WIMBORNE Town boss Matty Holmes praised his team's resilience after they chalked up a 2-1 win over fellow play-off chasers Larkhall Athletic, writes Gareth Davies.

Dan Cann's strike and Toby Holmes's penalty did the trick for Magpies in the first half and although Jamie Lyons hit back after the break, the hosts held on for three precious points in the Southern South & West clash.

Reflecting on victory, Matty Holmes told the Daily Echo: “It was a really hard-fought win and in the first half, I thought the boys were excellent. We could have had four or five goals after 30 minutes and I thought coming in at 2-0 that those missed chances may cost us.

“But I was still really pleased with the boys as Larkhall are a strong side who are above us in the league and they have had some great results. In the second half they changed their shape a bit, put an extra body up top and got on the front foot in midfield.

“We gave a cheap penalty away when we had numbers back and that sort of summed up our defensive work recently. I was pleased we withstood the pressure when they put us under the cosh after that and, overall, I was pleased we got the win at home.

“A clean sheet would have been nice, too, but we showed resilience that in some games has been missing. I know we can score goals all day long, we have the artillery to do that, we just need to defend as a collective.”

Magpies were quick out of the blocks and five minutes in Toby Holmes beat a static visiting backline, only for his angled shot to hit the post.

Frontman Cann then had an effort saved by visiting stopper Ben John but the breakthrough was not long in coming.

Cann, who impressed throughout after an injury-hit campaign to date, nonchalantly tucked the ball into the net from the edge of the box.

Just two minutes later, Toby Holmes fired home from the spot after Jack Lovell was upended by John in the box.

Wimborne continued to dominate but could not add to their tally and after the interval, Larkhall were a different proposition.

The visitors halved the deficit when skipper Lyons converted a penalty just short of the hour but resolute defending and superb goalkeeping from Gerard Benfield saw Wimborne secure victory.

The win lifted Magpies to 12th in the standings and Matty Holmes feels the triumph will give his side huge confidence going forward.

“I believe a lot in this group of players,” Holmes added. “They have got tremendous potential and the only thing is mentally they have got a lot of work to do.

“They are a young group but I’ve got high hopes for this season and subsequent seasons that we can build a team to make Wimborne proud and start competing for things.”

Magpies: Benfield, Walker (Penny, 82), Hester, Maybury, Cocklin, Kellaway, Stokoe, L Holmes, T Holmes (S Davidson, 90), Cann (Bayston, 75), Lovell. Unused subs: Lanahan, Walker-Harris (g/k).