Billingham’s robust defence frustrated Slazenger early on but the Horbury men recovered to win comfortably in the end. Nick Webb fired in a fierce shot to open the scoring, but Billingham replied with a breakaway goal and things looked worrying for a while.

But Kevin Windler settled Slazenger nerves with a solo run from halfway and an excellent finish from a tight angle.

And Keith Whittle sealed matters when he followed up well from a short corner.

The valuable three points ensure Slazenger retain fourth place in the North East Division 2 table.

Determined to make up for the squandered points the previous week, Slazenger turned on the style in Middlesbrough last Saturday to net maximum North Division 2 points.

The home side overran Slazenger in the early exchanges but goalkeeper Dave Hellam pulled off a string of top notch saves to keep his team in contention.

Having survived the first half thanks to Hellam, Slazenger were a different proposition in the second half and within ten minutes Mark Butel struck from the top of the D.

Minutes later he tipped in at the far post and with the two-goal cushion Slazenger settled down. Mark Swinden, Keith Whittle and Kev Windler took over total control of the game from this point on.

Whittle and Mike Shaw wrapped things up with two great strikes.

Slazenger are now joint third in the table and hope to push on from there when they tackle City of York seconds at home on Saturday, push back 1.30pm.