Zack Gothelf hailed the hunger and desire of his Oakhill Lions after they kept their title tilt on track with a gutsy 3-1 win over Republic of Mancunia 1st.
Despite falling behind to a Paul Basger strike, the Lions roared back with goals from Marc Maynard, Saul Shapiro and Marc Woolfe to seal another hard-fought victory.
Oakhill remain six points off league leaders Haroldeans, but Gothelf remains confident of catching the Merseysiders and says his team’s latest performance was their best of the season.
“The conditions were awful and we couldn’t play our usual football but this was by far our best performance so far,” said boss Gothelf.
“We really battled, got stuck in and in the end, we wanted it more than them.
“In recent weeks we’ve won games by playing some really lovely football, but because of the conditions, the ball was just getting stuck in the middle of the pitch.
“We changed things around a bit and the lads really worked their socks off, so I’m delighted with them.”
Maynard’s close-range header brought the Lions level after the break before 16-year-old Shapiro marked his debut with a stunning scissor kick to give his side the lead.
Woolfe added a third after latching on to Harry Roache’s through ball and Gothelf is now eyeing up next weekend’s clash with South Manchester Sports Club 2nd.
“That will be a tough game and it’s our last one before the winter break,” he added.
“We want to go into the winter break with a win and make sure we’re ready for the big game against Haroldeans when we come back.
“We’re already planning a friendly game before we play Haroldeans to make sure we’re ready because it’s going to be a big one.”