LEE Hooper praised his ‘relentless’ Malvern Town side after the Hillsiders ended their five-game winless run with a 3-2 victory against 10-man Bemerton Heath Harlequins.
Goals from Dion Molyneux and Charlie Johnson twice put the home side ahead before Sam Clark netted in injury time at the HDAnywhere Community Stadium after Bemerton had Brandon Mundy sent off late on.
Despite Bemerton setting up a tense finale with an injury time goal of their own, the Hillsiders held on to claim the points and joint manager Hooper praised his squad’s determination to turn their poor form around.
Hooper said: “It was needed, deserved and something we’ve deserved over the last few weeks, we worked really hard and were relentless in everything we did.
“We spoke about not getting the rub of the green but you’ve also got to work hard to get that luck back.
“The lads were so determined to turn the luck and the results around, we’ve done enough to get more points out of the games we’ve played but that’s football.
“The whole squad has grafted, we’ve had a tough run of fixtures, we just had to dig in.
“All over the pitch we’ve got competition which is good, it stops people going through the motions and ups everybody’s game.”
The home side almost took the lead inside the first 10 minutes as Joe Tumelty saw his looping effort travel the wrong side of the post.
Malvern went close again later in the first half as goalkeeper Josh Bishop, making his second debut for the club after signing on loan from Kidderminster Harriers, cleared the ball in-behind the Bemerton defence and Jack Watts took the ball around the goalkeeper but could only send his shot narrowly over the crossbar as Bemerton’s defenders recovered well.
The Hillsiders spurned another chance to take the lead shortly before half time as Jonathan Hill made a smart save to deny Alex Bell.
Moments later, Hill’s goal kick fell straight to Tumelty and the ball ended up in the path of Watts at the back post as the latter fired his shot wide of the target.
Malvern hit the woodwork early in the second half at Watts saw his effort from the edge of the penalty area come back off the crossbar.
However, the home side broke the deadlock two minutes later as Molyneux headed in a corner from inside the six-yard box.
Malvern’s lead lasted all of five minutes as Ronan Clancy turned in a corner at the near post to draw the visitors level.
The Hillsiders reclaimed the lead on 75 minutes when Johnson headed in a free-kick from the left from close range.
And Bemerton were reduced to 10-men on 83 minutes as Mundy received a second yellow card for a late challenge.
The home side all but sealed the points two minutes into injury time when substitute Clark finished from close range.
However, the visitors reduced the deficit three minutes later as George Higgins found the net from 25-yards out but it proved too little too late.
The result means the Hillsiders sit 11th in the Southern League Division One South table, seven points outside of the play-off places.
Malvern are next in action against Melksham Town on Saturday, January 18 with kick-off at 3pm at Oakfield Stadium.
