When Worthing beat Weston-super-Mare 4-3 in August, it commenced the campaign in the most dramatic way possible. It was a warm August day, and within the space of 45 minutes those draped in red went from fearing relegation to believing in promotion. Football is a fickle game, but as the season stretches and the creases are ironed, the winter months often prove decisive. This final weekend of November was the complete performance Agutter had dreamt of since the season began.

Whilst that opening game of the season did witness one of the finest comebacks in Worthing’s history, it did also spotlight that these are two very good footballing sides. Weston have retained that consistency pretty much throughout, seeing their 101-day unbeaten run upended on Tuesday in Torquay. Fast forward a few days, and they would be wilting once more.

There was a real fizz about Woodside Road prior to kick-off. Lots of ‘big game’ chat, plenty of optimism. Weston are a team that might suit Worthing’s style, in that they tend to be a little more patient, and a little less direct. That was on paper. The reality was far more routine than any might have thought.

Chris Agutter was absent for Tuesday’s visit to Farnborough, and he’d have been pleased he stayed at home. This was the reaction. The Reds played with a verve and a vigour; they looked genuinely angry at times. Temi Babalola earned a start alongside Mo Faal in attack, as Tommy Willard dropped out through injury. This was the Temi Show, and we were just living it.

What Babalola offers the side is a genuine target man. Someone who links the play, holds the ball up, gets back and defends. There was a moment in the 62nd minute where he was the last man back, and produced a brilliant sliding challenge.

He could not have wished for a finer start. Fortuitous touch or sheer brilliance? In real time it looked the latter: Kane Wills powering a cross into the box, Babalola’s back was to goal as he looked to control. But the forward, beset by a yellow shirt, somehow gathered the composure to engineer a beautifully flicked-volley that rooted goalkeeper Max Harris, and bounced into the netting.

The second arrived in the 21st minute. It was more delicious stuff: that one-touch, Agi-ball gorgeousity that when it comes off, it is simply a delight to watch. Babalola turned provider on this occasion, but he was just the penultimate piece in a magnificent move. It was his incisive pass that released Faal, feeling the angle that created a channel to run in, to power forward, to finish with devastating aplomb.

It was the first time in 53 days that Worthing had scored first at home in the league, and the recent disjointed starts have forced the Reds into playing with an urgency that just doesn’t suit. Here, the importance of scoring first was obvious. Every time the red shirts flew forward there was a sense of an opening.

Joel Colbran almost connected at the back post and Kane Wills drove the ball over, but the pressure was persistent and Babalola was the catalyst. Then Dylan Kadji scythed down Jack Spong and was shown a second yellow card. The already-dominant Reds now had an extra man on the field. The half time whistle prised Weston from the ropes. For them, 2-0 was generous. It was time for the knockout blow.

It didn’t take very long for the third to arrive. Babalola picked up his second assist of the day, showing his strength and slipping in Danny Cashman, who passed the ball into the corner. It was more Babalola brilliance, more Worthing ruthlessness.

Woodside Road rose in the 64th minute. Babalola’s number was up on the board, and he was off to a standing ovation. He was only on for little over an hour, but his presence had been felt. The Weston backline could breathe a little easier now. Ollie Starkey and Harrison Smith were on now, hunting to scribe their own name on the scoresheet.

The game had been clearly won, but had you just arrived with 20 minutes to play, you’d have scarcely known. They didn’t just settle and turn the closed sign around; they sensed further openings, preyed on myriad defensive vulnerabilities.

On occasion teams have pressed Worthing’s backline into goal-conceding errors. At times teams have driven at the Reds’ defence, and forced a way through. For a side of Weston’s quality this all felt supremely routine, but then it’s felt as if something like this has been coming. Where everything just seemed to fall effortlessly into place.

For the first time this season, Agutter could stand in his technical area, 80 minutes into a match, and be at genuine ease with the world. If this is a sign of things to come, then this forthcoming festive period might just prove merry. For the Reds didn’t just beat high-flying Weston-super-Mare; they dismantled them.