There were a number of changes, including a debut for Gareth Thomas, who slotted seamlessly into the centre of the defence, but we produced a solid and disciplined performance and earned the three valuable points at stake which moved us up into mid-table, a result warmly applauded by the fans at the final whistle.
We started well and pushed forward on a number of occasions without creating a clear-cut chance, James Clark was unable to control the ball when he broke forward and Louie Soares fired over the bar following a good ball from Rhys Tyler. At the other end, Lewis Ward saved well from a Jordan Cox header and was in the right place again when Harry Lee headed in from a corner. Concord keeper Louis Wells did well to tip a Clark shot over the bar, but the visitors had a great chance when, from a hard low cross, Ian Herring was adjudged to have handled the ball. Ward, however, got down well to save Steve Cawley’s penalty and ensure that the first half was goalless.
We were soon on the attack after the interval and Louie Soares gave us the lead after 51 minutes when Willmoth slipped him the ball, he cut through several defenders to beat Wells with a shot which went in off the post. Concord who had plenty of the ball without really looking like scoring. With only a single goal separating the two sides, the game was far from over, but we made it safe after 81 minute when Luke Hopper broke through from debutant Jordan Simpsons intricate through ball and his shot was dragged wide, but Nicholas Bignall tapped in. Ward made two great saves in injury time as Concord kept going until the end, but the points were ours.
Team Lewis Ward, Rhys Tyler (c) Paul Stonehouse,Ian Herring, Gareth Thomas, Callum Willmoth, James Clark(Nicholas Bignall)Scott Rees(Jamal Lawrence), Stefan Brown, Luke Hopper, Louie Soares (Jordan Simpson)