MANAGER Gareth Horner described Amesbury Town as “poor” on Saturday, despite running out 3-1 victors over ten-man Romsey Town.

An early red card didn’t deject the visitors as they took an early lead, but Eddie Perrett managed to find a leveller before the break.

At 1-1, Town needed to up the ante and did so when Chris Ward struck twice to seal the three points and maintain early pressure on the top two sides in Division One.

“By our own admission we were poor Saturday,” Horner said.

“It was important that we bounced back from last weekend’s loss to keep us in among the leading group.

“We just didn’t start and their sending off spurred them on and it wasn’t until we went behind that we managed to start knocking the ball around.

“Performance-wise we were poor but we can’t argue with the result.

“The players will be looking forward to the derby for sure but, if we play like we did last Saturday, there will only be one outcome, and it won’t be a pleasant one.

“Hopefully, we will have three or four returning to the squad this week which can only help.”