HOLYHEAD Hotspur’s hopes of Huws Gray Alliance survival suffered another blow as they were heavily beaten 5-1 at Gresford Athletic.

The Holy Islanders had no answer for the scintillating form of gifted young forward Jake Eyre throughout, and Darren Garmey’s men now find themselves eight points adrift of safety ahead of their home clash with Flint Town United on Saturday (2.30pm).

After a tight contest during the majority of the first period, the home side finally broke the deadlock on 40 minutes when Eyre despatched his first of the contest, and the same player was on hand to double their advantage after the interval with another well-taken effort on 55.

Credit to the visitors, they responded well to the setback and got themselves back into the contest immediately following the restart when talisman Mel McGinness slotted in a chance after 56 minutes, but once again it was Eyre that put them to the sword when he broke clear and finished well with 71 on the clock.

This was swiftly followed by a fourth from Steve Halliwell’s side which came courtesy of Tom Freeman on 76 minutes, and it was left to the outstanding Eyre to round off the scoring and cap of a sensational individual display with his fourth on 86.

Things are now looking bleak for the struggling side midway through the season, with Spurs winning just one of their opening 16 league games and a huge turnaround in their fortunes will be needed from now until the end of the campaign if they are to avoid relegation.