Ashton & Backwell United continued their recent good run of form as they picked up their fifth win in a row at Sherborne.
Ben Jones got A & B off to a dream start when he found drove home before The Stags doubled their lead when Jordan Scadding calmly finished following good work by Jones.
The hosts grabbed one back when Alex Murphy headed home past Lewis Coombes to halve the scores.
But Stuart Jones’ side picked up the points when Calum Townsend headed home at the near post to move up to move top of the Toolstation Western League Division One table.
After Sol Jarret’s injury time winner at Lebeq United in their last league encounter to inflict the home side’s first defeat of the season, A & B made their longest trip of the season at Wayne Jerome’s side, who despite being placed second at the conclusion of last season, have had an indifferent start this time round.
The visitors started far the better of the two teams and after five minutes the pressure finally told when a long ball from James White found Jones on the left-wing, who got pass his man and fired the ball low into the far bottom corner of the net.
Ashton & Backwell doubled their lead three minutes when a similar move down the left saw Jones cross the ball to the far post where Scadding was waiting to pounce and he coolly side footed the ball past Jason Hutchings.
Calum Townsend then had a great opportunity to score a third moments later but unselfishly chose to square the ball to the onrushing George Jones who was tackled by the Sherborne defender, putting the ball out for a corner.
This woke the Zebras up and they gradually came back into the game and applied pressure to the A & B defence.
Following a handful of corner’s they finally reduced the arrears when the unmarked Murphy found the back of the net with a shot from the edge of the box.
Sherborne continued to have the better of the half but were unable to breakdown a stubborn A & B defence and keeper Lewis Coombs who made a crucial save to keeper the away sides lead intact.
With a slight wind in their favour, A & B again started the second half brightly without really creating and clear-cut opportunities. This was until the 55th minute when following good work down the left, Townsend found himself in a shooting position inside the box but was brought down by the onrushing defender leaving the referee no hesitation but to point to the spot. Townsend dusted himself down to take the penalty only to see Hutchings make a great initial save and smother the rebound.
And three minutes, following good work through the middle of the pitch, White found himself in a shooting position on the edge of the penalty area but dragged his shot narrowly wide.
But two minutes later when a corner from the left was zipped in by White and Townsend’s flicked header at the front post left Hutchings helpless.
This took the sting out of Sherborne Town, who despite rallying, were unable to create any real goal scoring opportunities for the remainder of the match allowing A & B to take home a well deserved three points ahead of hosting Radstock Town at Lancer Scott Stadium this Saturday at 3pm.
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