Cottesmore AFC beat Friar Lane & Epworth in the Leicestershire Senior League
Hard work was rewarded for Cottesmore as they stretched their unbeaten Leicestershire Senior League run to six games with a home victory on Saturday.
The Rutland side were 4-2 winners over Friar Lane & Epworth in the Premier Division clash at Westray Park.
Cottesmore had twice trailed their visitors who had won 3-1 in the reverse fixture in the second game of the season.
But they hit back on each occasion before finishing strongly with goals from Mark Tinsley (two), Kieran Ogden and Brenden Parker securing the success.
Manager John Rawdon said: "It was a really good three points and all the ones which we've fought and scraped for recently are now even more valuable.
"It was a bit of a six-pointer in a mini league which we're in around the middle of the table and I was really happy to get the points on the board.
"We really dug in and battled and then produced some good football to get back in the game.
"I always tell the lads that, if you work hard, then you get what you deserve in the end and we deserved the points on Saturday and had a little bit too much for them in the end."
Cottesmore had fallen behind just before the midway mark in the first half as Curtis Wheat latched onto a ball down the middle before firing home the opening goal.
The hosts responded and had equalised shortly after with centre-half Ogden scoring his first goal for the club with a close range finish from a corner.
However, Friar Lane had regained the advantage before the break with Chris Smith converting for an interval lead.
Cottesmore looked to have found a way back into the contest shortly after the restart when Tinsley was fouled in the box but Will Rawdon saw his penalty saved by the Friar Lane goalkeeper.
The home side then introduced Parker off the bench following an injury lay-off and he made an immediate impact.
He raced clear of the visiting defence to slot home the equaliser before Tinsley finished well to put Cottesmore ahead for the first time.
The win was then sealed as Tinsley converted a back post header to seal the fourth league win of the season.
Cottesmore are playing in the Everards Tigers League Cup tonight (Tuesday) with a first round trip to Aylestone Park Reserves.
They return to Premier Division action on Saturday with a tough trip to Hathern looking to maintain their place in the top half of the league table.
Rawdon added: "We've got the best goal difference overall outside of the top four and we've got a game in hand on most of the teams above us but the Hathern match is a massive one for us.
"They're a point behind us with a game in hand so, if we're looking to hit our expectations for the season as soon as possible, we've got to get a result on Saturday in what is a tough place to go."
