MANAGER Ollie Cherrett felt leaders Merley Cobham Sports had made hard work of seeing off mid-table Sherborne Town reserves at Merley Park.

Goals either side of half-time from Luke Stone and Aaron Atkinson put Merley in the driving seat before the Zebras netted late on through Raith Plant to set up a tense finish.

Victory saw Merley extend to four points their lead at the summit with second-placed Portland left to kick their heels after visitors Poole Borough had been unable to raise a team.

Stone, who had earlier seen a curling effort superbly saved, bagged his 21st goal of the season following a slick passing move in the seventh minute.

A combination of errant finishing and good goalkeeping ensured the score would remain at 1-0 until Atkinson struck to double the hosts’ lead with 19 minutes remaining.

And although the visitors halved the deficit 10 minutes from time, Merley ran down the clock to chalk up an eighth win in their past nine league and cup games.

Boss Cherrett said: “We started the game very well and Luke had a great chance tipped over, which set the tone for the first half with the way we kept the ball and created lots of chances.

“It was another great team goal for Luke’s opener and it looked like we would take a hold of the game. But in the second half, we stopped pressing high up the pitch and allowed Sherborne to get a foothold “But after we had soaked up some pressure and broken on them for Aaron to score, the game started to fade away as a spectacle.

“We made some subs and seemed to switch off a little. Sherborne worked hard to get a goal and made it harder for us than it should have been.

“Overall, I was happy with our performance and James Rowe was our outstanding performer on the day.

“The win also kept the pressure on Portland and Hamworthy Recreation not to drop points. We have a tough trip to Blandford on Saturday and want to try to keep our place at the top for Christmas.”

Merley Cobham: Perry, Gage, Mills, Dand, Cormack, Rowe, Wrixton, Atkinson (Wolfenden, 79), Stone (Pritchard, 85), Goward (Wilkins, 75), Steer. Unused subs: Elysee, Randall.