Anything less than three points would have been considered points lost in the league campaign, but Shildon could not have got off to a better start when Mickey Rae opened the scoring after just 70 seconds.

Within 20 minutes, Rae and Shildon had doubled their tally and the game already looked beyond the home side.

Just before the break, Ben Wood missed a glorious opportunity to put the tie beyond doubt when he broke the offside trap, but he pushed his shot just wide of the post.

The third eventually came on 65 minutes when Rae pounced again for his hat-trick after a Kyle Hayes goal kick deceived the Ashington defence, leaving the striker to slot past Conor Grant in the home goal.

It was Rae’s seventh goal in just three matches after returning to the side in place of the injured Paul Connor.

With ten minutes to go, Ashington reduced the deficit through Andrew Bulford and enjoyed a spell of pressure which Shildon had to soak up to ensure there was no slip up from their commanding position.

Instead, it was Shildon who broke forward in added time for Lewis Wing to slam home a right footed shot from the edge of the box and ensure all three points would be heading back to Dean Street.

Shildon are now eleven clear of second placed Guisborough and a full 17 points ahead of Morpeth – the only side capable of overtaking them in the table.

Morpeth can collect seven more points than Shildon if they were to win all eight games they have in hand, but the Highwaymen will have to succeed through a punishing schedule of 24 league games in the final ten weeks of the campaign in order to do so.

Shildon, however, have now taken maximum points from their last six league matches, scoring 25 goals in the process, an average of over four a game. And they will look to continue that rich vein of form when they make the short trip to Heritage Park on Saturday for the always eagerly anticipated local derby at Bishop Auckland. Kick off is at 3pm.