Neil Sorvel led the acclaim for goal machine Elliott Durrell after the Altrincham forward played his way into the record books at The J.Davidson Stadium on Saturday.

A brilliant curled effort by Durrell in only the third minute set Alty on their way to a resounding 4-1 win over play-off rivals Spennymoor Town and made him the first player since Bert Lister 53 years ago to score in each of his first four appearances for the club.

He will have to go some to match Lister’s remarkable record of scoring in each of his first nine Alty outings, but Sorvel insisted the attacking midfielder’s achievement should not be underestimated after seeing the Robins move to within a point of third-placed Boston United.

"You can’t ask for more than four in four, and it’s all the more impressive when you consider it’s not even four full games," said Alty’s assistant-manager.

"He’s only been on the pitch a total of about 180 minutes, so that’s some going.

"It was another great finish, and it set us off and running.

"We’re really delighted with the result and the performance. We said to the players, when we were on the brink of the play-offs a couple of weeks ago, 'can we force our way in there and can we give ourselves a bit of leeway for staying clear of eighth?'

"We’ve done that, so it has been a good day all round. Jordan Hulme has come up with two outstanding finishes and, in between, Tom Hannigan restored the two-goal cushion with a bullet header.

"They were all good goals, and Jordan’s second, when he exploited space with a nonchalant, delightful chip, rounded it off perfectly.

"We had total control, even allowing for Tony Thompson’s unbelievable reflex save near the end, and to finish with a three-goal swing was outstanding by the lads."

Alty face a searching test of their promotion credentials on Saturday against leaders York City at Bootham Crescent, the Minstermen currently two points clear of King's Lynn Town, who have four games in hand.