It was the first time in three attempts that Cardea had beaten Fenland Police after both teams fought for the title and were promoted from Division 3 last season.

Cardea started with Anton Fountain in goal behind a back three of Stuart Yaxley, Tom Rimes and Michael Williams. Ryan Moore and Adam Simons played as wingbacks.

The midfield three consisted of Aaron Yeoman, Gav Earl and captain Daryl Patrick. Shane Cooke played up front with Matt Jarvis.

The game got off to a slow start with both teams competing well but neither making a breakthrough in the final third.

The turning point in the game came midway through the first half when Cooke collected the ball on halfway and tore down the left wing easily outpacing the Fenland right back, he cut into the area and laid the ball back to Jarvis whose side footed effort flew past the keeper for his first Cardea goal.

Cooke nearly added a goal to his assist after half an hour but he shot against the post and the ball rolled to safety.

However the Cardea number 9 did grab himself a goal moments later. Earl won the ball in midfield and found Simons down the right, his cross into the box was picked up at the back post by Cooke. From the byline Cooke bundled his way through a series of challenges in the area and got a bit of luck to keep the ball and his finish was blasted past the keeper to double the Cardea lead.

Cardea then had 5 successive corners and Williams and Cooke almost added a third during this period.

The third Cardea goal came just before half time and it was another for Cooke. Yeoman played the ball to Patrick and he spotted Cooke in a lot of space to his left and he made no mistake with the finish.

After half time Ryan Moore almost extended the lead but he shot over from a good cross into the area.

Dale Moore and Luke Penman came into the action on the hour mark with Kynan Bereznyckyj coming on ten minutes later.

It didn't take Bereznyckyj long to get an assist. He crossed a great ball in from the left and the ball went through a lot of players to Penman at the back post and he finished first time for the forth.

After the goal Michael Creek and Daniel Robinson were also brought on. Penman had chances to add to his tally when Creek twice played him through but his first effort was saved and his second went wide of the target.

Fenland Police weren't offering much of an attacking threat in the second half but whatever they did throw at the Cardea back line was dealt with. Fountain showing good hands in goal to hold onto a couple of shots.

The performance was nearly topped off in the last minute by a fantastic pitch length run by Rimes. The Cardea defender made a tackle in his own area and surged forward beating several midfielders and defenders and getting into the opposition area but his shot couldn't match the greatness of his run as he blasted over the bar.

The referee brought the game to a finish and Cardea kept up the pressure on league leaders Premiair with a comprehensive victory.

After the game manager Kev Webster said: "I was impressed that the break hadn't affected us and for the first 45 mins we were back to playing our best football. We controlled from the back, won the midfield battle and carried a good threat up front.

"Team selection today was spot on and everyone did everything we had wanted. You should all be happy with that result and performance today after such a long break with no football. We are still keeping on the pressure for that top spot and that's all we can do at the moment while we have games in hand.

"For me man of the match was Jarvis, he started the rout with a controlled finish and his link up play with Cookie up top was really good. Well done on scoring your first Cardea goal. Would also like to mention the quality Yeoman and Cookie displayed in the first half really helped us control the game and look comfortable. Second half was all about the control the back three showed and another clean sheet helped out by the tireless work put in by Gav. Well played lads."

Cardea are in cup action next week when they travel to Bretton to play West Town Reserves in the McCain Cup.