FIVE-STAR Salisbury Men's Hockey emphatically dispatched University of Portsmouth.

In a high-tempo game, the students simply could not cope with movement of Salisbury as the home side powered their way into a third consecutive victory following a 5-0 romp.

The Lower Bemerton outfit spent much of the first half on the front foot with Rory Sheriff coming close on a couple of occasions. Dom Welman opened the scoring to give Salisbury a narrow 1-0 lead at the break.

It was the second half when Salisbury really began to outclass the visitors, with Nick Easterbrook doubling the score from a penalty corner before a moment of individual class made trebled their advantage.

Picking the ball up just past halfway, Easterbrook shrugged-off two defenders before unleashing a powerful reverse stick shot into the bottom corner.

Tom Twentyman scored from a penalty corner before Tom Morton added his name to the scoresheet with a late goal.

The result moves Salisbury up to fifth place in Hampshire Division One just a point behind third-placed Uni of Portsmouth.

Captain Andy Renshaw told JournalSport: "We had to work really hard in the first half, but as soon as we went 2-0 we really started to show what we are about. We played some really attractive hockey with a really strong defensive performance."