A FLURRY of first-half goals ensured Pickering Town continued their assault on the Northern Counties East League first division in style.

But the 4-1 victory over a very pedestrian Denaby United was marred by a woeful second half display which was as poor as the first was impressive.

Angry boss Jimmy Reid said the display after the break "was going to annoy him all weekend" and said the players had been told in no uncertain terms that higher standards were expected.

Pickering, starting the game with six games in hand on the league leaders, started fabulously.

German goal machine Stephan Zoll picked up his ninth and tenth strikes of the season within five minutes, a clever turn and left-foot drive for the first and a good dribble and low strike for the second.

Crisp passes and good movement off the ball was far too much for a slow and clumsy Denaby and it was just 18 minutes before ex -Notts County and Darlington pro Gary Chapman banged in a deflected drive under the despairing Danny Spooner from just outside the box.

Then on 22 minutes Chapman played an exquisite first-time ball over the top for a grateful Gavin Dickinson to gather and slide past the hapless Spooner to put the game beyond doubt before it even got going.

But things degenerated quickly with Zoll getting greedy and his team-mates getting lazy and complacent for the remainder of the match.

And it was in the 64th minute that Martin Francis smashed home a deserved penalty for the away side after a clumsy foul by skipper Simon Sturdy.

PICKERING: Mitchell, Reid, Connor, Chapman (Wash 62), O'Reilly, Sturdy, Morton (Greening 62), Willgrass, Zoll, MacAuley, Dickinson (Willoughby 79).

DENABY UNITED: . Spooner, Thompson, Bark (Dews 47), Clarke, Hawke, Francis, Wasilewski (Wheeldon 75), Atkinson, Bates, Broomhead (Pickering 79), Pack.

REFEREE: Wayne Grunnill (Hull)

ATTENDANCE: 147

Updated: 11:55 Monday, November 26, 2001