A HAT-TRICK from Allan Dorrian helped Upton AA to an emphatic 5-1 home victory over Mallaby.

A promising start from the visitors was rewarded after 15 minutes when Joe Ormerod latched onto a neat pass from Shaun Finch before slotting home.

The hosts doubled their advantage when Dorrian powered home a header, before Stephen Rowlands fired home on 40 minutes.

There was no respite for Mallaby after the break as two neat finishes in quick succession from Dorrian saw the Upton striker round off his treble before the hour mark.

A late Stephen Rowlands effort earned the visitors a late consolation goal, with Reid insisting his side had ‘switched off’ in the closing stages.

He said: “It would have been nice to keep a clean sheet, obviously, but it felt like we took our foot off the gas when were 5-0 up. But it’s a really good three ponts for us and I thought we played some really impressive football at times.

“Maybe we could have put the game to bed sooner, but I can’t be too critical after such a positive result and hopefully this can kick-start our season now.”

Chester Nomads were beaten at home for the first time this season in a 3-1 reverse to Heswall.

Haydn Cooper and Jack Horricks put Heswall in control before Jack Delgado reduced the arrears.

Pushing forward in pursuit of a leveller, Nomads were caught out in injury-time when Greg Stones netted for Heswall to put the result beyond doubt.

Nomads skipper Dan Delagado had no complaints about the result, saying: “It was a fair result because we started too started slowly and were two-nil down inside 25 minutes.

“We came into the game more in the second half but we just weren’t able to convert our chances.

Vauxhall Motors’ 4-2 win at Newton lifted them to within four points of leaders South Liverpool, while Redgate Rovers were held to a 1-1 draw by West Kirby.

Chester Nomads Reserves fell at the first hurdle in the Division Three Shield as they were beaten 6-0 at Mersey Royal.