Weymouth 0 Hemel Hempstead Town 1
MARK Eaton recorded his first victory as Hemel manager as the Tudors returned from Weymouth with a crucial three points.
After a midweek capitulation at home to Evesham, the pressure was on Town to take something from Saturday’s game, and Rob Haworth’s late header handed them all three points..
The Tudors are still eight points adrift of safety, but the victory gives them hope of launching an end-of-season charge to avoid relegation.
“The players showed a lot of character to get over Tuesday night’s result,” said Eaton. “Weymouth is a really difficult place to go and they have a big, hostile crowd.
“The really important thing for me was that we showed we’ve got the stomach for the fight.”
Both sides had chances in the first half on Saturday, with the best of the Tudors’ opportunities falling to Nabil Shariff and Ross Lafayette.
At the other end, Town keeper Ross Kitteridge had to be alert as Weymouth pressed in search of the opener.
Chances were few and far between after half-time as the game became scrappy, but a rare moment of quality was enough to secure the points for Town.
With 84 minutes on the clock, Dave Pearce broke down the left and crossed expertly for Haworth to head home and earn the vital win for his side.
And Tudors boss Eaton is hoping the win will be a turning point in his side’s fight against the drop.
“It really is 10 cup finals for us from now until the end of the season,” he said.
“We’ve just got to focus on our own points target and we’ve got a tally that we want to meet.
“No-one at the club wants to get relegated, especially me.”