Sporting Bengal 5 Waltham Forest 0

Sporting Bengal extended their unbeaten run to four matches with a five-star display against Waltham Forest at Mile End Stadium.

Imrul Gazi’s men had gone into the festive break in good spirits, following wins over Redbridge and Hullbridge and a draw with Wadham Lodge.

And they maintained their revival against a Forest side who had seen Brian Moses, Rheo Josephs, Elie Mbangu and Stephen O’Hara all depart the club last week.

The visitors went close to opening the scoring when Agua volleyed wide, but Bengal then took the lead midway through the first half as 43-year-old Jamal Rahman tapped in fromm close range.

And Rahman doubled the home side’s lead from a free-kick three minutes later, which the visiting keeper failed to deal with.

David Vaughan raced on to a through ball following a quick break from a Forest corner to make it 3-0 with 20 minutes remaininng and Bayo Cuino curled home a left-footed shot for number four from just inside the box.

Bengal completed their nap hand when Abdi Samad struck four minutes from time and victory lifted them out of the bottom two, leaving them one point behind neighbours Tower Hamlets with two games in hand.

A delighted Gazi tweeted: “An outstanding team performance. G8 way to start the year. Every player was on it. That’s 10/12 points #Proud #TeamSporting.”

Sporting return to action against bottom club Burnham Ramblers at Leslie Field next Saturday, before visiting Barkingside on Monday January 16.

*Tower Hamlets ended a nine-game losing streak and 13-match winless run with a 2-0 victory over fellow strugglers Haringey & Waltham at the Terence McMillan Stadium.

And Ade Abayomi’s young side will hope to build on their triumphant start to 2017 when they play host to Eton Manor on Monday night.