Bradbury: It's great to be in the hunt already

A 62nd-minute Jason Prior header proved enough to earn the home side a deserved three points against their hard-working visitors.

The Hawks, who moved up to third in the table, can improve their position even further by winning at Wingate & Finchley today (3pm).

‘We put in another solid performance,’ said boss Bradbury.

‘At one time we had a 10 to 15-minute spell when we totally dictated play but couldn’t hit the back of the net.

‘I thought then it might just be one of those days.

‘Once we got the goal, though, it settled things down and we kept things rolling.

‘I knew if we kept working hard our quality would eventually show through.

‘We’re now right up there in the hunt and that is where I expect us to be.’

Alfie Rutherford and Ben Swallow had early chances as the Hawks began the brighter of the two teams.

The Trawlerboys gradually grew into the game and Jake Reed missed a great chance. On 37 minutes, Swallow saw his fierce effort saved following a goalmouth scramble.

The hosts then had a let off before the break when Jamie Forshaw saw a shot bounce back off the crossbar.

The decisive goal arrived in the 63rd minute following some excellent work by full-back Rory Williams.

Williams produced a superb cross from the left and Prior rose above his defender to bury a powerful header into the bottom corner of the net.

‘Most importantly we kept a clean sheet,’ said Bradbury.

‘All the time we are doing that we are giving ourselves a chance of winning games.’

A big plus has been the return of experienced defender Ed Harris after a year out through injury.

Harris showed his rehabilitation is coming on leaps and bounds with another solid display.

Bradbury will now have to decide if he wants to risk playing Harris twice in three days at Wingate & Finchley.

‘Ed is in a good place at the moment and has got through two games,’ said the boss

‘We don’t want to expect too much too soon and certainly don’t want to lose him like we have Wes Fogden.’

Fogden is likely to be out for at least another two weeks after pulling up at Met Police in midweek.

Fellow midfielder Brian Stock is still ruled out for the visit to north London following his concussion against Folkestone Invicta.

‘It is important we keep our winning run going because it will have a snowball effect on confidence,’ said Bradbury.

Hawks: Young, Strugnell, Woodford, Harris, Williams, Lewis, Robinson, Tarbuck, Swallow, Prior, Rutherford, Molyneaux, Paterson, Hayter, Barker, Ridge