FARNWORTH Whites underlined their title intentions when they inflicted the first defeat of the season on Wigan Pier.

And they did it in style, leaving the Wigan side shellshocked after punishing them with a 5-0 mauling.

That kept Whites in second place but they have now closed the gap to three points on leaders Wigan, while having four games in hand.

Greg Woods led the goal celebrations with a well-taken double with one each for Duncan Chadwick, Andy Kitchen and Matthew Crook but equally as crucial was a first half penalty save by keeper Tony Crook.

Whites were only 2-0 up at that stage but Crooks' spot kick save prevented Wigan from getting back into the game and from that point on his side never looked back.

The only other First Division game played ended with a 5-3 win for Smithills over NorthWest Paper. A John Twist hat-trick plus one each from Chris Spackman and Stefan Dean put Smithills on their way with Ian Oldfield, Gary McCarthy and Nathan Barlow on target for the losers.

Only four games were played in the Premier Division but there was no shortage of goals.

Clifton Rangers and Bowling Green shared ten as their game ended in a 5-5 draw.

A Tony Cooper hat-trick and two from Gary French made up Clifton's score while Bowling Green had their own hat-trick hero in Rob Smith, with Paul Mayhew and David Liversedge making up their score.

The battle between the top two ended with leaders Tonge Moor Cons Club beating second-placed Griffin 5-2.

A double strike from Neil Ross in addition to goals from Clint Ramsden, Scott Hilton and Darren Farnworth shot down Griffin, who could only reply with two goals from Shaun Warlow.

Hare and Hounds and Grapes were locked in a 3-3 draw while Horwich Victoria came out 2-1 winners over New Edition, Victoria's goals coming from Andy Elliott and Danny Spillman.