BAKERS Arms manager Pete Smith championed the contribution of his defence as his side came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 away at Ashton Keynes in the Swindon & District League Premier Division.

Bakers were able to reduce the gap on third-placed Ashton Keynes to a point on Saturday in blustery conditions as Ashton Glover scored with five minutes to play to claim all three points.

Glover had started the Arms comeback shortly before half-time before Vladimir Bedrich equalised from a corner midway through the second period.

Manager Smith was unhappy with his side’s start to the contest, but said his defence recovered well to lay a platform for their attackers to lead the comeback.

He said: “We were 2-0 down in the first 10 minutes. Ashton Keynes scored directly from a corner – it just sailed over the goalkeeper’s head and into the top corner – but we showed great character and scored just before half-time to cut the gap to 2-1.

“We knew at half-time, what with it being so windy, that we had the wind behind us and we’d be able to get a few chances, which we did.

“Vladimir Bedrich scored a header from a corner on the hour and then we scored with about five minutes left – Ashton Glover put it through the goalkeeper’s legs, so that was nice.

“In the second half, we just pulverised their goal and managed to win 3-2.

“Our two centre-backs were absolutely solid. Because of the wind, there were a lot of balls in the air and, to be fair to them, our defence have probably won the game for us in the end.

“Ashton Glover worked his socks off up front as well and he scored two, so we can thank him for that.

“Lately, we’ve been struggling to get the team that we had at the start of the season, so it was a bit of a scratch team on Saturday.

“We had no subs, so we had to dig in to get the result and we did alright.

“We battled hard because we had two good strikers at the start of the season, but they’re not available as much as we’d like because of work and other things, so given the team that we had out, it was a great result because Ashton Keynes are not a bad team.

“It’s going to be hard to keep on winning, but we’ve still got the core of the team together.

“We’ve got a couple of fresh faces, but I think we’ll be up there, I think we’ll be in the top two.

“Ruby Removals are still too strong at the moment, but we’ll just keep playing and hope for the best.”

In the solitary game in Division One, Blunsdon made it eight wins from nine as they edged past Highworth Town 3-1.

Meanwhile in Division Two, FC Abbeymeads recorded a 2-0 victory over Bassett Bulldogs to stay third.

The team one place below them, Moredon, also won as they brushed Priory Vale aside with a 4-0 away win.

The bottom two sides, Brockhill United and Cricklade Town Reserves, shared the points in a 1-1 draw.