KEN Vaughan watched his Poppies side earn a first Sydenhams Premier win in five weeks and then declared the result “a long time coming”.

Poppies crushed Fareham 4-1 thanks to a dominant display at Victoria Park which enabled them to rise to 15th in the standings.

Diop Evans opened the scoring after 18 minutes and the same man doubled the lead before Marc Fairbrother saw his penalty well saved by stopper Luke Douglas.

Dan Saul tucked away number three and Fairbrother made it 4-0 when he profited from a weak back-pass.

Connor Doe rattled the bar as Poppies went in search of a fifth before Fareham pulled one back late on thanks to Sam Knight.

Vaughan said that it had been an excellent all-round display and admitted that player availability had made a difference.

He told the Daily Echo: “We couldn’t pick a man of the match because the performances were that good and I think that’s the first time that’s ever happened.

“It was a win that was a long time coming and it was nice to reverse last week’s defeat.

“It was the first time for a long time that I’ve had so many players available. Apart from Connor Phillips, I think we had virtually everybody available, so we had a good balance.

“We started brightly and were on top very quickly. Once we got the first goal, I think it was plain sailing after that.

“We had to work hard for it and although they had their chances, we took care of it all.”

Poppies: Vaughan, Burgis, Dibba, Doe, Evans (Schutte, 68), Fairbrother, Pekun, Robinson (Molyneaux, 77), Saadi, Saul (Bassiriki, 58), Ward. Unused subs: Khider, Taylor.