Premier ADereham 1 Harleston Magpies 4Harleston Magpies made it a perfect ten wins since the Christmas break to take them ever nearer the play-off places.

Premier A

Dereham 1 Harleston Magpies 4

Harleston Magpies made it a perfect ten wins since the Christmas break to take them ever nearer the play-off places.

The visitors had to come from behind though after they conceded an unfortunate deflection from a short corner early on.

The Magpies fought back very quickly, with the ball being played down the right and subsequently played into a surging Tristan Baines who slotted the ball away into the bottom corner.

Magpies then deployed a lot of pressure onto the Dereham defence and managed to grab another goal when an attack down the left ended with Andy Hipwell playing a delightful reverse stick pass into Chris Barber, who turned the ball over the keeper's pads.

At 2-1 the Dereham team changed their tactics and made a half court press. This gave Magpies more time to think and another fine attack was created.

The resulting goal was a strong contender for goal of the season. Daniel Stasin got the ball on the top of the 'D', beat the keeper and fired a reverse stick shot into roof of the net.

The half ended at 3-1 with Magpies looking confident to maintain their lead and add to it in the preceding second half.

The second period started with sustained pressure from Magpies, which resulted in a few short corners. Andy Hipwell managed to convert with a powerful drag flick into the bottom corner making the final score 4-1.

With many players rested, this result proves the strength in depth of the squad.

Magpies play their last league match next Saturday against a strong Cambridge City side who managed to overthrow the champions in the fixture prior to Christmas.

Two weeks time sees Magpies take on Fareham in their first play-off game.