BASHLEY boss Steve Riley saw his troops breathe new life into their faint play-off hopes before admitting their promotion dream remained a tall order.

A 3-1 victory over struggling Oxford City last night – spearheaded by Luke Whitley’s double at the Recreation Ground – left Bash 10 points shy of the Zamaretto League Premier Division top five.

And while the win all but ended any lingering relegation fears, Riley knows Bash are big outsiders to feature in the promotion shake up, especially with only 10 games left.

Riley said: “We will keep plugging away and see where it takes us. Mathematically, it is still achievable but it would be a big ask.

“There are some strong teams trying to get into the mix and some very strong ones already in there. We are asking them to drop lots of points and for us to get maximum points over the next two months. We have just got to keep believing though.

“I don’t think we will get sucked into a relegation battle so it is nice to know we have survived another season in this division. It could have been very different had we had a better start. We want to keep the squad intact and try to build on it.”

Bash shrugged off the absence of key defender Gary Middleton due to illness and the enforced early loss to a head injury of talismanic midfielder Chris Knowles to strengthen their grip on a top-10 spot.

Whitley finished with aplomb to open the scoring with a crisp volley after 11 minutes before doubling Bash’s lead with a fine far post header midway through the first half.

Mark Gamble’s coolly-converted strike two minutes after the break put Bash firmly in the ascendancy before Andy Ballard netted a late consolation for the visitors.

Riley added: “It was important to bounce back after our shocking performance at Swindon Supermarine. It was a fantastic response, the players dug deep and got back to basics. Our defending was top drawer. It was a very professional performance and good to get back on track because our recent form has been good.”

• Wimborne Town’s Division One South & West game at Bishop Cleeve tonight is postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.