ANDOVER Lions moved three points clear at the top the Hampshire Premier League Division One after romping to a 5-1 home victory over Lyndhurst.

The Lions, who have won all seven of their opening games, went into the match full of confidence following on from their record breaking 15-1 cup victory over their opponents just a fortnight before.

And Lyndhurst looked likely to suffer a similar fate once again after Tommy Stinger scored for the Lions in the opening minute of the game.

The midfielder found space inside the box and easily drilled the ball past West to give his side a very early advantage.

Lions continued to dominate and Kris Hudson could have doubled their lead after he shot wide from a Darren Paris cross.

However, Zach Neve made no mistake with his opportunity two minutes later, finishing off an excellent move by the Lions to make it 2-0.

Lyndhurst began to create opportunities and pulled one back on the half hour mark when Paris was adjudged to have handled in the box, with the penalty calmly fired into Lions goalkeeper Dan Magee rises high to claim the ball from a cross the top corner by Chapman.

Lyndhurst grew in confidence and looked likely to equalise but Lions crucially netted their third with two minutes left in the half.

Stringer won the ball from a goal kick and played Lock through, only for the striker to unselfishly lay off the ball to Hudson who finished from the edge of the area.

Lions manager John Smith replaced Ryan Steele with Jamie Pollard at the break, moving Alex Wright into the back four.

However Lyndhurst came out fighting and the game became increasingly end-to-end as both teams pushed forward.

Lock forced West into a diving save on 54 minutes after an inventive lob from Jazz Beavis released the striker.

Goalkeeper Dan Magee was also involved and was dominant in the air as Lyndhurst hit several high balls into the box and on 80 minutes made a crucial save low down to his right hand side.

The save proved crucial for Lions who killed off the game on 88 minutes through Lock before Neve got his second in the dying seconds to wrap up the scoring at 5-1.

Lions Club secretary Chris Paris said: “We were never going to repeat the scoreline today from the cup match.

“Lyndhurst came here to play for their pride and battled very hard.

“Credit to them for coming here and making a game of it.”

After the match, the Lions were greeted with the news that the league officials had awarded them three points for their postponed match against Broughton.

The result means Lions now sit three points clear of nearest rivals Hayling Island after six games.