Ford salutes his players despite Puritans losing out to the leaders

Substitute Chris Lait bagged the late winner as Tamworth beat the Puritans 1-0 in Saturday's top-of-the-table Premier Central clash at the Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium.

Ford said: "I thought we were better than them in the first half but didn't manage to get in front, they were better in the second half but didn't create too many chances. Jack Harding made a couple of saves late on but then we failed to deal with a late cross into our six-yard box and they win it.

"There are fine lines between winning and losing, Tamworth got away with it in the first half, we missed some opportunities in the first half and when you're playing against a top side you have to take them. They were able to bring on some experienced players late on and that was probably the difference.

"I've got no complaints about my team, we've gone toe-to-toe with a top side and you could see by they way their players celebrated they knew they had taken a big scalp, which is a credit to us. They couldn't cope with our play in the first half but we couldn't get the goal we deserved.

"We gave away a lot of free-kicks near the end and it's difficult to hold on then. But we've come a long way in a short space of time and I thought my players were fantastic."