Five second half goals and two red cards saw Sandbach win a thrilling contest 8-0 at St Martins.

A depleted Sandbach squad made the journey to Oswestry as Declan Swan's men looked to cut short their 3-game skid at St Martins.

As many as 10 players were unavailable through illness and injury, but the manager named a strong squad and was rewarded with a goal in the first five minutes.

Sheikh Islam made his first start for Sandbach and notched his first assist in the fourth minute, as his defence-splitting pass found the run of captain Brian Barton.

The striker bore down on goal before curling a low shot past Taylor into the bottom right corner.

There were calls for a St Martins red card after 16 minutes when Barton again darted through on goal before falling under a mistimed challenge from the goalkeeper, but the referee deemed it only a yellow card offence and the Sandbach free kick couldn't be converted.

Islam was the provider of the first goal, and the scorer of the second as he opened his Sandbach account on 30 minutes.

After a great display of skill on the left flank by Niall Cope, his dangerous cross saw shots from Islam and Rogers blocked before the former stabbed home the loose ball.

St Martins threatened to get back into the tie as a corner wasn't successfully cleared, and the eventual shot cannoned back of the far post.

George West had been a constant thorn in the side of the home defence all half, and finally scored his first Sandbach goal five minutes before the break.

A perfectly timed run beat the offside flag that had cut his attacks short several times prior before his chipped shot sailed over Taylor into the net.

Five minutes after the break, St Martins afternoon got worse when goalkeeper Taylor received a second yellow card and was sent from the field, after bringing down Tatters when the midfielder was through on goal.

Cope stepped up from 12 yards and calmly passed it into the bottom right corner.

St Martins were reduced to 9 men three minutes later when captain Fati Cande received a straight red card for violent conduct when a brief melee erupted in the middle of the park, with both Tatters and Cooney picking up a caution for each side for their roles in the disruption.

After 62 minutes, 17-year-old Will Webb made his Ramblers debut after impressing in the Sandbach academy and slotted straight into the heart of defence.

Thirteen minutes later, Tatters scored the Ramblers' fifth with a wonderful solo effort. He drove with the ball from inside the Sandbach half before rolling the ball away from the onrushing goalkeeper and passing it into the net.

West scored his second mere moments later as a Tatters through ball released substitute Jimmy Burling. He unselfishly cut a pass back to West, who had an open goal at his mercy and made no mistake.

In the 81st minute, Burling was the third player of the afternoon to score his first Ramblers goal. After winning the ball high up the pitch, he advanced towards goal before composing himself and slotting a shot into the bottom right corner.

With one minute to go, Burling completed the scoring with a remarkable effort. He shifted the ball onto his left foot before cutting back onto his right foot to beat the defender, before rifling a sublime half-volley into the far corner from 17 yards.

Speaking after the game, defender Sean Sherwood said "The early goal really settled everyone down. We kicked on from there and dictated it from start to finish.

"We've made a few mistakes in the last few games so that early goal definitely helped eliminate that. I'm really happy for Will [Webb] to make his debut as well, he works really hard in training and is very willing to learn. When he came on I thought he was class as well."

When asked about the feeling in the dressing room ahead of next week's derby against local rivals Alsager Town, Sean remarked "We are always fired up for any derby, but I feel this one in particular is a big one.

They've got a new management team as well, but I know we will be right up for it. We are gonna train hard this week and look to carry forward today's momentum."

Sandbach: Eric Merner, Jack Marrow, Callum Chapman, Sean Sherwood, Rory Roberts, Niall Cope, Ryan Rogers, Stanley Tatters, Brian Barton, Sheikh Islam, George West.

Subs: Callum Jeff Murphy, Dylan Murphy, David Meadow, Harry Gillespie