Simon Garner had to make a late change in goal, due to Andrew Dawber being recalled by Accrington Stanley. Alex Palffy replaced him. Roberto Bonaminio replaced Garner in midfield as the player boss was serving his one game suspension. James Walker moved to left midfield with Alex Ralph unavailable due to illness.

The early exchanges didn’t suggest the goal glut to follow, with Prescot having the better openings. Alex Palffy made a good save on 15 minutes from former Blue, Mason Ryan.

James Walker had two good chances on 23 and 25 minutes. The first after Sefton Gonzales ran in to the box and laid it back for James to blast it wide. The second was closer, when his shot from the edge of the box just went past the post.

Prescot almost took the lead in bizarre circumstances when Danny Brady attempted to head clear. The ball went back towards the goal past Palffy, but thankfully just went past the post for a corner.

On 30 minutes, Joe Evans had a good chance for Prescot, but his shot went wide.

The Blues started to impose themselves more in the game and the breakthrough came on 41 minutes. Danny Morton picked the ball up on the right flank and sent an inch perfect cross for Jason Hart to head home at the far post.

A minute into first half stoppage time, Hart scored his second when he picked up a superb through ball from Walker to slide the ball past Prescot keeper Tom Quinn.

Half time: Prescot Cables 0 Clitheroe 2

The Blues buoyed by those two goals came out firing for the second half and Roberto Bonaminio was unlucky not to make it 3-0, just 90 seconds in to the half. His powerful shot from 25 yards beat the keeper and came back off the crossbar.

Hart almost completed his hat-trick on 50 minutes when his shot hit the bottom of the post and Richard Burns couldn’t get any power in to his shot after beating two defenders.

An injury scare for Palffy on 58 minutes after he received a boot in the ribs from Prescot’s Joe Doran when both were going for a loose ball. Doran received a yellow card for the challenge. Thankfully after a couple of minutes treatment, he was fit to continue.

The returning Louis Mayers replaced Jason Hart on 64 minutes and he was in the action straight away when his shot was saved by Quinn and in the aftermath, James Walker was the man on the spot to finish it to make it 3-0.

On 70 minutes, Mayers was fouled in the box to win a penalty. After a quick discussion who was taking it, he converted the spot kick to make it 4-0.

Ryan Cattermole replaced Bonaminio on 72 minutes to give him more valuable first team experience.

The Blues kept pushing forward for more goals and the fifth came on 75 minutes. Richard Burns again ran clear into the box and calmly finished for a deserved goal for him.

Ross Wilson made his debut replacing Walker on 77 minutes.

Goal number six came on 85 minutes and a well deserved goal for Sefton Gonzales, who beat the offside trap and he finished confidently.

Prescot were awarded a penalty in stoppage time but Rob Doran’s kick came back of the crossbar, but from the rebound the ball ended up in the net only for the assistant referee to flag the Prescot player to be offside.

The final whistle was blown straight after that for the Blues first clean sheet in the league in 2014. An excellent team performance which will keep the confidence levels high for the busy Christmas period coming up.

Team line-ups:
Clitheroe: Alex Palffy, Danny Morton, Seydou Bamba, Laquan Esdaille, Danny Brady, Roberto Bonaminio (Ryan Cattermole 72), Richard Burns, David Lynch, Sefton Gonzales, Jason Hart (Louis Mayers 64), James Walker (Ross Wilson 77). Sub not used; Ross Dent.

Prescot Cables: Tom Quinn, Andy Griffiths, Jonah O’Reilly, James McCulloch, Liam Dodd, Joe Evans, Rob Doran, Phil Bannister (Sam Corlett 51), Daniel Whitehall (James Edgar 67), Jack Phillips, Mason Ryan (Oscar Durnin 51). Sub not used; Neil Prince.

Attendance 151