Worksop Town leave it late for stoppage time win over Basford United

After missing a host of chances, it took until stoppage time to win the game when a returning Liam Hughes managed to force a left-footed shot across goal that Rollins tapped home at the back post.

Sebastian Malkowski confirmed the win with a wonder save in the eighth minute of added time as he clawed away Kieran Fenton’s well-struck volley from the top corner – and boss Craig Parry was delighted his side got their just rewards.

“You cannot beat a last-minute winner,” he said. “It all adds to the drama.

“I am over the moon with the three points, and you could see at the end there that we had thrown the dice to try to get it because we know the points at home are vital.

“If we go on chances, the save that Seb pulled off at the end was their only chance, but if you go on the rest of it, we should have been ahead within the first two minutes. Then we had another chance around 20 minutes in that we should have taken and then the penalty miss – at half-time we should have been two or three up.

“Liam Hughes wasn’t going to be in the squad and we’re glad about the last-minute decision after his fitness test to put him in.

“He’s a menace and after a few tries we finally found him in the box. Once he’d pinned someone in there, he’s very difficult to get around and as he shot, Jay just managed to tap it home.”

Tigers travel to Gainsborough Trinity on New Year's Day as they hope to start 2024 off with the perfect beginning after a successful calendar year.

Parry added: “It’s been an unbelievable year as a whole and I thank the players for being unbelievable for me. It’s been a privilege to stand in front of them each week and I wanted them to finish on a high instead of going into the New Year on a negative.

“There are so many points up for grabs around this period and we need to collect as many as we can because going into the final stretch, there will be some dips, so you need as many points as you can to play with.

"Gainsborough are such a well-organised side and it’s vital we are on top of our game and come away with as many points as we can.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​