RAMSBOTTOM United warmed up for Saturday’s FA Trophy tie at Altrincham with a 3-0 victory at home to Evo-Stik Premier side Stalybridge Celtic in the Integro League Cup.

Fans were let in free of charge after the original tie had to be abandoned due to floodlight failure.

Rammy were leading that game, and made no mistake second time round with an even more convincing performance.

They made the ideal start when a long throw fell to Eddie Moran on the edge of the penalty area and the midfielder fired in a powerful low shot to give the hosts a seventh-minute lead.

Chances went begging for Rammy before they finally doubled their advantage on 37 minutes. A long clearance from keeper Danny Taberner was superbly controlled by Ben Richardson, who powered into the Stalybridge penalty area before drilling in a shot off the far post.

Richardson had to leave the field with concussion 10 minutes into the second half, but his replacement, Jerome Wright, sealed the victory with Rammy’s third goal. A strong run from Wright took him past the Stalybridge defence before registering his 10th goal of the season with a neat finish.

Stalybridge were the Rams’ second Evo-Stik Premier scalp of the campaign after their impressive victory over Shaw Lane earned progress in the FA Trophy.

But the Evo-Stik North men will need to claim another – Altrincham – if they are to get past the second qualifying round on Saturday.

The Rams will have to improve their away form to do that after falling to a fifth away defeat of the league season last weekend, going down 2-1 at Scarborough Athletic.