Boss delighted as Hucknall Town move up to fifth spot with win at Southwell

Hucknall celebrate one of their goals against Rainworth on Saturday. Photo by Lee Fox.

Morgan Bell came off of the bench to smash home a double, adding to a Craig Westcarr penalty and a Joe Ashurst half-volley.

The win lifted Hucknall to fifth place in the league standings ahead of this weekend’s trip to West Bridgford who lie 17th.

And boss Andy Ingle was delighted to secure two wins and two clean sheets, as well as having the luxury of fielding the same side twice

He said: “It’s the first time we’ve been able to play the same 11 two games in a row which was good, though we’ve never used that as an excuse as you have to deal with everything that’s put in front of you.

"We set plans out for these games and dealt well with certain situations, in particular carving out more chances and taking them and of course on the defensive side, coping with problems better and keeping clean sheets, which stems from the work in training.

"That all bred confidence and puts us in good stead for the matches coming up as we’ve set a good standard now.

"We play in a risky way, we know that, but I’m confident that if the key players stay involved our form will be maintained.”

On Wednesday, Hucknall took the lead on ten minutes when Ashurst and Westcarr combined to set up the latter who fired home a fine half volley.

Jamie Crawford shot wide on the half-hour, but just before half-time the lead was doubled from the penalty spot as Westcarr converted following a foul on Kieran Knight.

The second-half saw Aaron Lamb nearly net the third only to see the City goalkeeper save his effort, but the introduction of Bell would help seal the points.

Just a minute after arriving as sub, he turned in Knight’s cross on the hour mark.

Cayne Maxwell’s low shot past the far post nearly made it 4-0, but in the end Bell would have the final say as he followed up Joe Butler’s shot which struck a post to net the rebound.

Ashurst’s 30-yarder then hit the bar while Short was denied by a stunning save as a fifth goal eluded the visitors, but the Yellows’ work was done.