Late goalkeeping heroics help Worksop Town to win at Leamington
Debut-making goalkeeper Lewis Forshaw was in fine form as Worksop Town secured a vital 2-1 National League North away win against relegation-threatened Leamington FC on Saturday.
The victory came following goals from Vaughan Redford and Hamza Bencherif.
But the Tigers had Burnley loanee Forshaw to thank after a number of excellent late saves wrapped up three important points.
Tigers manager Craig Parry was delighted with his side's performance, saying: “I thought we were the best side from start to finish, I thought we played really well in all honesty.
“I thought we controlled the game, though the last 10 minutes became difficult because they put the pressure on and threw a lot of bodies forward.
“But it just showed the spirit and togetherness we have in there as a group, putting their bodies on the line at the end to see the game out.
On Redford’s goal and performance, Parry added: “We have been asking him to get himself into the box more because we feel the chances are there for him with the amount of crosses we put across the six and 18-yard boxes.
“Fair play to him, he has listened and found himself in the right place at the right time, and taken his chance well.”
Parry was also full of praise for his new young goalkeeper, saying: “He was loud and commanding, and his kicking had lots of distance.
“For 80 minutes he has had to focus on his kicking more than anything, then he pulls off two unbelievable saves that win us the game, I thought he was magnificent.”
Deegan Atherton advanced down the right flank and clipped a cross to the back post, which was met by Jordan Burrow who headed back across the six-yard box for Redford to volley past Eddie Brearey for the opener.
Leamington then levelled on the stroke of half-time through Thompson.
The tricky forward collected the ball deep in the Worksop half, danced around multiple recovering defenders on the edge of the box before working some space and calmly slotting the ball into the bottom left corner.
The Tigers responded in emphatic fashion three minutes after the interval.
Aleks Starcenko whipped a dangerous corner into the box which dropped for club captain Bencherif to stab into the back of the net to regain his side's advantage.
Debut-making Forshaw was then in the thick of the action in the closing stages, as he made two excellent saves late on to deny what looked to be certain goals for both Seb Thompson and Tim Berridge.
The win sees the Tigers move to 18th in the table, with a return to the Windsor Foodservice Stadium up next on Saturday against Chorley.