It is never the best of omens when your goalkeeper breaks his wrist just before kick-off.

But despite having to play with an outfield player between the sticks, the set-back didn't seem to do much to put Sheringham Reserves off their stride as they turned in 24-0 victors over rivals Horsford United Reserves

The astonishing game, in Almary Green Anglian Combination Division Four, saw the Shannocks scoring an average of a goal every four minutes, with four players completing hat-tricks, including one who finished on seven goals.

Horsford had started the match with just 10 men. Currently bottom of the division with two points from 14 games, they have already had four points deducted and been forced to abandon three fixtures. With the squad not able to make up the numbers, they faced the option of playing ahead with 10 men or dropping out of the league last Saturday. Like Sheringham, they were without their regular goalkeeper.

By contrast, Sheringham are pushing the top three in the division, tailing the leaders by 10 points with two games in hand.

'It was just a bizarre day,' said Sheringham manager Adam Warricker. 'To be fair to Horsford, they turned up, and said even though they were waiting for an 11th player they just wanted to get on with the game.

'We are playing catch-up in the league, and we knew to get a big score would help.

'When you are up against 10 men they can often dig in and they can be a lot harder to beat, but it just didn't go that way. The difficulty in those sort of games is keeping motivated. We got a bit bored after 50 minutes, but the lads did really well.'

Gary Matheson, chairman of Horsford United Reserves, said the team had struggled since losing their manager. 'We had a manager walk out on us about six weeks ago and we lost a lot of first team players as a result of that,' he said.

The 50-year-old has even had to be on the bench in recent weeks, to keep the numbers up. The club has faced a £50 fine for each game abandoned to date.

'I am just trying to keep the club going this season so we can get a few more players in,' he said. 'The club has been going since 1949, and I have been part of that for the last 30 years. Unfortunately the team weren't good enough on the day.'

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