Trafford extended their unbeaten run in pre-season fixtures to six with a comfortable 4-2 victory over Premier Division side Ashton United.

The hosts stormed ahead after just 16 seconds when Alfie Belcher found Darius Palma whose incisive pass allowed Mike Burke to fire past Greg Hartley.

Five minutes later Palma made it two when he broke clear, held off a challenge by Tom Warren and clipped the ball into the bottom corner.

Trafford’s whirlwind start continued and after just eight minutes Matty Barlow made it 3-0 when he prodded home from close range after Ashton had failed to clear a free kick from the left.

With Astley Mulholland once again proving to be a revelation in his central midfield role, Trafford were in complete control and Matty Morgan should have made it four but goalkeeper Hartley came out to block.

The second half started with Ashton on top and the impressive Jack Redshaw pulling the strings, although he failed to connect properly with a Harvey McAdam cross in the 52nd minute.

Five minutes later, Trafford pushed forward and full back Jack Sloan was tripped in the penalty area, enabling Matty Morgan to blast the resultant penalty into the roof of the net.

Mike Burke saw his powerful drive blocked by the legs of goalkeeper Hartley but then Trafford lost their rhythm somewhat following a number of substitutions.

In the 74th minute careless play by the hosts allowed Ben Hardcastle to blast his shot past Jonny McIlwaine and make it 4-1 and Hardcastle struck again five minutes from time when he collected McIlwaine’s weak headed clearance to slot the ball into the empty net to half the deficit.

Despite those two late goals Trafford manager Danny Caldecott was delighted with his team’s performance and they complete their preparations for the new season on Tuesday night when they play host to great friends Altrincham, kick off 7.45 p.m.