St Ives Town might have gone out of the FA Trophy at the hands of Nantwich Town on Saturday - but they bounced back in the league on Tuesday night when they beat Uxbridge on the outskirts of London 5-1.

Dubi Ogbonna scored twice with Jon Stead, David Cobb and Avelino Vieira adding the others goals as the Saints destroyed Uxbridge with their first season in the Southern League continuing to be a massive success.

The club are sitting pretty in sixth in the Division One Central and are maintaining a push for the play-off come April next year.

There was a moment of hope when substitute striker Vieira rose to head home Stuart Cobb’s cross in their home game against Nantwich. It was an equaliser of quality – and, in the end, the 4-1 scoreline flattered the visitors and was perhaps little harsh on St Ives.

Had goalkeeper Nick Bennion not opted to kick a clearance a minute into the second half, things might have been different. St Ives might still be in the FA Trophy. As it was, the club bowed out of the competition at the second round qualifying stage having deserved a little more luck than they received at Westwood Road on Saturday. Bennion had pulled a quad muscle in the first half but had limped on. At half time, his managers Jez Hall and Warren Everdell asked him to avoid kicking the ball. Bennion kicked it a minute after the restart and was unable to continue.

Without a goalkeeper on the bench, it was striker Karl Gibbs who pulled on the gloves and he was beaten four times. First, Matt Bailey struck from 10 yards just a minute after Dubi Ogbonna had hit a Nantwich post; then – following Viera’s equaliser – the stand-in was beaten by Alex Frost from close range after spilling an Oliver Devanney free kick right at the players feet.

Russ Courtney got number three as St Ives chased the game and the fourth goal, from Devanney, was a cruel deflection.

“I thought the first half was a poor game,” said Hall. “Nothing really happened and we didn’t play very well at all. But the second half, I was really proud of the performance.

“What could have happened if Nick Bennion was in goal is a different thing.

“We don’t like the result and we don’t like seeing the scoreline but I was really happy with the way the lads played in the second half.”

Having lost Enol Ordonez, who was on loan from Cambridge City, earlier in the season, St Ives have survived on one goalkeeper. Risky. And maybe an expensive mistake considering the £3,250 prize money that was up for grabs.

The win at Uxbridge came with the club’s former goalkeeper Carl Mackney having been borrowed from Godmanchester Rovers.