WAREHAM Rangers boss Matt Welsh praised his players after they had bounced back in style to claim the Purbeck bragging rights.

Goals from Jordan Basing, Adam Frohlich and Duane Hobbs earned Rangers a 3-1 victory over arch rivals Swanage Town & Herston.

Rangers raced into a 3-0 half-time lead at Purbeck Sports Centre before Rickie King pulled one back for the visitors to set up a grandstand finish.

The derby victory helped erase the memory of Rangers’ 4-1 defeat by Sherborne Town reserves in the first round of the League Cup earlier this month.

Welsh said: “I was delighted for the players especially after the last game where we chucked it away. I told them they hadn’t played well against Sherborne and we had a few words. I said there was nothing better than a derby to see how they would react and they did well.

“We were 3-0 up at the break and could have killed off the game early in the second half when we hit the post and had a half-chance. But fair play to Swanage, they made some changes and put us under a lot of pressure.”

Despite securing higher finishing positions than Swans in the past two seasons, this was Rangers’ first derby triumph for more than two years.

They lost the corresponding fixture 3-0 last season having drawn 2-2 at Day’s Park in August 2013 and had last lowered Swans’ colours on their own patch at the start of the 2012-13 season.

Welsh added: “People think Wareham is miles from everywhere so it is hard to attract players but I have a good bunch of lads and they are spot on.

“It is always nice to win the derby but our aim it to try to finish as high as possible in the league. We had a good run at the end of last season and finished fifth.”

Rangers: Bennett, Thompson, Gregory, Godwin, Merredew, Frohlich, Best, Parsons, Hobbs (Monk, 75), Harding (Carpenter, 70), Basing (Spetch, 75).