The Yellows have now been victorious in five of their last six United Counties League Division One matches, and have scored at least three goals in four of those wins.

Joe Ashurst, Craig Westcarr and Grant Ryan all etched their names onto the scoresheet as Town once again rose to fifth place, having fallen out of the play-off positions temporarily on Tuesday as a result of Aylestone Park’s triumph over Graham Street Prims.

Following a very scrappy opening 20 minutes, during which captain Aaron Short made an impressive block to thwart Tom Benoke’s shot, Hucknall took the lead through Ashurst.

Former West Bridgford attacker Matt Brian played a key part in the build-up to the goal, dribbling past full-back Matthew Glover on the left flank before picking out Westcarr with a left-footed cross. Town’s top scorer then laid the ball off to Ashurst, who fired beyond visiting goalkeeper Archie Corrall from the edge of the box.

The Yellows were understandably keen to double their advantage and went close to doing so before the half hour mark when Joe Butler struck the crossbar after receiving the ball from Westcarr.

In the 39th minute, Jordan Phillips dragged the ball wide of Corrall’s left-hand post from a good position inside the box, but Town netted the second goal they deserved just a minute later. Brian was heavily involved once more, with his shot blocked by a West Bridgford defender, however, the loose ball landed at the feet of Westcarr, who stroked home with aplomb.

After the break, Hucknall continued to control proceedings and had two decent chances to increase their lead within the first ten minutes of the second half, with both falling to Butler. Corrall made a smart save to keep the midfielder’s first effort out after a neat through-ball from Westcarr, while the woodwork denied Butler’s shot from a tight angle shortly afterwards.

In the 59th minute, the game came to a standstill due to floodlight failure, with play resuming just under a quarter of an hour later when the issue had been resolved. Yellows stopper Keaton Sharpe made his first notable save of the night very soon after the restart, holding onto Cole Maule’s shot well.

It was Hucknall who once again dominated possession from that point onwards, and they continued to create goalscoring opportunities. Brian went close with a header which bounced narrowly wide of Corrall’s left-hand post, before substitute Ryan missed the target from close range after a Westcarr free-kick had been parried.

However, Ryan made amends for his miss just two minutes later when he netted his second goal in five days, steering Ashurst’s excellent free-kick delivery past the keeper with his head.

Town perhaps should have won the match by a larger margin, as Westcarr and David Leak each nearly added a fourth very late on, but manager Andy Graves seemed satisfied with a convincing victory and a first clean sheet in almost a month.

After the game, he said: “Overall, I thought it was fairly comfortable. Had we shown a little bit more composure in front of goal, I think we could’ve had a few more, but we took our chances in the right moments which was pleasing.

“At two-nil, in any game, you can never relax. It was important for us to get the next goal and thankfully Grant got it after coming on, which was good to see.

“Credit to them [West Bridgford]; they’re a young side, totally different to who we played at the beginning of the season, and they’ve got some good young players.”

Hucknall: Sharpe, Bartley, Kinnerley, Phillips, Short (c) (Leak 88’), Jenkins, Butler, Banister (Brown 82’), Westcarr, Brian (Ryan 82’), Ashurst. Subs not used: Lamb, Maxwell

By George Wilson