Truro City 6 Halesowen 0

And in truth the margin could have been greater. but for some goalkeeping heroics by Halesowen shot-stopper Mark Fulwood, as City tore the Midlanders apart in a ruthless display of attacking prowess.

City player-manager Lee Hodges elected to start with on-loan striker Barry Hayles up front amidst continuing speculation over his future at the club - Stewart Yetton dropped to the bench after his tireless display in the win against Banbury.

And it was Hayles’ muscularity and hold up play that provided the attacking fulcrum Truro have so often lacked this season, with Dan Smith and Andy Watkins freed up to hassle and harry the Halesowen back four at will, and hassle they did.

As early as the fourth minute a jinking run from Smith resulted in the forward being hacked down just outside the box. Martin Watts looped a free kick into the area for captain Marcus Martin, towering above a static Halesowen back line, to power a header goal-ward only for Fulwood to tip the ball onto the bar.

Moments later Martin cut inside Nick Milton to drive another shot at the bottom left corner, but once again he was denied by a palmed save from the diving Fulwood.

And so the tone for the afternoon was set. Nevertheless, Truro had to wait until the 13th minute before taking the lead in bizarre fashion.

Martin Watts fizzed a corner into the box from the left, and Fulwood’s punched clearance found Smith lurking 15 yards out. He took a single touch before unleashing a shot that cannoned off the underside of the bar, hit Fulwood in the back and rebounded in.

It was a cruel goal to concede for the Halesowen keeper, but Truro’s dominance deserved some reward.

By this time Halesowen were confined to sporadic counter attacks as Martin and Danny Clay squeezed the midfield, but on 23 minutes the scores might have been level.

A beautiful lofted ball from Hodges deep inside his own half found Watkins racing down the right wing. He controlled the ball impeccably on his chest before cutting inside Alex Roofe. But with only the keeper to beat Watkins elected to square the ball for Smith who blazed over from six yards.

A quick restart suddenly found Truro back-pedalling, and from a scrappy cross Halesowen striker Lee Osborne bundled the ball in, only for the linesman to flag for offside.

It would be the last real opportunity afforded the visitors by Truro’s miserly back four, and less than a minute later the home side made it two.

In a carbon copy of an earlier set play, Watts curled his corner into the six yard box where Roofe and Williams went up for the same ball, both missing and gifting the onrushing Martin the easiest of headers for City’s second.

Then disaster for Halesowen as Fulwood landed badly after claiming the ball under pressure from Hayles. What looked an innocuous tumble saw the trainer called for, and after a five-minute delay he left the field on a stretcher.

Bizarrely though the visitors, who had ex-Walsall and Kidderminster keeper Dean Coleman named on the bench, got right-back Nick Milton to pull on the number one jersey, and minutes later he produced a fine save to deflect Hayles’ close-range effort onto the bar.

It didn’t get any better for the visitors after the restart. With the second half barely a minute old, Watkins and Smith combined beautifully on the right for Watkins to rampage into the box and hammer in City’s third at the near post.

Then two rapid-fire goals minutes later as Smith made it four with a thundering strike from 25 yards out through a crowd of players.

The imperious Martin ghosted into the box from an Andy Taylor corner to score his second on 64 minutes - the captain timing his run perfectly before arrowing in an unstoppable header from close range.

And as though a five-goal demolition-job were not enough for the home fans, minutes from the end Hayles chased a lofted pass over the visitor’s defence before delicately dinking the ball over Milton to score his first goal for the club and send the crowd into raptures.