FCUoM 8 - 0 Squire's Gate

PERHAPS the only result in doubt during today's game would be who would take home the matchball - four-goal hero Rory Patterson or strike partner Stuart Rudd, who himself netted a hat-trick before debutante Danny Shannon rounded things off.
Going one better than Simon Carden's sixth-minute opener on Wednesday night, it took Patterson just five minutes to put the reds ahead against a team who had already shopped 29 goals in 12 previous league games.
Not to be outdone, Rudd joined the Irishman on the scoresheet 10 minutes later before Patterson made it three just before the half-hour mark.
And wrapping up a satisfactory opening half, Patterson added another two goals before the break to take his season tally to 14.
With the match settled at 5-0 by the time the second half got underway, winger Jamie Pheonix got a run out before Nick Platt made his second appearance from the bench in a week and Shannon also came on to make his first appearance for FC.
To Squires Gate's credit, they did come out with some attacking force after the break, but looked vulnerable at the back, with Patterson and Rudd being denied one-on-ones due by the linesman's flag on several occasions.
Rudd got his second goal of the game on 48 minutes after he latched onto a bread-and-butter through ball and finished cooly past visiting 'keeper Peter Summerfield.
Squires Gate went a further 31 minutes without conceded again, and themselves tested Sam Ashton with two shots blazing across goal, but just wide of the mark.
And when United's seventh goal did arrive, the 3,278 spectators inside Gigg Lane were a little perplexed - none more so than Summerfield himself.
An injury to Patterson made the referee stop the game and when the Squires Gate stopper threw the ball down the re-start play, Rudd gained control and calmly walked into the net.
But as far as outright skill is concerned, the second-half highlight came with just four minutes left on the clock when Rhodri Giggs brought an impressive cross-field ball under control and produced a stunning cross to pick out Shannon, who headed in powerfully for 8-0.