CHURCH Stretton boss Scott Peever believes his side are beginning to recapture their swagger of last season after hitting double figures against Worcester Raiders Reserves.

Dean Richards scored six, while James Hill bagged a hat-trick and substitute Campbell Naylor also netted as Stretton cruised to a 10-1 win in West Midlands League Division Two.

Victory moved Stretton up to second, three points behind leaders AFC Bentley and also closed the goal difference gap to the table-toppers to one.

Peever says his side are yet to play as consistently well as last season – when they finished runners-up – but added: “Slowly but surely we are turning the corner.

“We’ve been quite critical of ourselves, saying we haven’t hit the heights of last season, but we are nine unbeaten now in all competitions.”

Peever also praised Richards after his double hat-trick against Raiders, who Stretton visit this Saturday in a quickfire double-header in their last game before Christmas.

“He’s been pretty prolific for us the past four or five seasons,” the manager added.

“He took them well and scored some lovely goals on Saturday. Some of their defending was atrocious but we were clinical, which was pleasing.

“We mentioned goal difference at 5-0 at half-time because a few games tend to peter out, even at professional level, so it was pleasing we kept going and managed to score a few more.”

Peever also warned his side against complacency this weekend: “We have to be wary because Raiders have a first team and if they don’t have a fixture we might not be playing the same XI.

“It would be naïve of us to think they will be so poor again.”

Elsewhere, Clee Hill United will top the Herefordshire Premier at Christmas after twice coming from behind to draw 2-2 at home to title rivals Kington Town in their final game of 2019.

Charlie Edwards’ superb 25-yard strike pulled the reigning champions level at 1-1 but they fell behind again before Kington’s keeper went from hero to villain in a dramatic late finale.

He saved a Josh Carpenter penalty with five minutes to go, only to punch a Liam Whitbread corner into his own net to hand Hill a point.

“We were very lucky, to be honest,” admitted United boss Wayne Whitbread. “They definitely played better than us and wanted it more than us which was disappointing.

“But we managed to scramble a point so I have to be pleased. We have Kington away first game in the new year and we will have to up our game to beat them.

“But 2019 for us as a club has been brilliant – we have gone the calendar year losing just two games, one in the league and one in the cup – and you can’t ask for more than that.”