THERE were contrasting emotions as Gresford Athletic thumped Corwen 6-2 in a crunch Cymru North encounter.

Gresford director of football Steve Halliwell declared himself “very, very happy”, while Corwen manager Danny Jellicoe reflected on “possibly the worst performance” in his time in charge.

“I don’t mind losing, but when the desire, intensity, commitment isn’t there, I am fighting a losing battle,” declared Jellicoe.

“We can try and do everything right in training and work on all the things we want ahead of the game, but it won’t matter if we play like we did.

“We got bullied and were nowhere near the level we expect, it’s unacceptable and it really was men against boys.”

Scott Evans scored two impressive goals for Corwen in the second period, but by then the game was up.

Jake Eyre, pictured right, scored four times for Gresford, including two penalties, while Aaron Edwards and Kieron Evans helped the visitors race into a 3-0 lead at the break.

“It was a very dominant performance,” said Halliwell. “If we’d been a bit more clinical then we could have been five or six up at half-time.

“They had a go in the first 15 minutes of the second-half and when they got a goal back I thought ‘here we go’, but we scored a penalty soon after and didn’t look back.

“It was a massive, massive three points. I know how big the win was for us and it’s good to go into a week’s break on the back of a good performance.”

On Eyre’s impressive solo display, Halliwell added: “It was great to see Jake show the ability everyone knows he has.

“And there were plenty of good performance, including Paul Williams, who returned after a month out to produce an unbelievable display.”

While Gresford have a free week, Corwen are back in action next Saturday at Rhyl, who suffered a 4-3 defeat to Guilsfield.

Adam Davies, Sam Litchfield, Steve Blenkinsop and Chris Cathrall won it for Guilsfield, with Leo Riley, Max Peate and Arek Piskorski - signed on-loan from Cefn Druids until the end of the year - replying for Rhyl.