By James Briscoe
Aaron Burns and Ben Deegan earned Nantwich Town all three points at home to Barwell FC.
Two strikes in the space of two second-half minutes was just reward for the Dabbers who dominated.
It was their first win in the league for four games, much to the relief of manager Danny Johnson and home fans.
Burns went close early on when one-on-one against Barwell’s James Hogarth-Wren, but the top scorer slid wide.
Nantwich had the majority of possession with numerous crosses coming in from Andy White and Max Harrop on the left without a clear-cut chance.
Mat Bailey glanced over from a Harrop free-kick on 20 minutes, and Dabbers debutant Steve Foster flicked on for Harrop on 52 minutes but the winger powered wide.
Burns made a lung-bursting run down the right on 65 minutes and crossed for Foster who made an acrobatic attempt just over the crossbar.
In a rare attack, Barwell’s Conner Gudger hit just wide on 68 minutes.
Finally, Burns opened the scoring on 82 minutes after substitute Deegan showed great composure to put a defender on his backside and set him up.
Deegan took his turn just a minute later when Harrop whipped a cross to the back post for the ex-FC United forward to calmly nod in.
Deegan nearly added to his tally on 89 minutes when his clipped effort beat Hogarth-Wren but only found the outside of the post.
Johnson said: “We always want to win football matches and I think one of the things no one can say to my teams is they don’t give everything for 90 minutes because they do.
“Some things don’t always go your way in football matches and with 10 minutes to go we were thinking ‘it’s not going to go our way’ after dominating proceedings for long periods.
“Fair play to the lads who have stuck at it and given everything and Max (Harrop) has produced a bit of quality there for the second goal and Burns has done his business again but he should’ve scored with his chance in the first half to make the game easier for us.
“Fair play to the back four, Mat Bailey and Earl Davis have come in and along with Alex Frost and Andy White, although they’ve not had great games in possession, they’ve defended like their lives depended on it and that’s what we need week in week out now.”
“Deegan was really chomping at the bit and he wants to play more in games. It’s only a matter of time until Deegs will start a game for us.”
Nantwich: Jack Cudworth, Alex Frost (c), Andy White, Ross Davidson (Oliver Devenney 73), Earl Davis, Mat Bailey, Matty O’Neill (Osebi Abadki 60), Mark Jones, Steve Foster (Ben Deegan 65), Aaron Burns, Max Harrop. Subs: Harry Clayton, Danny Caldecott.
(All pictures courtesy of Simon J Newbury Photography)
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