BRACKNELL Town never had to be at their best to overcome Molesey 4-0 at Larges Lane on Saturday, writes Dave Wright.

Adam Cornell scored a goal in each half before Joe Grant and substitute James Cowan completed the scoring against a side struggling near the foot of the Bostik League South Central Division table.

But the victory came at an expense with midfielder Kensley Maloney (knee) and Ryan Parsons (badly gashed arm) both suffering injuries during the game.

It was the same knee on which he required surgery last year and Maloney could be out of action for at least two weeks.

The win, which extends their unbeaten home league record to 13 games, lifts them into second place, leap frogging Marlow who drew 1-1 with Tooting & Mitcham.

With Hayes & Yeading also being surprisingly held to a draw at bottom club Egham, the Robins have cut the deficit between themselves and the table toppers to 14 points with a game in hand.

That is still a wide margin and if they are to close the gap then Town will have to win most of their remaining 13 fixtures, which include trips to Hayes and Marlow next month.

Town badly missed their ball-winner Jamie McClurg, who was absent for family reasons, while injury ruled out fellow midfielder Ash Artwell.

That led to leading scorer Liam Ferdinand playing just behind Cornell and Grant, but he never really looked happy in that role.

While they were clearly the better side, Town were not seen at their finest, but then they did not have to be as the opposition were certainly not the strongest.

Quick-starting Town were quickly swarming around the Molesey goal in the opening stages and went close to taking an early lead.

It soon became clear that, while looking jittery in defence, the visitors were better going forwards and, in fact, home keeper Chris Grace had more direct shots to deal with than his opposing number.

With McClurg missing, Town had to work even harder to secure possession and, when they did get the ball, they did not always move it on with their customary pace and accuracy, making their play laboured at times.

Yet it still came as no surprise when they took the lead on 20 minutes. Matt Day hammered a long ball out to Dave Hancock on the right and his low cross to the near post was coolly flicked home by Cornell.

And the Robins put the game to bed with two goals early in the second half.

In the 48th minute, Cornell hit a brilliant shot over the diving Alex Kozakis and three minutes later good work by man-of-the-match Hancock led to Grant making it 3-0, though it did need a well-positioned referee's assistant to confirm the ball had crossed the line.

Kozakis, a lightweight keeper who appeared to have little understanding with his defenders, made a decent save to deny Cornell his hat-trick, before being badly caught out of position by Grant, whose right-wing cross was turned into an open net by Cowan in the final minute.

Bracknell arranged a home friendly against Hellenic Division One East leader Burnham for last night (Tuesday) and were planning to give a 45-minute run-out to keeper Mark Scott, who showed he has recovered from injury by coming through a strenuous warm-up session before last Saturday's game.

When match fit, Scott will be pushing hard to regain his first-team spot, but Grace has played extremely well on his return to the side.

And Grace can not expect to walk straight back into the Binfield now they have signed David Lyons.

This coming Saturday, the Robins travel to Hertford, seeking another double after winning the home encounter 2-0 in November.

Their fixture at Egham, recently called off due to a waterlogged pitch, has been re-arranged for Tuesday, March 12.