AIRBUS UK Broughton have hit back at a thinly veiled swipe by Prestatyn Town boss Neil Gibson suggesting the club has an unfair advantage in the transfer market.

During the January window Airbus boss Andy Preece has brought in former Football League defender Phil Bolland, ex-Chester and Wrexham midfielder Christian Smith, Bury’s Luke McCarthy and Reynaldo Carbon, bringing Liverpool U21 keeper Jamie Stevens in on loan.

But after seeing the rampant Wingmakers crush his team 6-1 at home, Gibson said: “The people that are making signings are the people that can afford to make signings,” he said. “Short of building a factory and offering some jobs, I doubt we’ll be able to do that.”

But Airbus UK Broughton chief operating officer Stewart Roberts hit back.

“I’m a bit disappointed in Neil’s comments to be honest, they are misguided to say the least,” he said. “Airbus UK Broughton runs completely independently from Airbus and we have not one single player who works for Airbus.”

For Preece, Gibson’s remarks only highlight his side’s’ achievements.

“We are the surprise club in the top six at the moment,” he said. “People are looking for reasons why and picking up on this mistaken belief.

“The reasons are clear – hard work and budget management. Some teams spend all their budget on a couple of good players and when they get injured they become a poor team. We spread our budget out.

“We looked away from the Welsh players to England, where we felt we could get more value for money.

“I had the same budget as the previous manager. But getting into the top six means we have been able to rebalance the budget.

“Prestatyn are a good side and I get on well with Neil but I don’t talk about other teams’ budgets because I don’t know. I always try to focus on getting my own house in order.”

The Wingmakers’ house was certainly in order last Saturday as they inflicted Prestatyn’s joint heaviest ever Welsh Premier defeat.

In the first half the sides were evenly matched, Ryan Wade’s effort cancelled out before Glenn Rule lashed home an unstoppable 20-yard volley.

Chris Budrys rose unchallenged to nod home a corner 10 minutes into the second half and with 20 minutes to go he bagged his second.

Phil Bolland marked his Airbus debut with a headed goal soon after and sub Jordan Johnson helped set up Riley for the Wingmakers’ sixth goal in the 84th minute.

Airbus are scheduled to travel to Newtown on Saturday for a Welsh Cup fourth round tie before playing their much-delayed league clash with Afan Lido on February 2 in the final set of fixtures before the Welsh Premier finally splits in two.

Snow and frost put paid to a whole host of local fixtures over the weekend. There were no matches played in the West Cheshire League, Chester & District League or the Chester Sunday League. Games involving Malpas and Tarporley Vics in the Cheshire League were also off.

The Chester & District FA is running a course for new referees at Chester FC, starting on Sunday, February 24 (10am-4pm) and running every Sunday until March 17. The course costs £120. For further information, call Dave Powell on 01244 322272 or email david.epowell@btinternet.com.