Martyn Davies delighted as Market Drayton Town put rivals to bed

"I've been saying for some time that we are on the brink of having a very, very good side and this game surely showed why," he said.

"Some of our attacking play was tremendous. We could have had another three, four, half a dozen goals.

"Bedworth are a big strong side but they simply could not catch our lads in the second half. They just could not cope with our pace.

"That's now our third successive victory in which we've earned a place in the Shropshire Vickers Premier Cup final against Shawbury and to all intents and purposes, put the threat of relegation behind us."

Town and Bedworth faced up with the unlikely billing as the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League South's star entertainers, having collectively conceded or scored 223 goals in their previous 63 games. Within three minutes, Drayton's man of the match Will Whielden raced through the middle of a ramshackle defence to rifle a 20-yarder low into Josh Barnes' net.

Full back Joe Cuff took centre stage minutes later advancing to hammer a 30 yarder that flew past Barnes but rattled his back post.

Bedworth's strength in the air brought them back from the brink in a storming start to the second half, with Dan Creaney and Luke Rowe going close with headers. And when central defender Liam Cross ghosted in unmarked at the far post to nod home Rowe's free kick on 55 minutes, it was anyone's game.

Until, that is, Town's ace speedster, Shaquille Whittingham suddenly found the accelerator. He spearheaded a remarkable surge by Town, putting his side ahead with an angled shot past the hapless Barnes on 59 minutes and then unselfishly rolled across goal for Whielden to score his second.

"It was tremendous stuff; we were flying and Shaq was on fire," said Davies who, with Town 3-1 up, still threw on three fresh attackers, including a debut for yet another teenager, Benj Robinson from Telford.

Bedworth were still in it, though, and Creaney, having twice been denied by Town's keeper Rawlins, finally brought a frenetic finish to a close by heading his side's second, albeit too late to matter.