Dan Naidole scored his 22nd goal of the season as Golcar United got back to winning ways with a 3-2 victory over Campion at the Skye Direct Stadium on Friday night.
The Weavers went 3-0 up with goals from Buddy Cox, Jake Barrett and Naidole but Campion pulled two goals back with free-kicks.
Naidole said: “It was great to get that winning feeling back after some poor results and postponements. It has felt like a long time since we got a win.
“It is always a great feeling to be on the scoresheet, especially getting the third goal to give us some breathing space. Goals always get mentioned but as a team I think we worked our socks off and worked together. Now we just need to continue going forward with a busy few weeks ahead.”
United are still focused on achieving that play-off spot. A crowd of 469 was swelled by around 100 fans from Groundhop UK, which brought supporters from around the country to watch seven matches in 72 hours in the North West Counties League.
Naidole added: “Campion are never an easy side to beat, they are a good footballing side who always want to play.
“For me it was about outworking them and stopping them playing which the lads did well. Towards the end they were always going to push but we held strong and saw it out.”
Even though Campion fought back to 3-2 Naidole said he didn’t think Golcar would slip up.
“I wasn’t too nervous as we defended really well all game and they did not create much,” he said. “No one is stopping those two free kicks. Luckily we didn’t give them a third goal and we saw it out. I thought we deserved it overall.”
Cox scored in the 13th minute and it got better for the Weavers just before the half-hour as Barrett made it 2-0. It should have been over when Naidole put Golcar 3-0 up on the 54th minute. Jake Maltby pulled one back with a free-kick before Nicky Boshell struck from another dead ball situation with five minutes left.
Back-to-back defeats meant Golcar lost ground on leaders Bury AFC and it’s all about securing a play-off spot now.
“It’s looking that way,” said Naidole. “It doesn’t help seeing Bury drop points at the same time we did. Our main focus is finishing as high as possible in the play-offs.
“Not playing due to weather has been tough. We have been training regularly twice a week as normal but you always need that match fitness and you only get that playing. Maybe that is why we’ve been a bit off in the last few results as before we had momentum with us.”
Next up for United is a game against Ashton Town at home on Tuesday night and Naidole is confident the lads can come away with three points again.
He said: “I am looking forward to Ashton. I will never forget the game at their place as we let a 2-0 lead go. We know what to expect and it should be another tough game.”
