SWINDON Spitfires manager Barry Winslow says that the old pals’ act is the driving force behind his team’s imperious title challenge.

The Spitfires have soared all season – they’re unbeaten in all competitions and are currently nine points clear at the top of the Division One table – and their ascent shows no sign of stopping after they decimated Ramsbury 10-3 last weekend.

Mike Cox was the star of the show as he found the net six times whilst Joshua Archer, Anthony Collet, Stephen Hughes and Sean Light all also got in on the act as Winslow’s men grabbed their biggest win of the current campaign to date.

The Spitfires boss is keen to keep his players’ feet on the ground but says that their close-knit nature has been the catalyst for so many Saturday afternoons ending in delight.

“The group we’ve got this year are all mates and all play football with each other in other leagues and other places, like six-a-sides and things like that,” said Winslow.

“We’re lucky because, through the club, we can get together and train on a Tuesday at the community centre in Walcot, so the lads have got that friendship and they’re together all the time.

“Mike Cox scored six goals on the weekend, which is fantastic. He’s in training for a marathon, so he’s shed a bit of weight, so he was defending from the front and deserved to score that many.

“We were winning 5-3 at half time, so it was closer than it looked, but in the second half, we scored almost straight from the kick-off and our fitness told.”

Elsewhere, Sport 4 Pinehurst demolished Core Construction 9-0, Tom Belcher and Jonathan Peachey-Score grabbing hat-tricks, Aaron Welland netting a brace, and Jamie Watts also notching.

In the Premier Division, Avtar Construction cut the gap between themselves and table-toppers Tawny Owl to three points with a 4-0 victory over Lower Stratton.

Shield & Dagger are through to the semi-finals of the Swindon Advertiser Cup after beating Spectrum 5-3, Dave Toomey hitting a brace whilst Jonathan Coole, Ryan Gardner and Jake Johnson also got themselves on the scoresheet.