HOLYHEAD Hotspur put their poor league form to one side to reach the JD Welsh Cup third round with a 3-1 home victory over Ruthin Town.

The Holy Islanders turned in one of their best performances of the campaign to date to emerge victorious against a resolute Town side, and the Huws Gray Alliance basement dwellers are next in action on November 23 at Denbigh Town (7.30pm).

After both sides spurned opportunities throughout the first period, Darren Garmey’s men finally broke the deadlock on the hour mark when John Littlemore took advantage of some space to fire past visiting custodian Ryan Goldston.

Chris Williams’ talented squad responded well to the setback and got back into the tie after 73 minutes when second tier top scorer Llyr Morris made an instant impact off the bench with a fine strike to level matters.

This joy proved to be short-lived, with Spurs regaining the initiative immediately following the restart when Marc Evans found the net after catching the Town rearguard on the back foot, and things got even better for the hosts’ soon after when Tomos Clarke rounded off another outstanding attacking move to double their advantage.

Garmey’s side managed to see out the remainder of the cup clash in comfortable fashion to book their place in the hat, with Lewys Turner seeing red for the away side a minute from time when he received a second booking.

Spurs will be hoping that this sort of form can transcend into their next outing at Central Park, with Denbigh also coming into the game on a high following an impressive cup win at Buckley Town.