RUBY REMOVALS’ Dayne Lewis said his side had to show commitment to the cause as they battled to a 7-4 victory over Lower Stratton in the Swindon & District Premier Division.

Darren Mobey grabbed a hat-trick while a Neil Mitcham brace was added to by Tom Butcher and Alex Hammond for an important win as far as Ruby’s title credentials are concerned.

Lewis says that – despite it being their debut season at this level – his side are planning on winning the league and they must continue to grind out results like this one if they are to be lifting silverware come May.

He said: “We had the better 11 to start with but ten or 15 minutes into the game, we had Jason Milhench sent off.

“We then went 1-0 down before coming back to make it 2-1. Later on, we’ve gone 5-3 up but then they’ve scored a penalty to make it 5-4 in the second half.

“In the end, we managed to score two more goals to make it comfortable.

“It was quite a good game actually – end to end but obviously it was a bit harder for us as we only had ten men for 80 minutes.

“We all had to buckle down and dig deep. It was such a tough game but they’re the sort of games that you have to win if you want to get to where we want to be.

“We showed good character to pull through in a situation like that. At half-time, we had a talk about showing commitment to the cause.

“We asked where do we want to be at the end of the season? Do we want to be at the top or not? Because if we do, we’ve got to go on and win these games.”

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, FC Dorcan continued their inconsistent season with a 5-3 victory over Ashton Keynes.

Dorcan claimed their fifth win of the season to go level on points with Ashton Keynes and stay 5th in the table.

Bakers Arms faltered as they could only manage a 1-1 draw against Swindon Supermarine Development while Wheatsheaf Stratton beat winless Marlborough Town Reserves 3-1.

In Division One, Chiseldon produced a surprise result as they swept Highworth Town Development aside, beating them 4-0.

Meanwhile, leaders Blunsdon battled past Ramsbury 6-4 to extend their record to nine wins from ten league games.

In Division Two, Redhouse scooped what could be a pivotal win in the title race as they edged past second-place Swindon AFC 2-1 on Saturday.

Down Ampney saw off third place Spectrum 3-0 while Priory Vale scored twice as they picked up all three points in a 2-0 victory away at Brockhill United.

Moredon FC won 5-1 in the battle of two mid-table sides while Cricklade Town Reserves got the better of Bassett Bulldogs thanks to a 2-1 victory.