BRACKNELL Town work-horse Jamie McClurg came in for special praise after he produced a man-of-the-match performance in their hard-earned 2-0 win at Fairford on Saturday, writes Dave Wright.

The midfielder fired home the opening goal from the penalty spot and then set up Adam Cornell for the second, both goals coming in the last five minutes.

“He hates being given credit, but I have to give it to him as he has done the business out there,” said player-manager Carl Davies after title-chasing Robins made it 10 Hellenic League wins in a row.

“He (McClurg) took his penalty really well. He tucked it away and won us the three points basically. He has been one of our most consistent players this season.”

The inspirational McClurg came to Town’s rescue after they had struggled to break down a side they hammered 10-3 at Larges Lane three weeks earlier.

Bracknell were unable to play the sweet, flowing football they show at home, but as Davies explained on Saturday: “We can’t play the pretty stuff every week on pitches like this one.

“It was so bobbly, it was horrible to play on, yet it was nice to see that side of our game where we kept on battling.

“It was a matter of staying patient and hoping we would get a goal or two, which we managed to do in the end.”

Davies continued: “The longer the game went on, the more confident they (Fairford) became.

“When the goals weren’t coming, it was hard to keep on playing like we wanted to do.

“In the first half, we could easily have gone four or five goals up. On another day, TJ (Bohane) would probably have got a hat-trick in about 10 minutes.

“We just had to keep going and eventually we got the breakthrough.

“To be honest, I don’t think it was even a penalty as it (the foul) looked outside the box to me. We should have had one or two penalties earlier, so perhaps the ref made up for it by giving us that one.”

Davies revealed there is a good atmosphere in the camp as his players realise they could end the season with one or more winners’ medals for the second year running.

“We have a great bunch of players at the club,” he told the News. “Yes, some are disappointed being left on the bench and it’s hard to keep everyone happy, but the attitude is great and I can’t thank them enough.

“This was shown last Thursday when we made 10 changes and still managed to beat a decent side like Windsor.

“But I keep telling the lads, we still have a lot to do in the remaining weeks of the season.

“We’ve got six (league games) to go. We have got to expect Thatcham to win every game, so we have to do the same ourselves.”

Thatcham went top of the table last Saturday following their 6-0 win at bottom-club Burnham.

The FA Vase finalists are now on 83 points with five games remaining, while Bracknell have 80 points and a game in hand.

Town, whose trip to Lydney on Tuesday was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, face Thatcham at Larges Lane tonight (Thursday, 7.45pm) in the semi finals of the Perpetua Press Floodlit Cup before travelling to Tuffley Rovers on Saturday (3pm).

Midfielder George Short is to undergo surgery for a groin problem and is out for the rest of the season.