MANAGER Jamie Tompkins heaped praise on his Ascot United players after seeing them battle through atrocious conditions to beat Bishops Cleeve 1-0 and go top of the Hellenic League.

"We showed a lot of fight and character; so much desire and determination," he beamed after Saturday's game at an extremely wet and windy Racecourse Ground.

"It was tough out there this afternoon. The pitch was in poor condition even before the start, so we knew it wasn't going to be a game where we could really show our usual quality on the ball."

He continued: "The boys have done so well, this was our sixth win in a row.

"We knew December was going to be crucial for us. We currently have a 100 per cent record, so that's all we could ask for and the players really deserve it. They have got their reward by going top of the league.

"It's all about peaking at the right time and we are doing that right now."

The Yellamen have already earned more points this season, 45, than they accumulated throughout the whole of last season when they managed only 40 and have matched their goal tally of 54 in just 23 games.

But Tompkins, along with coaches Aaron Steadman and Dan Masters, haven't set their side any long-term goals.

He explained: "The only target we set is to win the next game. We don't want to set ourselves up and then fail or disappointment if we don't hit our targets

"We just expect to win the next game - and that is always our only target and will be right to the very end of the season."

But one of his young stars, Nathan Minhas, is chasing a couple of personal targets.

Tompkins revealed: "He wants to be the league's leading scorer and is hoping to break the 40-goal mark to get the most goals in a season by an Ascot player - he's just 10 away. Its a good motivation for him and I am confident he will do it."

But whether Minhas will get the chance of adding to his goal tally this coming Saturday could be decided by the weather.

They make the long journey down to Gloucestershire to play Lydney, whose game last weekend was abandoned at half-time due to a waterlogged pitch when they were leading previous leaders Brackley Town Saints 3-0.

Hot-shot Minhas netted a hat-trick when United defeated Lydney 4-1 at the Racecourse Ground in August.