LANCASTER City's late opening to the season proved to be well worth the wait as Tony Hesketh's men outclassed newly promoted Burscough on Tuesday night.

After a mediocre first half, Farrell Kilbane's goal on the stroke of half time gave City the impetus to fire in four fine second half strikes.

Burscough, on a high after a win over Hyde United on Saturday, restricted City's attempts at slick passing early on.

The hard working South Lancashire side looked to have the edge physically. Although Kilbane, John Fowler and Neil Morton all ground out half chances, City never really looked like taking the lead.

However, all that change on 44 minutes when Lee Clitheroe's corner fell nicely for Kilbane who hit a shot which skimmed through a crowd of players and past Burscough keeper Price.

City turned the screw in the second half, as Lee Clitheroe reached the byline and fired a powerful cross along the goaline, deceiving the visiting defenders and allowing midfielder Dean Martin to double City's advantage.

Clitheroe capped an impressive performance with the goal of the night moments later.

He ran powerfully at the defence and, as the back four pushed up to try and catch Chris Ward offside, Clitheroe kept on running.

But, instead of playing a through ball, Clitheroe kept on running, skipping past right back Neil Hanson to put himself in on goal, before coolly slotting the ball past Price.

Clitheroe thoroughly deserved the congratulations of the 250 crowd and his appreciative team-mates.

The little wideman had looked good in pre-season and he took his big chance with both hands -- he looks like a real star of the future.

Clitheroe could have grabbed another on 71 minutes when Chris Ward's excellent cross found him in the penalty area. However, the ball was put behind by Burscough.

From the resulting Jimmy Graham corner, Ward opened his account for the season, putting the ball beyond Price with relative ease.

And, moments later, an unnecessary handball by Andy McMullen allowed Ward the chance to add his second from the penalty shot.

Burscough came back into the game as full time approached, with two fantastic long range strikes from Billy Knowles and sub Robbie Talbot making the scoreline slightly more respectable.

A delighted Tony Hesketh said afterwards: "I thought in the first half they had the edge, but once we got the second goal, you'll not see a more one-sided game all season."

City: Horridge 7, Sparrow 7, Graham 7, Kilbane 8, Horner (c) 7, Mayers 7 (Haddow 72,), Martin 8 (Barnes 72,), Fowler 7, Ward 8, Morton 7 (Welch 68,), Clitheroe 9

Bright Blue:

Lee Clitheroe