Mellon had intended to give club captain Jamie Milligan the afternoon off to nurse an injury, but an enforced half-time reshuffle resulted in the midfielder playing 45 minutes beside debutant Anthony Barry.

Left-back Alan Wright was recalled after a thigh injury but was unable to continue after half-time. That meant Sean Clancy dropping into the back four and skipper Milligan joining a rejigged midfield.

Mellon explained: "We wanted not to use Jamie Milligan. We wanted to give him a bit of a rest because of this sort of a hernia problem he has got but we had to bring him on at half-time.

"He put on a sterling show but right through the whole team I can have no complaints. In the second half we didn't look like losing any more goals and it was a thoroughly professional performance. We dealt with everything they flung at us. They are a pretty physical side and they work very hard but we were quite comfortable.

"The lads can be very proud and we stay top of the league."

Barry enjoyed a solid 90-minute debut – his first match since playing against Town for Chester in the FA Trophy seven weeks earlier.

Mellon added: "I know what Anthony Barry is all about. He has done these run-ins before and so he won't be fazed by this.

"We have 15 games to go and we are fully focused to take them one at a time. We'll keep ticking over."

*TOWN'S Nick Rogan has been named Blue Square North player of the month for January.

The Blackpool-born striker scored four goals in the three league games he started last month.

*Town's Jack Duggan, Jordan Holmes and Adam Sumner were all in the starting line-up for the Lancashire Under-18 side which reached the semi-finals of the FA County Youth Cup with a 1-0 win over Suffolk at Leyland. Clubmate Mark France came on in the second half.