Brandon Town 2, Beccles Town 7BECCLES produced an outstanding performance in the second round of the Mummery Cup at Brandon, which has never been a happy hunting ground for them - the Wherrymen had never won at the venue.

Brandon Town 2, Beccles Town 7

BECCLES produced an outstanding performance in the second round of the Mummery Cup at Brandon, which has never been a happy hunting ground for them - the Wherrymen had never won at the venue.

The tie saw Beccles, Anglian Combination Premier Division leaders, tackle the team in seventh place. And they hit seven even without their leading scorer.

With the Reserves' match against Watton called off due to the recent swine flu outbreak, manager Mick Brown was afforded the luxury of a large squad of players from which to choose.

However, Beccles still were without leading marksman Alan Remblance, who was rested following a series of injuries, and again needed midfield changes.

Supporters who made the long trip to Brandon and could not have wished for a better start. The new-look forward line-up of Ant Martin and Scott Barnard were causing the home defence massive problems with their power and movement.

Beccles opened the scoring when Martin challenged the keeper for the ball, which went loose, and Scott Barnard gratefully accepted the gift after five minutes.

With barely 10 minutes gone, Barnard had returned the compliment and passed to his strike partner Martin for him to coolly finish for 2-0.

Beccles were playing some fine flowing football with the midfield two of Kevin Waterman and back-from-university Tom Roselt's probing and pulling the strings. It was not long before Barnard added his second and Beccles' third following a corner, his fine header finding the back of the net.

With half-time approaching, Beccles showed no signs of sitting back and soon added a fourth. Again the front two did the donkey work before setting up Alex Holmes to finish coolly for 4-0 at half-time.

As the second half started Brandon for a few minutes threatened an unlikely comeback when Roy Bland scored.

This glimmer of hope was soon extinguished by the impressive Martin who added his second and Beccles' fifth with another sublime finish.

Martin was having a superb game in the absence of Remblance. He led the line superbly, winning all the challenges and showing plenty of skill on the ground. He was ably backed up by Barnard - and their four-goal haul was to increase to five.

The sixth goal arrived midway through the second period. This too was a reward for Waterman who had been putting in fine performances in the past three weeks.

Brandon got the scoreline back to 6-2 when Jason Craigen netted, but Beccles' two substitutes Danny Compton and Gerald Martin combined for the latter to crack home the final goal.

The defence, as it has been all season, was superbly led by captain Sam Barham and Lee Shaw. Neil McMollan and Andy Wigg backed them up on the flank. Cable, in goal, had little to do but had more then earned his place in the previous matches. In midfield Roberts and Waterman maded an impressive partnership and Andy Woods and Alex Holmes caused mayhem down the flanks. The front two were hugely impressive.

Beccles entertain fourth-placed Acle in the league at College Meadow tomorrow, 2pm kick-off.