TYLER Elliott spoke of being “massively delighted” after it was his strike that made the difference for Tavistock AFC in their latest Southern League South outing.

Speaking to the club’s media team after the clash against Bemerton Heath Harlequins at Langsford Park, Elliott said: “I’m massively delighted. It’s always lovely to get a winning goal and generally, points-wise, it should keep us up. I’m so glad to be back here, I’ve enjoyed every minute of it and this tops it.”

Regarding the mention of points, they are all but guaranteed safety. In the words of manager Stuart Henderson: “Nine points clear now, three games to go and with the superior goal difference I’d like to say we’re safe.”

Henderson also gave his thoughts on the victory and the performance, “Really pleased with the lads, I thought we shaded it in the first half, we had a couple of half chances and it really was a tight game.

“I said to the boys before the game, we’ve had a week off, I’ve been away, players have had a week off from training, I just wanted us to come here refreshed and full of energy because I thought at Westbury, we looked tired and leggy. And we did that, we’re not playing a team with nothing to play for, they beat Exmouth in the week and moved into the playoffs so they have aspirations of our own and I thought we were the better team.”

They proved to be an ambitious group once again with Elliott stating that this win “Shows our intent for next season, if we can keep the same team, maybe add a few, there’s no reason why we can’t be right up there with them [Bemerton].”

This sentiment was echoed by the versatile Brooklyn Wilkins, “It shows what we can do, especially going into next season, I think we can compete. Yate beat us narrowly 1-0 and they’re right at the top of the table. The teams up there are definitely beatable- we’ve had results against the top boys so hopefully, when next season comes around, we can look to get into the playoffs and maybe even win the league.”

Henderson made alterations which helped his side get over the hill and take the three points from a team in and around the playoffs.

“Boys don’t like coming off but I felt that what Brooklyn does, wherever you play him, he’ll give you energy and commitment. I felt that we were starting to get overrun with 15/20 minutes to go and that’s why I made that change and I knew Ethan [Wright], for a young lad, is bright in terms of football intelligence and so he brought about the goal and had an opportunity of his own, definitely affecting the game. The two subs with great contributions.”

Looking ahead now and there are three games to go in this Southern League campaign for the Lambs.

Elliott said that playing against a former side in Helston “Doesn’t make it any different for me, we’ve got to go down there and get the three points.”

Henderson added “We can go into the last three games now with a little bit of pressure off of us” and Wilkins mentioned “hopefully getting three out of three wins.”