Evesham Utd 5, Shepshed Dynamo 1

A FIVE-goal return made it many happy returns for United boss Phil Mullen as he celebrated his 50th birthday in style at Common Road on Tuesday night.

The Robins rattled up their biggest win of the season and made it nine goals in two home games to move back into the top ten of the Western Division.

Two goals apiece for Mark Shepherd and Wesley Joyce had the points wrapped up by half-time and the scoreline could so easily have been doubled as rampant Evesham tore the Dynamo defence to shreds.

"The front two were exceptional, enthused a delighted Mullen.

"But our best player for me was Wesley - who didn't put a foot wrong all night."

"We could have had another five or six but that's nine in two home games and it's a mini-revival that we will be looking to continue at Clevedon on Saturday."

The Common Road chief handed debuts to goalkeeper Tim Hart and full back Chris Sage and it was a shame that the former didn't celebrate his arrival with a clean sheet.

"Smudger (Andy Smith) spoiled that when he headed in the best goal of the night," Mullen added wryly.

Joyce scored in the ninth and 41st minutes, while Shepherd's first two goals for the club came after28 and 39 minutes.

Smith's reply came 18 minutes from time before Gary Barnett's 25-yarder capped a great night in the final minute.

The Evesham boss is delighted with Shepherd's influence up front and revealed his intention to keep him for the remainder of the season with a view to a permanent move next season.

Tuesday night's smashing show will leave the manager with plenty to ponder ahead of Saturday's trip down the M5 when Paul Hunter and Inderpaul Khela are both expected to be back in contention for a starting slot.

Dr Martens League Western Division

P W D L F A Pts

Merthyr 28 19 4 5 56 27 61

Bromsgrove 28 18 5 5 58 24 59

Mangotsfield 27 16 5 6 82 37 53

Weston 26 16 4 6 50 30 52

Redditch 28 14 4 10 50 28 46

Solihull 26 13 7 6 48 29 46

Gloucester 24 13 5 6 46 35 44

Gresley 26 13 5 8 43 38 44

Rugby 27 12 5 10 35 31 41

Evesham 25 12 4 9 53 44 40

Taunton 27 12 4 11 40 51 40

Sutton C 27 11 5 11 42 36 38

Cirencester 28 11 4 13 36 54 37

Cinderford 24 9 8 7 32 35 35

Clevedon 26 9 6 11 34 43 33

Atherstone 26 7 6 13 28 44 27

Bedworth 24 7 4 13 30 43 25

Stourport 28 7 4 17 32 53 25

Rocester 27 6 6 15 24 46 24

Shepshed 24 7 1 16 32 51 22

Swindon S 27 2 4 21 33 69 10

RC Warwick 23 1 6 16 20 54 9