Sherwood Colliery had a day to forget as Heanor Town deservedly took all three points in a comprehensive 3-0 victory in UCL North at Debdale Park on Saturday.

It was The Wood’s heaviest home defeat since December 2018 and it did not flatter the visitors, who ended the game well on top looking for more goals.

All the goals came in the second half and little sign of the carnage to come was evident in a first half of little goalmouth action.

The early action was in the Heanor half with Luis Rose and Kieran Watson involved.  Jamie York’s try from range on the quarter hour was comfortable for Louie Tuner in the Heanor goal.

The opening 30 minutes saw a gradual decrease in quality from The Wood, their passing was sloppy and the visitors were sensing this as they gradually grew into the game.

Ex-Wood Klarke Greenham had an effort saved before having to leave the field with an injury.

Gavin King did get a header on target for The Wood that had Turner back pedalling as he made the save.  The same player then had The Wood’s best opportunity, King forcing a good save by Turner.

Lewis Belgrave saw an effort from distance off target and, as the half ended, Lewis Rourke forced a save by Alfie Smith-Eccles in The Wood goal.

The second half saw the referee surprise most of the players and crowd by awarding an early penalty kick for Heanor, assumed for holding by a Wood defender.  Jamie Sleigh took the kick and powered the ball past Smith-Eccles.

The Wood did little to respond, and on 59 minutes they were caught high up the pitch, the break was quick and incisive and was excellently finished by Lewis Rourke to double the visitors’ lead.

Heanor were rampant as The Wood had little in the way of possession.  Eventually, Luis Rose forced a good save from Turner who tipped the ball round the post for a corner that amounted to nothing.

On 79 minutes, with Charlie Taylor in the sin-bin and The Wood down to 10 men, Smith-Eccles thwarted Rourke again as the visitors continued to threaten.  Directly from the resulting corner kick, Raife Poplars’ kick was fumbled by Smith-Eccles directly into the net to seal the game.

A run by another ex-Wood, Ethan Wiesztort, was brought to an end by Jobe Shaw, who received a yellow card that sparked more frustration and led to another sin-bin, this time for Smith-Eccles (Starbuck donning the gloves) and a straight red card for a clearly perplexed Lewis Belgrave.

The Wood did manage to get to full-time with no further damage to the scoreline although the final whistle brought more drama as this time Taylor saw red for alleged comments to the referee.

Director of football Phil Kirkland commented: “A really poor day for us.  All credit to Heanor who fully deserve their win this afternoon.”