Ford delighted as Puritans show their class

For the second week running, Mark Bell came off the bench to bag all three Evo-Stik Southern League points. The Puritans kept a fifth clean sheet on the spin as they emerged 1-0 victors in Saturday’s premier division clash thanks to Bell’s late penalty.

Ford said: “I’m a very happy and proud manager after that. My players were absolutely magnificent.

“Winning that game on the back of the emotion surrounding the Leamington victory maybe shows we are maturing as a side.

“I said a similar thing after the Chippenham game, and it’s the same today. If I was the Leamington manager I would be looking for this result and seeing Dorchester 2 Banbury 0 and thinking ‘they can raise their game against us but they can’t do it in the games that really matter’. Well, we have.

“That was a proper away performance on the back of a victory over the leaders on Monday.

Coming away from here with a 0-0 would not have been a bad result but if you go for a draw you will probably get beat.”