Doswell hails ‘massive three points’ as two late goals keep Hawks’ National League South title dream alive

All season the Hawks have been guilty of dropping valuable points in front of their own fans at weekends - including five defeats.

And after a leg weary and goalless opening 45 minutes against the Beavers, it looked as though history would repeat itself.

However, a revitalised second half performance saw the home side run out comfortable winners.

Wes Fogden made the all-important breakthrough on 77 minutes and top scorer Jonah Ayunga sealed the win four minutes from the end with his 17th league goal of the season.

The win consolidated the Hawks’ second place, enabling them to open up a four-point gap on nearest rivals Weymouth and Slough Town.

With Wealdstone also winning, though, Doswell's team remain five points behind the leaders who also have a game in hand.

All the time the Hawks keep winning, however, it keeps the pressure on the London side

Doswell admitted his team had to overcome a degree of fatigue against the Beavers, who had won their previous four away league games.

'It is a massive three points,' enthused the manager.

'You could see in the first half that our hard game in midweek at Billericay on another heavy pitch had taken its toll.

'We knew that a lot of the players were likely to be running on empty.

'It took us the best part of an hour to really get going and get our second wind.

'In the last half hour we looked much more like it.

'The introduction of the pace of Rutherford and Tarbuck was probably key to our improvement in the last half an hour.'

The opening 45 minutes proved very scrappy on a soft pitch that cut up badly in places.

It made playing a passing game fraught with danger.

Both teams were guilty of giving possession away and chances at either end were conspicuous by their absence.

Doswell had mixed feelings about the playing surface.

'We had a pitch inspection in the morning and I was very surprised the game was on,' he commented.

'Actually, the pitch didn't play as badly as it has for the last eight to ten games.

'It was playable but it does make playing good football difficult.

'Some of the passing in the first half, especially by us, was poor.

'They say the sign of a good side is when you get the win without playing at your best.

'That was certainly the case for us today.

'It is an important win, giving us a nice buffer in second place.'

The Hawks made the all-important breakthrough 13 minutes from the end.

Junior Tiensia's forward ball found substitute Alfie Rutherford inside the visitors’ area, and he in turn set up Fogden to bury a shot across the goalkeeper into the far side of the net.

Ayunga made sure of the three points with a well-timed run and shot from the edge of the area.

'It was a great finish from Wes and it was nice to see it rocket into the side corner,' said Doswell.

'We needed that little boost.

'It was also nice for once to see us go on and get the comfort of a second goal.

'That is something we have not done very often at home on a Saturday.'