JAMIE McClurg was the star of Bracknell’s late show at Fairford on Saturday, writes Dave Wright.

The Robins struggled for most of the game to break down a resolute home defence, but Town’s non-stop pressure saw them win a penalty which McClurg dispatched and two minutes later the livewire midfielder put Adam Cornell away to seal a 2-0 victory.

The goals may have been a long time in coming, but the Robins totally dominated the game against their relegation-threatened opponents, whose intent was to defend in depth and then break quickly in a bid to catch out their opponents.

In fact, Fairford had a couple of chances to take an early lead as they looked to avenge their remarkable 10-3 defeat at Larges Lane three weeks earlier, but it soon became largely one-way traffic.

However, Town found Ben Mitchell in top form between the Fairford posts. He pulled off a series of great saves, mainly thwarting TJ Bohane.

Joe Grant did manage to get the ball into the net with a lob over the advancing Mitchell, only for his ‘goal’ to be ruled out even though it looked the Bracknell wide-man had raced past home left-back Kallum Thomas.

Fairford then suffered a blow when Mitchell dislocated a finger, forcing him to leave the field late in the first half. Midfielder Callum Preece took over until the interval, when substitute James Hemming donned the jersey for the rest of the game.

But Hemming had less to do than Mitchell as Robins struggled to make clear-cut chances against a packed home defence.

The visitors tried to keep patient, but at times a glimpse of frustration started to show in their play.

Changes were made with Bohane giving away to Khalid Senussi, who moved onto the right flank with Grant switching into the middle alongside Cornell, and then Max Herbert replaced wide player Darren Wheeler (in for the injured Seb Bowerman).

And it was Herbert who got pulled down by Josh Gregory as he raced into the area to win an 85th-minute penalty, which McClurg smashed into the bottom left corner.

Two minutes later, McClurg threaded the ball through for Cornell to race onto and blast into the net to put the issue beyond doubt.