are out of action on Saturday because of their Cup exit but next Tuesday (September 18) they play host to Wealdstone, kick-off 7.45pm.
STORTFORD: Desborough, Risley, Riches, Taylor (sub: Langer 46min), Gridelet (sub: Fannon 74), Kyriacou, Wolf, Moody, John, Gentle (sub: Hayes 69), Braham
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