Market Drayton Town strike five in midweek to climb back out of drop zone
Market Drayton Town roared back out of the North West Counties relegation places with a crunch Shropshire derby home success on Tuesday night.
Visitors Haughmond were put to the sword as the Gingerbread Men hit five past the Shrewsbury outfit in an entertaining 5-2 victory.
It was enough for Dan Dawson's Town to climb back above Mond having briefly slipped below their country rivals and down to second-bottom of the First Division South following defeat to another Shropshire outfit, Telford Town, on Saturday.
Two goals each for Sam Preece and Dan Holdcroft had the Greenfields hosts on their way in front of almost 200 on Tuesday night. The duo put their side 2-0 ahead and despite the visitors pulling one back before the interval, Isaac Shaw hit back for a 3-1 lead at the break.
Preece pounced for his second and Drayton's fourth immediately after the restart only for Haughmond to bag a second from the penalty spot soon after.
Holdcroft netted his second from close range with 20 minutes left to put the seal on the win and move one point above Wolverhampton Casuals and out of the drop zone.
Dawson's troops head to second-placed Stockport Georgians on Saturday.
Last weekend saw high-flying hosts Telford Town edge a controversial 1-0 win courtesy of a penalty 10 minutes from time, converted by Alex Hughes.
Dawson was unhappy with the decision as the ball struck Nick Woods' arm from close quarters via a team-mate's header.
"It was a complete 180 in terms of work ethic and effort from the lads," said a satisfied Dawson.
"We dealt with Telford superbly for 94 minutes but it came down to something out of our hands in my opinion, it will be interesting to see what the referee assessor thinks of the (penalty) decision.
"It was an absolutely wild decision in my opinion, but I can't fault the lads."
