WARMINSTER Town manager Andy Crabtree said his side were worthy winners on Saturday as they beat Bishops Lydeard 2-1 to extend their unbeaten run in Toolstation League Division One to five games.

Town have not tasted defeat since December 15, collecting a win against high-flying Wells and a draw against title-contenders Chard since.

Warminster moved on to 32 points after their win – putting them 17 clear of relegation.

And after a slow start to the season, Crabtree believes his side are finally moving in the right direction.

The Town chief said producing similar performances between now and the end of the season will enable his side to be well clear of their pre-season target to avoid another relegation battle.

He said: “Conditions didn’t really suit free-flowing football on Saturday, but we adapted well to them and we were comfortable.

"It was a good performance from the boys, and we were worthy winners.

“Over the summer, we said we didn’t want to be in the position we were last season of almost getting relegated.

“Looking at where we are now, we’re pretty confident that won’t happen.

"If we can have a strong finish to the season and maybe place ourselves in the top half, it would give us a real springboard to go into next season.”

After a shaky start to the season where they only picked up 18 points from their opening 16 games, Warminster have drastically improved since mid-November.

Crabtree said their upturn in results came to fruition with the addition of some new blood in the team and a renewed team spirit has seen Town turn their season on its head since.

He said: “We brought in a few new players before Christmas and it takes a little bit of time for things to bed in, but that seemed to happen around the Christmas games.

“There have been some tough games in this run too. Even the previous weekend, we let in three against Chard and still could have won.

“We have been doing well recently and the mood is really good. We have been scoring a fair few goals and if you can do that, you’re going to find it much easier to win games.”

Elsewhere in Division One West, Calne went down 1-0 at Ashton & Blackwell while Corsham drew 2-2 away at struggling Radstock Town.

There were wins for Devizes Town as they edged past Oldland Abbotonians 2-1 while Chippenham Park made it two wins in four days – first, with a 4-1 victory over Longwell Green Sports and then with a 2-1 away win over Radstock on Tuesday night.