JOINT Westbury United boss Neil Kirkpatrick praised his side’s resilient approach after their FA Vase second qualifying win against Petersfield Town last weekend.

United lost goalkeeper Ed Baldy through injury with the game in the balance at 1-1 on 46 minutes, centre-half Dan Jordan being forced to play out of position between the posts.

Despite the setback, Westbury scored twice more as Callum Demkiv bagged a second-half brace to set up a first round proper clash away at Saltash United on Saturday, October 13.

The performance pleased Kirkpatrick, who explained the match was far from plain sailing despite Petersfield’s lower non-league position.

“Obviously they (Petersfield) are a division below, so we expected to go there and win,” said Kirkpatrick, whose side completed a 3-1 win over Shepton Mallet on Tuesday to make it five wins from five in the Toolstation League Premier Division.

“But when we got down there the pitch was difficult, to say the least – plus we had several lads missing.

“It could’ve been a tricky game. But we dominated for the first 40 minutes and got ourselves ahead, we were so comfortable.

“But through lack of concentration we gifted them a goal, then we had to stick our centre-half in goal. It could’ve been a very difficult afternoon for us from that moment.

“But we played a bit more compact and allowed them to come to us before we picked them off, and that’s what happened.”

Kirkpatrick feared the worst when Baldy was forced off the field, but admitted he pleasantly surprised by Jordan’s efforts in goal to catch everything thrown at him while commanding his back line efficiently.

The joint-boss added: “It’s never ideal having to put your centre half in goal.

“But Dan (Jordan) came out and caught everything that he had to catch, it was great to see.

“The second half was a very disciplined performance, and I was pleased with how they took everything we mentioned to them onboard.”

Westbury have already defeated their next Vase opponents Saltash in the FA Cup earlier this season, but that has little relevance for Kirkpatrick, who admits his troops were totally outclassed during that first half of that particular contest.

“Saltash are a very good side,” said Kirkpatrick.

“We did beat them in the FA Cup, but they battered us in the first half of that game.

“I’m sure they will want revenge, undoubtedly. We know we can beat them though.

“And we know what their strengths are. They’re very good when they play football, but we can try and put something in place to stop that now.

“They’re a good side, we’ll go down there with every intention of winning the game.”