Daisy Hill extended their unbeaten run to seven games with a convincing 5-0 win at Skelmersdale United in the North West Counties League First Division North on Tuesday night.

Leading by a Charlie Roberts goal at the break, Daisy turned on the style in the second half, with a double from Luke Nicholls and goals from Liam Sheppard and Fin Stafford wrapping up what was eventually a convincing win.

However, Skelmersdale United belied their bottom of the league position with a first-half performance that had Daisy on the back foot at times, a point that was not lost on assistant manager, Jack Iley, after the game.

“Our second-half performance was definitely much better than the first half,” admitted Iley.

“In the first half we struggled to cope with their physicality and their set-pieces, they had a good long throw and were good from corners.

“We couldn’t get to grips with it, and we didn’t create much going forward either. We got into some good areas at times, but the final ball just wasn’t there.

“We could easily have gone in at half time 3-1 down. They had one clear header from a corner and Morgan (Newns, Daisy goalkeeper) made a couple of good saves from scraps in the box.

“So it could have been a different story at half time, but thankfully in the second half it was like watching a different team, and we came out well on top.

“We moved the ball quickly, and to go on and score four more goals in the second half, you have to be very happy with that.

“The four goals were very good goals, and they came from moves we have been working on in training, so we are very pleased with that.

“They were different types of goals, too, and it’s good to see them coming off.

“One came from one of their corners, where we broke quickly and made the right decisions to create the chance.

“We missed a penalty too, so we should really have had another one.

“But it’s a good result, it’s a 5-0 win away from home and a clean sheet, and we’ll take it and move on to Saturday.”

In a lively start to the game, Skelmersdale created a couple of good chances in the opening minutes, while Nicholls brought a good save out of home keeper Joe Draper, before Kaiden Barlow blasted a shot over.

Daisy took the lead in the ninth minute when Charlie Roberts curled a left-wing corner into the box, and the ball evaded attackers and defenders alike before sneaking into the net inside the far post.

The remainder of the half saw the home side enjoy the better of the territory and possession, but after the break, Daisy dominated right from the start.

And they put the game out of reach with three goals in the space of five minutes.

They doubled their advantage on the hour mark, and the architect was Sheppard, who pounced on a loose pass and raced into the box before squaring to Nicholls who had the simple task of side-footing home.

Two minutes later, a neat move brought the third goal, with Dodd winning the ball in midfield and playing a neat pass to Nicholls, whose through ball played Sheppard in on goal, and he gave the keeper no chance.

On 65 minutes it was 4-0, Daisy skipper O’Brien racing down the left before driving low into the box for Nicholls to score.

With 13 minutes remaining Daisy were presented with an opportunity for a fifth goal, when the referee awarded a penalty after a challenge on Stafford. Barlow took the spot kick but was denied by a fine double save from the keeper, before the ball was cleared.

However, Daisy did get a fifth a minute from time, Stafford beating the keeper with an angled drive into the far corner.

Daisy are back in action in the North West Counties League First Division North on Saturday when they travel to face Nelson.