JOINT-MANAGER Paul Gazzard welcomed his latest headache after Bashley clambered off the foot of the table with their first home league win of the season.

Jack Odam’s brace sandwiched a rare strike from former Cherries youngster Brad Strickland as Bash emerged from their frac-tious battle with Chippenham on the right end of a 3-1 scoreline.

The victory, which saw Bash leapfrog local rivals AFC Totton, was their first Southern Premier success at Bashley Road since beating Banbury United 2-0 the final day of last season more than nine months ago.

And after moving off from the bottom rung of the ladder for the first time since August, Gazzard revealed he just had to share a few celebratory drinks with joint-boss John Pyatt.

“I had a slight hangover yesterday morning,” admitted Gazzard. “I think it was gone midnight when John and I left the clubhouse and quite a few of the players stayed for a drink too.

“It was a great feeling because it was a hard-fought, well-won game and no one could say it was not deserved.

"The atmosphere around the place was brilliant and just getting off the bottom gave everyone at the club a massive lift.”

Meanwhile, Gazzard praised his plucky charges for staying calm during a heated battle against their “complacent” visitors, who had five players booked and a member of their coaching staff sent to the stands.

Gazzard added: “We had done our homework on Chippenham and the game went pretty much as we expected it to.

"They have had a couple of good results here and there and were a little bit big time when they turned up.

“You could tell they thought they could swan about and win the game, so we sent out the lads to get stuck right into them which made the victory that bit sweeter.

“They were a physical side who sometimes left a foot in but we just got on with it and didn’t allow them to bully us.”

Bash: George, Strickland, Roberts, Ansell, Marden, Bulpitt, Blackmore, Soetan (Brookes, 90), Joyce, Odam, Kenna (Manders, 69). Unused subs: Morris, Lloyd, Jones (g/k).