Dereham Town A welcomed fellow title hopefuls Cranworth to Aldiss Park on Saturday and ran out 8-4 winners. After starting indifferently in the two previous fixtures and conceding early goals the management team placed an emphasis on starting strongly in this game. Dereham certainly took heed as straight from Cranworth’s kickoff the visitors lost the ball under heavy pressure, Dereham attacked down the left and Gav Hughes expertly placed a header into the far corner of the goal, the referee confirming that the goal was timed at 21 seconds. Dereham continued to harry the Cranworth players giving them limited time on the ball and soon went 2 up with in-form striker Curtis Hackett bagging his first of four. Alex Took soon added a third with a neat turn and finish at the near post and Gav Hughes scored his second driving the ball into the roof of the net from an acute angle. Curtis Hackett added his second and Dereham’s fifth goal tucking the ball home after the keeper parried Lee Corks shot. Ryan Maund was causing havoc down the Cranworth Left hand side and they were struggling to cope with the tempo and quality of Dereham’s play, Curtis completed his first-half hat-trick with a superb drive into the bottom corner and Ryan Maund capped a superb first half with a well deserved goal of his own. 7-0 at half time and Cranworth were absolutely shell shocked. The second half began as the first half ended as Dereham scored their eighth straight after half time when Curtis Hackett drove an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net. Soon after, the game seemed to take a turn when Dereham made a couple of changes and moved a few players around. Cranworth started to find their feet and turned in a much better second half performance scoring four goals to brighten their day up a bit. Overall a fantastic performance by Dereham.  Lessons can be learnt, however, as to what can happen when complacency creeps in.