Rugby Town romped to victory with their biggest win of the season against 10-man Wellingborough Town at Butlin Road.

Liam Francis and Lewis Rankin had given the hosts a deserved half-time lead, but the Doughboys then looked to make a game of it by scoring not long after the restart.

The 66th minute dismissal of Wellingborough's Troy Johnston pretty much ended the visitors' hopes though, and Rugby's late blitz included a hat-trick for Charlie Evans.

Town were unchanged for the game following their weather-enforced break the previous weekend, and they made a bright start against the Northamptonshire club.

The home side's first shot on target saw Wellingborough keeper Bradley Lashley push away a Rankin free-kick, with Dom Perkins's cross from the loose ball just blocked out for a corner.

Valley opened the scoring from the resulting set-piece though, with Francis rising high to meet Rankin's floated delivery to head past Lashley.

Richard Bunting smashed the ball against the crossbar, before Rankin made it two when he curled in a trademark left foot finish on cutting in from the right after Dan Summerfield had set him up.

The final chance of the opening period fell to the visitors though, when Jake Gillingwater beat Matt Hill to Guiseppe Freitas's searching delivery - but his header drifted just wide.

Wellingborough's Carlos Lewis was soon finding space down the right after the restart and Hill did well to keep out his powerful strike - with Perkins ensuring the follow-up effort from the same player was denied too.

However Lewis made no mistake from the corner that ensued from Freitas, when headed home at the far post.

Edwin Ahenkorah's shot was then blocked after Evans had done well to keep the ball alive in the box, before Johnston's late studs-up challenge on Ahenkorah saw him sent from the field by referee Jake Webster.

Rankin's deflected strike was taken comfortably by Lashley and Loyiso Recci almost forced home a Rankin corner at the back post, as the hosts looked to make their numerical advantage count - with Keenah Rosser also going close when he slid onto Fazel Koriya's cross from the left.

Town's third came on 82 minutes after sub Simeon Tulloch had chased down a long ball before feeding Koriya to float one onto Evans's head for him to score from close range.

Two minutes later another sub Harry Holloway effortlessly stroked one home from the edge of the penalty area after Ahenkorah had laid the ball across to him, and it was a further Ahenkorah assist that set-up Evans's second and Town's fifth - with his deflected shot giving Lashley no chance.

Evans completed his quickfire treble on 88 minutes with another close range header to a Summerfield cross this time, and Tulloch rounded things off by streaking clear from deep to slide the ball past the by-now beleaguered away keeper after Wellingborough's Gohan Ulker had initially surrendered possession sloppily.

Valley Line-up: Hill; Recci, Francis, Perkins (Holloway); Rosser, Koriya, Summerfield, Bunting, Rankin (Tulloch); Evans, Ahenkorah. Subs not used: Connor, Steele, Marsden. Booked: Evans, Bunting.

Wellingborough line-up: Lashley, Smeathers, Mortimer, Randall, Gillingwater, Johnson, Lewis, Lea, Wilkes, Cirelli, Freitas. Subs: Ulker, Adams, McDonald.