Jack Muldoon and Alex Pattison both scored twice as a record Harrogate league crowd of 3,180 were treated to a 6-1 thrashing of basement club Scunthorpe.

Braces from Muldoon and Pattison, as well as a Jack Diamond strike, saw Town lead 5-0 at the break and, although Harry Davis replied in the second half, Danilo Orsi’s penalty wrapped up the rout.

Centre-backs Connor Hall and Will Smith both had headers cleared off the line before the hosts forged into an inevitable lead in the eighth minute, with Muldoon nodding in from three yards after Ryan Fallowfield’s header from Diamond’s left-wing cross had crashed against the underside of the crossbar.

Further goals were then added a minute either side of the quarter-hour mark.

First, excellent harrying by Diamond in his own half left Devarn Green and Ross Millen on their backsides and, on the counter, Muldoon fed Pattison who drilled a low shot past Rory Watson from 12 yards.

Diamond then got in on the act himself, cutting in from the left before drilling an edge-of-the-box strike into the bottom corner, before the on-loan Sunderland winger turned provider again for the next goal, driving down the right flank on another rapid home break and squaring to Pattison – one of three unmarked players in the Scunthorpe box – to find the net from seven yards.

Rampant Harrogate went on to make it 5-0 in first-half stoppage time when Pattison hoisted a ball into the box from the left wing and Muldoon beat Watson with an eight-yard header.

Davis headed in a left-wing Alfie Beestin cross for the visitors in the 79th minute but, after Lewis Thompson had dragged Simon Power down in the box to earn a second yellow, Orsi fired the resulting penalty in off Watson’s right-hand post, concluding the sorriest of afternoons for Scunthorpe, who have won just one of their last 24 matches.