Tiptree United continued their march towards promotion from division one with a 4-0 win against a lacklustre Haverhill Rovers side - but it could and should have been many more.

On a heavy pitch, the Jam-makers made equally heavy work of their victory despite carving out numerous chances including a missed penalty by top scorer David Barefield at the death.

Tiptree displayed the look of a team that has been league leaders most of the season, by the easy and stylish way they created openings and in the way they looked, at times, a little too comfortable.

Within the first 10 minutes they could have been two or three goals up, Barefield having a goal disallowed and player-manager Parnell hitting the post with only the keeper to beat.

Haverhill never looked likely to trouble Tiptree but the first goal did not come until the 34th minute when Parnell scored with a glancing header from a corner.

No sooner had the second half begun than the game quickly adopted the pattern of the first with Tiptree dominating but continuing to dwell on the ball too long.

The chances kept coming but the second goal remained elusive until just after the hour when Parnell notched his second with a low shot after beating his marker.

United then seemed happy to knock the ball around for what seemed like no other reason than they could, especially in defence.

Finally Barefield added a third in the 73rd minute following up after the Haverhill keeper had made a good save and by the time the fourth goal came with ten minutes remaining Haverhill were already dreaming of a warm shower to save their miserable afternoon.

Captain Stuart Jarvis scored a rare goal with the boot, nipping in at the near post from a free kick.

In the last five minutes Parnell twice had the chance to celebrate his 37th birthday last Thursday with a hat-trick but failed to beat the keeper after neatly beating two men and then gave up the opportunity of taking the penalty which Barefield missed.

Parnell said: "We should probably have been four or five up in the first half but at the end of the day the three points are more important than the performance."

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