Lall’s deadly double takes Khalsa into the Christmas break in high spirits

A fine reflex save from the Saints keeper denied Mandeep Sandhar an early opener, but with Khalsa pressing high up the pitch, they were left vulnerable to the counter-attack.

The visitors made them pay when they created a five-on-four overlap, James Knibb scoring to put the Northampton side 1-0 up against the run of play.

Khalsa were unfazed and quickly equalised courtesy of an Aaron Nagra short-corner strike.

With the momentum back with the home side, former Saint Jo Colantonio came close to scoring against his former club, only to be denied by another superb save from the visiting keeper.

Sav Lall added a new dimension to Khalsa’s attacking play and he put them 2-1 up at the break after a combining superbly with Stuart Gooderham.

Lall doubled his tally 40 seconds into the second half, calmly lifting the ball over the keeper after Alex Idoine had gone close.

Khalsa were moving the ball freely and confidently and were rewarded with only their second short corner of the game, which Jack Wells powered low into the corner to give Khalsa a useful three-goal cushion.

Amritpal Atwal and Sandhar produced some tight passing in the circle in the build-up to the hosts’ fifth goal before Chris Darling weaved in and out of several Saints defenders and perfectly placed the ball into the corner with a sublime reverse-stick shot.

Saints were not without chances of their own and created several short corners, but a block on the line from Sean Robinson and solid saves from keeper Elliot Rider denied them a way back into the encounter.

Khalsa added gloss to their third successive victory when a perfectly weighted pass from Idoine put Sandhar clear to make it 6-1.