STEPHEN Cleal praised his side’s never-say-die attitude after Malvern Town scored a last-minute winner in a 2-1 victory against Falmouth Town.
The Hillsiders extended their winning run to four matches as Charlie Johnson scored in the 90th minute to seal a narrow victory at the HDAnywhere Community Stadium.
That came after Rubin Wilson fired Falmouth into an early lead only for Levi Francis to draw Malvern level virtually straight from the restart.
The result means the Hillsiders sit sixth in the Southern League Division One South table, two points outside of the play-off places.
And Cleal praised his side’s desire to find a late winner and stretch their unbeaten run to nine matches.
Cleal said: “Credit to them, they caused us a few problems in the first half, they had quite a direct style and we didn’t live with it in the first 15 to 20 minutes.
“They probably went ahead deservedly, it was good to score straightaway and get the equaliser back, but the rest of the half was pretty even.
“We said to the lads at half time: ‘can we step it up a notch?’ and we peppered their goal a bit more in the second half and created more chances. Their keeper has made two or three really good saves.
“To score in the last minute is brilliant, the lads don’t know when they’re beaten.
“They don’t give up, they’ve done it two or three times this year and it just shows their desire to kick on and keep doing what they’re doing.
“Fans can get excited talking about play-offs but for me it’s just about building points.
“Every point we get is adding to the record, I’ve been here three years now, the heritage of it and everything behind it is massive.
“To be part of a history-making team is brilliant, I’ve said to the lads enjoy that and see where it takes us.”
Malvern avoided an early scare when Johnson collided with a Falmouth player in the box only for the referee to wave away the visitors’ protests.
And Falmouth then spurned a glorious chance to break the deadlock as a header from inside the six-yard box went the wrong side of the post.
Falmouth eventually took the lead on 13 minutes when Wilson tapped home a ball in from the left from close range.
However, Malvern equalised almost immediately as Francis volleyed the ball into the bottom left corner from the edge of the penalty area.
And Francis almost completed the turnaround early in the second half as Falmouth goalkeeper Morgan Coxhead made a crucial save to keep out the Malvern man’s effort.
The Hillsiders snatched the points in the final minute of regulation time as substitute Ryan Brunt flicked on Joe Bullock’s corner from the left and Johnson nodded home from five-yards out.
Malvern are next in action against Cribbs on Saturday, March 15 with kick-off at 3pm at The Lawns.
