WARRINGTON Town manager Shaun Reid had a ‘smile from ear to ear’ as he watched title rivals Northwich Victoria sink to a 5-0 defeat which sent his side 12 points clear at the top of the table.

The Yellows went 12 points clear at the top of the Evo Stik League Northern Premier First Division North when they secured a 1-0 over Scarborough Athletic and second-place Vics were battered at home by Farsley Celtic.

Vics have five games in hand on Town, but they recently lost manager Jim Gannon to Stockport County and Reid said he ‘smiled from ear to ear’ when watching highlights of Northwich’s 5-0 defeat online.

He said: “To say there are problems at Northwich is an understatement.

“I saw the goals from their game online and there was some really bad defending – I had a smile on my face from ear to ear.

“They’ve had a change of manager which has upset the ranks but long may it continue.

“We had seven or eight games in hand last season and it’s difficult to get them in, you end up playing two or three times a weeks.”

And Reid believes that the narrow victory against Scarborough could be a crucial moment in their season.

The 1-0 win made it 13 league games unbeaten, with 12 wins and one draw since a 3-1 defeat at home to Burscough in mid-October.

The 50-year-old said: “The conditions on Saturday were a bit wild – there were hurricanes, gales and everything.

“Scarborough are a big, strong football team and they came here with a plan to kill the game but my lads stepped up to the plate – they’ve been magnificent.

“Looking back through the years, history speaks for itself – the real championship-winning teams get those 1-0 wins and get results when things aren’t going great.

“Sometimes you have to battle for 90 minutes and on Saturday we showed that ability to dig a bit deeper and come out with a win.

“I’d like to think that my mentality spreads to the team – we’ve got no given right to win any football match and I told them that at half time at 0-0, I told that that the team that wants it most would win.

“But you don’t win the league in February and we won’t take our foot off the gas.”

Next up for Town is a visit to strugglers Harrogate Railway Athletic on Saturday.

Reid added: “Harrogate are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table and we beat them well at home – they’ve had a tough up and down season.

“It won’t be an easy game – we’re doing our homework on them and we will go and do the same things as we did against Scarborough and be professional.

“I don’t want to seem blasé about it but it’s about what we do and we need to dictate the match.

“You’ve always got to be one step ahead and we will be.

“It’s about approaching it in a professional manner and respecting the opposition – if you don’t it will come back and bite you.”

Reid had special thanks to the Yellows fans in a season that has so far seen them score 72 goals and keep 15 clean sheets.

He said: “We’re flying and I’d like to thank the supporters and the town – we had 500 fans on Saturday in disgusting weather and they shouted us home.

“It’s their football club and we’re trying our best to make it successful.”