LEE Rushe marked his full debut for Bracknell Town FC with a goal in their 2-1 win over North Leigh United at Larges Lane on Tuesday evening.

The Irish defender sent a thumping close-range header into the net after just two minutes of this Bluefin Sports Supplementary Cup second-round tie.

“I was pleased for the lad,” said manager Mark Tallentire.

“He has been dying to play since he came here. So to get out there and stick in his first goal for the club was good for him.”

Declan Kirby, on 27 minutes, scored the other goal for the Robins, who will be home to Division One East’s bottom club, Woodley United, in the quarter-finals.

North Leigh, from Division One West, pulled a goal back through Dan James before half-time, but Bracknell held out for a deserved win although it did need a goal-line clearance by George Lock (pictured right) to deny the visitors a late equaliser.

“I’m happy, as it keeps our little run going,” added Tallentire.

“If we had been a bit more ruthless in front of goal we would have got another couple of goals and made the scoreline a bit more realistic.

“I was disappointed with the goal we conceded as we didn’t deal with it well by not clearing properly.

“But I still have got to be pleased with our performance. I thought we held out quite comfortably in the second half and kept a clean sheet.”

The Bracknell boss changed keepers at half-time with Garry Aulsberry giving way to Karl Steinborn-Busse, a half brother of the club’s co-chairman, Kayne Steinborn-Busse.

Tallentire explained: “I wanted to have a look at the lad. He has been training with us quite a bit and I just wanted to see him in game situation just in case Gary gets injured.

“He looked okay. He has a bit of a presence about him. He came for a couple of crosses which was good and on the whole he done well.”

Another boost for the Robins was the return from injury of centre-back Callum Whitty, who played alongside Rushe, with skipper Carl Davies returning to the attack.

Tallentire knows that he will need as large a squad as possible as his side face a busy run-in to the end of the season, which will see them playing three games a week on occasions.

“Our resources will be stretched at certain times, that is for sure, but we have just got to get on with it. We still have a lot of games to play, but many other clubs are in a similar position,” he added.

“At the moment we are playing well and we are looking a lot more resilient, and we look like we’re going to get results.”

Bracknell are still in two cup competitions – the Supplementary and Reading Senior Cup – but Tallentire added: “Our main priority it to make sure we get enough points on the board to stay in this division.

“We are doing all right, we are on a good run and we have got games in hand. I can’t see any reason why we can’t move up the table.”

The Robins are fourth from bottom, one point behind Milton United, the side immediately above them, with six games in hand.

Results certainly went Bracknell’s way on Tuesday, with Milton crashing to a 9-2 defeat at title-chasing Kidlington, and third-bottom Tuffley Rovers losing 5-3 at home to leaders Thatcham.

And Robins travel to Tuffley on Saturday, which Tallentire described as a “big game for us”.

Next Tuesday they are away to Thame United.

With Bracknell’s match away to Wokingham & Emmbrook called off due a waterlogged pitch, Tallentire saw Tuffley Rovers lose 3-2 at Binfield last Saturday despite taking an early 2-0 lead.

Binfield’s interest in the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy ended on Tuesday night when they lost 2-0 in their semi-final at Flackwell Heath, who now meet Newport Pagnell Town in the final on April 5.

The ninth-placed Moles are home to Lydney Town this Saturday and Oxford City Nomads on Monday evening.

Wokingham & Emmbrook travel to Division Two West side Moreton Rangers for a Bluefin Sports Supplementary Cup second-round tie this Saturday.

In the Thames Valley Premier League, Berks County slipped to a 2-1 home defeat against Cookham Dean.

Richard Webb put the visitors in front before Jordan Watson equalised on the hour mark.

However, Daniel Hunt hit the winner midway through the second half.