WINDERMERE Men comfortably beat Northern 3rds (from Liverpool) to climb up to third place in North West Division 8 North, but their 5-0 winning margin could have been much bigger if they had stuck to their first half game plan.

Mark Hartnett fired Windermere into the lead after just six minutes when he finished a superb cross from man-of-the-match Sam Crompton on the right wing. Then Steve Heyns threaded a ball into the D for Gary Garside to nutmeg' the advancing goalkeeper for his side's second goal.

By now Northern were defending deeply and even then were struggling to get the ball clear as Dave Spiby, Heyns, Scott Santamera and Crompton linked well to keep up the pressure. Crompton increased Windermere's lead when he found himself in space and drove forward before hitting an unstoppable shot.

Then Windermere began to abandon their passing game and Heyns ended an even spell just before half-time when he made it 4-0 with a well-struck short corner ball into a strangely undefended bottom left-hand corner of the goal.

A combination of Northern pushing higher up the pitch, and Windermere's reluctance to pass the ball around, made the second half a more even affair, but Ed Waterhouse added a fifth goal with the last play of the match, a short corner again driven into the bottom left-hand corner, to emphasise the real gulf in class between the sides.

n Elsewhere, Glaxo beat West Cumbria 3-2 at Ulverston in an obviously tight' derby encounter to move up to second place in NW Division 3. Only goal difference is keeping them from top spot.

Glaxo 2nds are in mid table in Division 7 North after going down 6-2 at Didsbury Northern.