DAVE Turner has urged his Wootton Bassett players to keep their feet on the ground after their 5-1 victory at New College took them joint top of the league.

Prolific leading scorer Mark Barnes scored a hat-trick, while Aaron Daunton and Tom Dingle each scored once to move Bassett level with Brimscombe and Thrupp at the top of Division One West.

Turner was proud of his players’ performance, but was keen to remind them there is still a long way to go even though they have a game in hand.

“It is early days yet, but the boys are playing well and we are producing some good football.

“College play a lot of good football, and I have a lot of time for them, the way they play, and the way they do things over there.

“But we fully deserved to win and we possibly could have had a few more, but I am not going to complain after winning 5- 1 because it was a good day at the office.

“We say to the lads every week that we are not looking further than one game ahead, and all we want is the same performance they put in the previous week.

“That was the message yesterday, and if we do it we will get what we deserve.

“We have been playing catch-up because we have had good cup runs, but it has been a good start to the season.

“But that is all it is, a good start, and it is my job to keep their feet on the ground and churn out the results.”

Barnes’ hat-trick moved him on to 23 for the season, but Turner was keen to stress the Bassett success is far more than just a one-man show.

“He is playing really well and is doing what he does best, and I can’t speak highly enough of him because he has been sensational,” he said.

“As much as he is scoring, we are also creating a lot of chances for him, so a lot of the credit has to go to the rest of the players too.

“Over the last five years we have always made a lot of chances, and I have said if we can get a natural finisher we could be a top three side, and we have that now.

“The last time we had that we had Sam Collier, and a similar thing happened to us and we were successful.

“We have the second-best defensive performance in the league too, so all in all it is a good combination.”