Excellent Hawks top of the bill after fine show

The home side ripped apart the Essex visitors with a commanding second-half performance which left the home fans singing in the rain.

Jason Prior converted two penalties as he netted a hat-trick.

And substitute Marley Ridge completed the rout late on.

This was after the Hawks went into half-time one up courtesy of a fortunate own goal.

Bradbury was delighted with the way his team didn’t allow the big powerful visitors to bully them.

They stood up to the task and then showed their superior quality on the ball.

‘It was a really good performance and pretty comprehensive in the end,’ said Bradbury.

‘That was probably our best display so far, scoring five goals and keeping a clean sheet against a side that have been on a good run.

‘We kept our discipline well and competed physically.

‘That was something that we knew that we would have to do from front to back.

‘Billericay try to bully teams with their physicality and they are good at it.

‘They try to force you to make mistakes and in the first 20 minutes I thought we played into their hands a little bit.’

It was the Hawks who got the little bit of luck needed to make the 36th minute breakthrough.

Winger Ben Swallow cut in from the right and fired in a speculative long-range shot.

Visiting goalkeeper Jack Giddens had it well covered until Alex Stephenson sliced his attempted clearance into his own net.

Sometimes you need a little bit of luck admitted Bradbury.