Bilston Town Reserves 0, Malvern Rangers 5.

LEADERS Malvern Rangers need just a point tomorrow from their top-of-the-table clash at second-placed St Martins for the West Midlands League Division Two title after comprehensively beating Bilston Town Reserves.

Rangers travelled to the Black Country for their penultimate fixture of the season and hammered a young and plucky Bilston side.

The visitors dominated from the first whistle and created a host of chances without scoring.

David Lawrence missed a header two yards out and Ed Lyons lost out to a defender when through on goal.

Paul Edwards fired wide twice and Lee Hooper’s shot was deflected for a corner.

Another six or seven chances went begging before Dave Reynolds’ corner was met on the full by skipper Hooper who headed home for the opener.

Reynolds had a great all-round game and, when he rushed a defender into a quick clearance, the ball fell to James Argent and his shot went inches wide.

With 34 minutes played, Lawrence crossed from the byline and Hooper tapped home at the far post.

The game was so one-sided that it took 40 minutes for keeper Ian Hill to touch the ball, collecting an easy 35-yard shot by the hosts.

Just before the break Hooper scored twice more, heading home another Reynolds corner and then when he followed up Argent’s shot, tapping home for a personal tally of four for the afternoon.

Early in the second-half Bryan Craven put Argent through and, having found the back of the net, his effort was ruled out for offside.

Reynolds could have earned a penalty for his side when he was brought down from behind in the box, but refusing to go down, he lost his balance and hit the side-netting.

Craven and Rob Cullen combined well to test the keeper, and then efforts from Joe Endacott and Hooper almost added to the score.

Anthony Smith and Craven both tried to chip the keeper in quick succession, but goal-line clearances denied them.

The final goal came on 85 minutes when Lyons crossed for Craven who slotted home.

Moving back to the top of the league was some consolation for losing out to Tenbury United 2-0 in the West Midlands League Cup semi-final second leg in their previous game.