Town joint boss Gary Setchell hailed his men's killer instinct after dismantling Daventry United to move top of the United Counties Premier League.

The Linnets were 4-0 up at the break courtesy of Danny White, Jamie Thurlbourne, Jack Defty and Robbie Harris before Darren Frost pulled one back for the Reds. Captain Defty notched his second shortly after and Steve Spriggs completed the rout with an audacious chip in the closing stages.

Lynn moved two points clear of nearest title rivals St Neots and Newport Pagnell – who both lost in the FA Cup – but Setchell knows Town need more of the same after a recent scouting trip.

'I went and watched St Neots in midweek and before this game I would have said the difference was that they keep going and going,' he said.

'We've had a couple of starts and not kept going. Irchester springs to mind when we were 3-0 up inside half-an-hour, then 2-0 up against Desborough inside half-an-hour, and in both games there was an element of settling for what we had got –whereas St Neots kept going right to the end.

'I challenged them at half-time to see if we could do the same and we sort of huffed and puffed for spells, but that is something we can certainly improve on.

'You never know, at the end of the year it might just come down to goal difference. We also have to stop conceding silly goals and maintain the same levels of performance for 90 minutes.'

Town's new look defence featured recent Wisbech recruit Stuart Ablett alongside Kyle Plumb at centre-half in the absence of injured duo Brady Stone and Martin McNeil. The versatile Danny Buhlemann slotted into the left back berth vacated by the unavailable Jamie Alsop.

'We had a makeshift back four and we felt we could be in for a tough afternoon, but it was one we just had to get through unscathed,' said Setchell. 'We would have been more than happy just to do that, but the way the lads went about it in the first half was tremendous. We knocked the ball around, and to be honest looked in a different league.

'Ablett came in, and apart from his fitness in the last 20 minutes he looked like he had been playing all season. I thought he was superb.

'Against Dereham we raised the bar of our own performance and we said to the lads we can only get better the more games we play. People understand their roles fully, and it showed. Even at 3-0 up we had wide men tucking in and we had midfielders keeping their shape rather than roaming all over the place.'

Setchell believes Lynn's extra-time FA Vase win at Norfolk neighbours Dereham could be the launchpad for a successful season.

'This performance is probably as good as Dereham but the result at Dereham, in the context of that game, is better for me,' he said. 'The lads had a spring in their step at training, and no disrespect to Daventry but we were expected to win whatever side we put out.'

King's Lynn: Street, Bexfield (Smith 65), Buhlemann, L Thurlbourne, Ablett (Kelly 72), Plumb, Spriggs, White, Defty (Cubberley 74), Harris, J Thurlbourne. Sub (not used): Setchell. Booking: L Thurlbourne. Goals: White (8), J Thurlbourne (14), Defty (31, 69), Harris (43), Spriggs (90)

Daventry: Farrow, Irvine, Coleman (Briscoe 45), Waldock, McKinlay (Frost 57), Jones, Byrne, Crockett, Vine, Stacy (Whittingham 57), Baille. Subs: all used. Booking: Vine. Goal: Frost (66). Referee: P McVey (Hunts).

Att: 698.