Murchie's volley clinches victory for Totts

Totternhoe moved up to fifth place in the table after a 2-1 win against Grendon Rangers at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.

Grendon, who are bottom of the league took a surprise lead on four minutes with their only shot on target all game when Matt Ginger lost his marker at a corner to head home.

The Totts replied almost immediately when Adam Potter clipped a ball into the right hand channel for Dan Lambeth to race on to. Cutting back onto his left foot, Lambeth played in a brilliant cross which found the unmarked Joel McCormick who finished well with a header of his own.

The winning goal did not arrive until deep into the second half when on 72 minutes Scott Murchie finally broke down a stubborn Grendon side when he hit a thunderous volley from 18 yards which crashed into the goal off the underside of the crossbar.

Manager Chris Robson said: “I knew it was never going to be a stroll in the park as Grendon have improved under new management in recent weeks.

“They came with a game plan to frustrate us and be a threat from set plays, and we fell straight into the trap in the first 45 minutes.

“At half time I was able to regroup the players and get the message across to keep playing how we wanted to and with a bit of patience we would eventually score.

“The second half was very one sided but we were lacking any real quality in the final third which is an area we are normally very strong in, so it was a bit frustrating.

“We made a double change and a change of shape with 30 minutes to go and it became a matter of when was we going to score and win the game.

“Thankfully it took a wonderful strike from Scott to get us another important three points.

“For us, sometimes the three points are more important than the performance, and thankfully we got them.

“We are now in touching distance of the top sides with a number of games in hand. We need to keep going and try to pick up another couple of wins before the Christmas break which we have.”

Totternhoe visit Loughton Manor this weekend.

Totternhoe: Sanders, Potter (Folland), O’Connor, Horgan, J Rimmer, Murchie, Mouaha-Mouaha, Clarke, Doggett (Hibbitt) Lambeth, McCormick (Golding).