Turpin's ton helps Blues mount pressure on leaders

Turpin, who netted 97 times in 92 appearances during two previous spells with the Blues, reached his impressive milestone with a 42nd-minute strike.

The front-hitter scored his third goal in as many games since returning to Bonnymead Park after Matt Cox and Danny Finnigan had put the hosts into a comfortable lead.

And Craig Wheeler’s strike five minutes after the resumption concluded a four-goal demolition for Amesbury alongside their sixth straight win in all competitions.

Gareth Horner said of the second-placed high-fliers: “Saturday was one of those games where we were always doing just enough.

“We were far from spectacular or as good as we have been, but sometimes when teams come to try and break up play you just have to grind out the result.

“That's six on the bounce for us now so there are certainly no complaints from me from points to games and cup progress but we just lacked that cutting edge at the weekend.

“We obviously find ourselves sitting second in the league but there are six or seven sides who are within touching distance of each other. The players have been set their target and that's for them to achieve now. We certainly have a tough run of fixtures coming up.”

Amesbury have a break from the league on Saturday with their Wessex Cup trip to Newport (IOW) (3pm).

Town will make the ferry trip to the Isle of Wight fearless, having knocked out Hamworthy United from the Wessex Premier in the previous round.

Horner added: “In reality we are there to be competitive and to see where that takes us.

Unfortunately, we have a few players missing through suspension, injury or unavailability but that was the same for Hamworthy.

“We will go there full of confidence and enjoy ourselves as it's a great place to go. “Cups are a great distraction but if I could swap a cup run for a few more points on the board I would bite your hands off.”