ABBEY Inn moved up to second in the Premier Division with a comfortable victory over relegation-haunted AFC Dyers Arms.

Dyers skipper Martin Knight took over team affairs in the absence of manager James Lockett, who was unavailable due to work commitments.

And Knight's task was not made any easier when key players failed to show – leaving Dyers with just the bare 11.

The game could not have got off to a worse start for the stand-in manager.

After just 10 minutes, Knight was left with a broken nose and bloodied face after a clash of heads with his own centre-back Richard Hine.

To make matters worse for Knight, he was forced to soldier on due to a lack of substitutes.

Twenty minutes had passed before former Dyers Arms striker Nick Cooke opened the scoring after he outpaced Paul Fergusson.

Just before the break Abbey made it 2-0, when Leo Fower took advantage of some comical defending to fire past Ian Jones with the help of a deflection from Hine.

In the second period, Knight was ordered off the pitch due to the extent of his injuries – forcing Dyers to soldier on with just 10 men.

Abbey were in no mood for mercy and duly added a third on 58 minutes when Hambleton fired home from 20 yards, again via a deflection.

Abbey continued to press for a fourth in order to boost their goal difference. Chances went begging for the away side as they failed to capitalise on numerous opportunities – including a Mark Johnson missed penalty.

However, it was Dyers, against the run of play, who scored a consolation on 70 minutes when a Paul Sharratt corner found Iain Wood unmarked at the back post.

The big striker made no mistake heading home from close range.

Oliver Mellor then completed the scoring before the final whistle to give Abbey a comfortable 4 1 victory.

Despite a ninth loss in 10 games, Knight paid credit to the Dyers Arms FC players. He said: "The boys battled well."