GIVEN Wendron United’s recent difficulties, you could be forgiven for thinking an emphatic 4-0 win was not on the cards when they welcomed Callington Town to the Underlane on Saturday.

Yet that is exactly what happened, as a reshuffled Wendron side shook off the cobwebs of more than a month of inactivity and disposed of their visitors thanks to a phenomenal first-half display.

Playing for the first time since February 1, and perhaps more crucially, the first time since the first-choice striking pair of TJ Walter and Rory Jarvis left the club, a swashbuckling, free-scoring display did not seem particularly likely.

Naturally, the Dron proceeded to score four goals before half-time, with the new-look attacking trio of Kian Thomas, Jack Noy and Jack Stocker all getting on the scoresheet.

No more goals arrived after the break, but victory, and with it a rare clean sheet, was secured to give manager Jack Greenwood and Wendron a much-needed boost.

Some 35 days had passed between Wendron’s last match, a 5-0 defeat against Saltash United, and Saturday’s game against Callington.

As well as several storms and perpetual postponements, Wendron were also beset by the departures of their prized attacking pair in that time. Thirteen-goal top-scorer Walter was poached by Falmouth Town, while last season’s top marksman Jarvis left for Sticker.

You wouldn’t have noticed it by Saturday’s performance, as, perhaps galvanised by their former team-mates’ absences, Wendron flew into an seventh-minute lead. Thomas, ironically signed from Town in pre-season, marked his return to the side by controlling a lobbed pass on the right side of the box and firing it into the far corner on his weaker foot.

A couple of threatening early runs down the right from Cally winger Andre Rodukov aside, this was undoubtedly Wendron’s half.

Half-chances for Callington’s Ben Mackiver-Redwood and Wendron’s Joe Chapman followed before Noy doubled the advantage on 29 minutes, starting the move with a throw-in and finishing it off by powering the ball home from Stocker’s lay-off.

Stocker turned scorer less than two minutes later to put the Dron in dreamland, finishing off a good move by turning the last defender and guiding the ball past ‘keeper Brice Shields.

It seemed as if Wendron would score with every attack, which had more than a hint of irony given they had form for failing to turn chances into goals, and although Ben Ringrose fired over from a good position, the fourth arrived shortly before the break with a goal that summed up the home side’s swagger in the back end of the first half. Chapman drove to the byline before his low cross was nonchalantly backheeled in at the near post by Thomas.

Lee Robinson almost pulled one back moments before the break, his shot smashing against the upright, but the visitors were lucky not to be more than four goals down.

In truth, had the teams not had to have a break at half-time, Wendron would probably have added another three or four goals.

Thomas certainly could have scored more and would have had a hat-trick on another day. He probably should have had one on this day, as well, but saw two gilt-edged chances go begging in the second half.

The first saw him lob Shields from 20 yards but his effort kissed the wrong side of the side netting, while the second saw him take the ball off Shields’ feet out of goal, but he could not set himself to fire into the unguarded net from the edge of the box.

The hosts’ attacking display certainly stole the show, but they had substitute Max Bowden to thank for a superb goalline block to deny fellow sub Billy Coton, who seemed all but certain to rifle into the unguarded net late on.

Goalkeeper Dan Stedman, who had little to do throughout, showed he was alert in stoppage time with a fine diving save to his right to claw away Mackiver-Redwood’s far-post header to preserve his clean sheet.

There may have been some doom and gloom around the Underlane prior to kick-off after recent departures, but this was exactly the sort of performance to give the team a big, and timely, lift ahead of the busy end to the season.