Kendal Town...............5 Rossendale United....1 BOTTOM of the table Rossendale United had no answer to the experienced campaigners at the heart of the new-look Kendal Town side and the five goals could just as easily have been ten.

That being the case, this was by no means a flawless performance and, although potent, the Kendal attack will not find the going so easy against the better sides in the league.

Town took the lead on five minutes, Lee Ashcroft's corner kick being headed onto the foot of the post by Nigel Taylor with David Foster on hand to tap in the rebound.

Rossendale quickly cancelled out that lead when Jamie Dalton took advantage of right-back Paul Rigby's failure to make a challenge, raced along the bye-line and pulled the ball back for Ian Barker to fire into the net from 10 yards.

Apart from that flurry Rossendale had little to offer and on 20 minutes Ashcroft restored Town's lead with the goal of the game, unleashing a 30-yard drive into the top left corner of the Rossendale net.

Nine minutes later it was the turn of Ricky Mercer. He intercepted a lax Rossendale pass near the halfway line and raced straight through the centre of the defence to score with a quality shot from just outside the box.

In a rain-lashed second half rampant Kendal squandered chance after chance before a long cross from left to right by midfielder Mike Jack saw Foster race in, steal the ball as keeper Paul Eatock and defender Phil Lockett hesitated, and slide it into the empty net.

Foster was denied his hat-trick as he was substituted for Peter Smith, who came on for a cameo on the right wing, repeatedly bamboozling the tired defence and delivering numerous dangerous crosses.

Eventually one such delivery sealed the game, Jack blasting it goalwards and left-back Paul McMenemy appearing from nowhere to chest the beaten out shot over the line for goal number five.

How they rated: Thornley 8; Rigby 5 (Woodruffe 6 from 75 mins), Whittal-Williams 7, Taylor 7, McMenemy 8; Ashcroft 8 (Burrow 6 from 83mins), Mercer 8, McKenna 7, Jack 6; Mayers 8, Foster 8 (Smith 8 from 63mins).