HIGHWORTH Town manager Jeff Roberts felt luck was on their side as they battled to a 1-0 win at home to Street in Southern League Division One South on Saturday.

An excellent Darren Jeffries free-kick midway through the first half was the difference between the two sides as Town stretched their winning run to three games.

Despite the visitors dominating the vast majority of the game, Highworth – with a much-changed defensive line – performed admirably at the back and ground out their second clean sheet in as many games.

Roberts admitted that his side became all too familiar with their own half in the second 45 minutes, but was proud of his alternate back-line as they continuously kept Street at bay.

He said: “We rode our luck a little bit and sometimes we’ve just got to battle.

“We had seven players out and the lads we brought in from the reserves did us proud.

“In the second half, we rode our luck a little bit and sometimes that happens, but we’ve had plenty of games where we’ve dominated and got nothing from it.

“We took our opportunity when it came – we could have killed the game when Ash (Edenborough) went through, but he worked hard up front, as did everyone.

“Our back four was totally different from last Saturday, but they all competed well.

“It’s always difficult stepping up from the Hellenic League and trying to compete against some decent teams, but overall, we’re happy with the three points.

“For 45 minutes, we were camped in our own half, but we dealt with it and to get three points – I’m more than happy.”

When the two sides met earlier in the season, the points were shared thanks to a 2-2 draw and another stalemate looked more than likely on Saturday as the game matured.

As added time threatened to expire, a Street player went down in the box and the referee blew his whistle, only to indicate the player had dived.

And Roberts felt that moment was typical of his side’s afternoon as they survived scare after scare to pick up a valuable three points.

He said: “Street will more than likely feel hard done by, not coming away with a point.

“Over the 90 minutes, they should have beaten us, but we had to have that bit of luck as well (with the penalty).

“The main thing is that we’ve kept a clean sheet and that’s two in a row now, so it’s something to build on with our three wins in a row as well.”