BRACKNELL Town continued to close in on the South Central Division play-offs by hammering Harlow 5-1 on Saturday, writes Dave Wright.

They sewed up the three points in the first half with goals from Nathan Minhas, Dan Bailey, Joy Mukena and Michael Atkinson.

The visitors pulled one back in the second half before substitute Nebay Haile completed the scoring seconds before the final whistle.

For most of the game, the Robins oozed class. The teamwork is improving all the time, and their link-up play, with short or long passes, was a joy to watch.

They are playing with a great deal of confidence and have turned Larges Lane into a fortress.

On this form, they look certainties for a top-five finish and, with games in hand over the sides above them, Bobby Wilkinson's men could even emerge as title challengers in the next few weeks.

The Robins were fast out of the blocks and it took them just under four minutes to take the lead through leading scorer Minhas, his 17th league goal of the season.

He was injured in the process, but was able to continue although he never looked fully comfortable and was taken off early in the second half.

Despite Town's early domination, Harlow did manage to get the ball into the net in the 12th minute, only to see it ruled out for offside.

Six minutes later, they doubled their lead with Bayliss turning the ball home at the far post after a corner routine engineered by Bowerman and Max Herbert.

Skipper Herbert was also involved in the third goal, headed home by Mukena, after 32 minutes and it was 4-0 in the 42nd minute with Atkinson squeezing the ball home in a crowded goalmouth.

The second half was nowhere near as entertaining as the first.

Harlow came a little more into the game for a time and took advantage of a rare slip by Bayliss to pull a goal back through Chris Adu-Gyamfi just before the hour mark.

But Bracknell, looking particularly impressive in the middle of the park, never lost their grip on the game.

Mickel Platt, getting on the end of Dan Carr's pass, rattled the woodwork as he cut in from the right and Haile had an effort cleared off the line.

The game fizzled out in the closing stages, but Town continued to threaten and the ever-dangerous Bowerman provided the cross for Haile to net the fifth seconds before the final whistle, taking the team's tally to 16 goals in their last three home league games.

They were scheduled to visit second-placed Hanwell last night (Tuesday) and this Saturday they are away to another of their play-off rivals Waltham Abbey, followed by a short trip to Marlow next Tuesday (7.45pm).