BINFIELD manager Roger Herridge was full of praise for his young side after seeing them bounce back to winning form on Saturday, writes Dave Wright.

The Moles recovered from a 7-3 trouncing at Royal Wootton Bassett last Wednesday to defeat Longlevens 3-2 at Hill Farm Lane on Saturday, with Ian Davies netting their late winner.

“After what happened at Bassett, it was a very pleasing result. We showed good spirit and character,” said Herridge.

Yet he felt his side had “not played too badly” against their Wiltshire hosts.

He explained: “It was one of those nights when everything went wrong in the opening 45 minutes. We were punished for every mistake, our defending certainly wasn’t great.”

The Moles conceded three goals inside the first 10 minutes and trailed 6-1 at the interval.

“At least we managed to win the second half,” smiled Herridge.

The Binfield manager kept faith with his youngsters – 11 of the 16-man squad were under 21 – for Saturday’s game, and was delighted with their performance.

“We were up against a big, strong Longlevens side,” he continued.

“After a pretty even first half (it ended 1-1) we went on to dominate.

"The Longlevens keeper kept his side in it and they also cleared two off the line.”

Binfield took the lead, only for their Gloucester visitors to equalise, but the Moles refused to settle for a point and further pressure led to a late winner from Davies.

“It was what we deserved,” commented Herridge.