NEIL Sorvel hailed Altrincham’s ‘Red Arrows’ after a dazzling first-half display kept them flying high at the top of the Evo-Stik Premier on Tuesday night.

Not even a local power cut could dim Alty’s brilliance, as they lit up The J.Davidson Stadium with a four-goal blitz inside the opening 38 minutes against an outclassed Stourbridge side.

The partial power failure left the floodlights operating at two-thirds efficiency in the second half, but the referee deemed the conditions playable, as Alty ran out 4-1 winners to open up a 10-point gap at the top.

Connor Hampson, James Poole (two) and John Johnston got the goals for the Robins.

"That was the best 45 minutes we’ve produced this season," said assistant manager Sorvel.

"We’ve seen some great performances, but that was above and beyond any of them.

"In fact, it was as good a 45 minutes of football as I’ve been involved in at any level.

"We were outstanding. It was like the Red Arrows at times, just flooding into the box, and they couldn’t cope.

"Some of the quality of the football and one and two-touch play through midfield was exceptional.

"We were bouncing it around and able to easily access their back four.

"We attacked them at will, and on top of that, when we didn’t have the ball, the energy, pressing and hunger to get it back was top class.

"There were some quality goals as well, notable for unselfish play by one or two of the lads and some good awareness around the box to create the openings.

"The only little concern was about the lights. I’m not sure whether they (Stourbridge) were getting at the ref and wanting it off, but that would have been a travesty at 4-0 up.

"The light was fine. We’ve been to some away grounds where the lights haven’t been as good as ours were in that second half, so it was the right decision to play on."

Right-back Shaun Densmore returns to full training after a knee injury tonight and is in contention for Saturday's home game against Mickleover Sports, with Workington next up after that at The J.Davidson Stadium on Tuesday night (7.45pm).