TAVISTOCK AFC manager Stuart Henderson firmly believes that his players are “Up for the fight” in the Southern League South as they look to battle their way out of the relegation zone.

The latest outing saw them overcome Bashley 1-0 as they look to get back on track and the man in charge was happy with what he saw.

“The three points are what it was all about and I felt we were good value for it in the end. We restricted them to very few chances, it was never going to be a game for the purists on this pitch, it was a battle. I’ve asked for character and personality and all 11 that started as well as the four that came on gave me that in abundance.”

A number of new faces are in the mix, it is transfer season after all, and two of them played a part in the only goal of the game at Langsford Park.

Kieran Edworthy, formerly of Plymouth Argyle and Plymouth Parkway, told the Lambs’ media team that he is “at the time where I need to play games. Coming in straight away to play full 90s is what I need and it is great to get a win to start that off. Glad to get back on the pitch.”

Henderson offered his thoughts on Edworthy, who assisted the goal, as well as the goal scorer, a returning Tavistock player who is in his second stint at the club, Tyler Elliott.

“I thought Kieran Edworthy worked his socks off, it was his bit of creativity down the right with the cross, Prynny [Liam Prynn] has gone in for it and the ball has come to Tyler in the right place in the right time, remains cool-headed and it’s a good finish. The boys are up for the fight, I can see that, the guys that have come in have made a big difference.”

He continued, “It was a gritty performance and that’s what we want, we want players committed to the club, players that want to put 100% commitment in and we are all together in this. Really pleased with the work ethic and attitude on what was a difficult pitch.”

Recent results may not scream positivity but the narrow margins and close scorelines offer plenty of optimism for the experienced manager, “You’ve only got to look at our last five or six results, it was 0-0 last week, 1-0 today, two games before that we lost 1-0 so we’re not shipping loads of goals. We’re reasonably solid but it’s always a balance, you open up too much at 1-0, pushing to get the second and the danger is that you over-commit and you get done on the transition.

Henderson warned, “It’s a balancing act, there are lots of positives and good character but it counts for nothing if you don’t carry it on.”

Reuben Kane and Tallan Burns were individuals to be shouted out for their contributions to this win over Bashley and now, Tavi “haven’t got a midweek game so [they] can get the group in for training on Wednesday and work hard as we move on to Saturday at Didcot.”