Overton United 4 Ludgershall Sports 1

Four is the magic number for Overton - four wins should see them race to the Hampshire Two title after they blasted four goals past Ludgershall at Bridge Street on Saturday.

But despite the scoreline, the new division two leaders didn't have it all their own way, and the visitors provided some anxious moments.

After a nervy opening, Paul Chambers' side stormed into the lead from a free-kick on 10 minutes as Ludgershall keeper Andy Thompson saved the player-manager's header, only to see Rob Tyson stick it in at the back post. And from a similar dead-ball situation 10 minutes later, it was almost a carbon-copy that put the village side 2-0 up as Tim Wright followed in Adam Chambers' saved header.

Overton dominated the first half-hour all over the pitch, and could have had a couple more goals, only to see their efforts fly over and wide. But Ludgershall showed grit to come back into the game, and the town side's defence competed well against United's polished passing play.

The visitors came into the game even more after half-time, as all their players fought harder to be first to the ball, and showed no fear in the tackle. And when they won a penalty on 67 minutes, a recovery seemed more than possible.

Wayne Kerr gave the spot-kick everything, seeing it fly in off the left-hand post and in - and for a few minutes, Overton were rattled. A dangerous Kerr centre from the left flew across the face of goal, but no-one could quite find the killer touch, and Ludgershall's best chance had come and gone.

As the visitors pushed up in search of the equaliser, Overton scored again, once more finding joy from a free-kick. Adam Chambers got the vital header to kill the game off just as Ludgershall's third striker was preparing to join the field; and although the town side battled hard, Overton had the decisive strength and firepower - as substitute Clive Augustus showed when he turned sharply and walloped home United's fourth almost immediately after.

If United can keep this up, the title is theirs for the taking - they have the players and the discipline to do the business. But they will know Ludgershall Sports gave them a tough game on Saturday, and could have made it a much closer affair.

Overton manager Chambers was pleased with the result after the game. He told the Advertiser: "They put a lot of pressure on, with an extra man up front when it was 2-1, but other than that we were in control. They got a penalty, and they had a cracking ball across the face of goal, but outside of that, they didn't offer much, and we were fairly in control.

"Our goals were well-worked on the training ground, so that was pleasing. We're creating a lot of chances at the moment but not putting enough of them away. Overall, I don't think we played our best, but it's a good result for us.

"We all know what we've got to do - there are four games left, and we've got to get three points from every game. After playing not so well today and getting three points, we know we can do better and win."

Ludgershall's management team of Andy Hounslow and Brenden Spanswick were disappointed about the defeat but pleased with the fight their team put up. Spanswick told the Advertiser: "The first 20 minutes cost us really, conceding three goals to set-pieces. Three headed goals from three set-pieces is very disappointing, as we work on training at that. I couldn't see them getting any more than two goals."

Hounslow said: "I thought the scoreline flattered it a little bit at the end. We always knew they were going to be strong at the set-pieces. If they hadn't got those soft goals, the way we came out in the second half we could have got something from the game."