AFC Sudbury manager, Mark Morsley, was delighted with the professional manner in which his young side went about over-powering hosts Basildon United in a comfortable 4-0 victory.

In fact, the four-goal margin could have been far greater as the visitors peppered the target with shots galore in a very one-sided first period.

“We won the game in the first half,” said Morsley, whose side were 3-0 up at the break.

“For me, the pleasing thing was that we have kind of struggled to come to places like this and get wins, be solid and take our chances, but it was different today.

“Obviously we lost away at Brentwood and we lost away at Barking, but today we had more about us on what was a very difficult pitch.

“We scored four goals and we could have scored 10.

“Their keeper (Josh Strizovic) made some good saves. He’s a young lad they brought in today who made four or five great saves.

“But I felt that we defended well, the back-line was good. We were lucky that we able to bring in Baris Altintop and Joe Grimwood, who obviously played in our under-18s – they looked very comfortable.

“And I thought that Ben Hammett had a very good game for us. Ben is another lad who has come through the academy and who we are looking towards next season.

“So it was a good day for the club, and for the youngsters.

“We were hard to break down, and any football that was played, was played by us. We broke well, and countered. We can play that way, and this was hopefully a step forward for us,” added Morsley.

AFC face a sterner test tomorrow, when they entertain promotion-chasing Maldon & Tiptree, who are third in the table.

“Tuesday will be a very tough game, but we are really looking forward to it,” said Morsley. “We will test ourselves against one of the best teams in the league, and certainly technically they are one of the best sides. But they will be on our 3G pitch, which will be interesting to see.

“We have picked up some injuries. Billy Holland picked up a nasty knee injury so he won’t be playing on Tuesday, and Joe Whight is not fit.

“However, this result and performance is something to build on. It should be a confidence booster.”