DOWNTON turned in an impressive 3-1 home victory against high-flying Shaftesbury in Sydenhams Wessex Division One.

Top scorer Shaun Prentice broke the deadlock when he cut inside from the wing and bent a curling effort into the far right corner - his 11th goal of the term.

Charlie Aldridge was at his best to save a point-blank header to protect Robins' lead.

Shaftesbury came out quickly in the second half and had three good chances to equalise but the home defence stood strong.

With 60 minutes played, Kierron Kiff and Kieran Osman replaced Paul Gulliver and Declan McGregor, and the pair made an instant impact on the game.

The fresh legs gave the visiting defence all sorts of problems and an Osman bullet header doubled Downton's advantage.

The visitors pulled one back late on through ex-Amesbury striker Danny Finnigan who was first to react to a goalmouth scramble.

But Osman put the game to bed in stoppage time with a neat finish.

Robins boss Rae Hughes said: "I said after last week I knew these lads would bounce back and they certainly did. Every single player was on it and put in a great performance.

"We have a tough run of games coming up but we have shown now that we can hold our own. Really pleased for the lads."

Ninth-placed Robins host AFC Stoneham on Saturday (3pm).