CHRISTIAN Hurst was Laverstock and Ford’s hero on Saturday as he popped up with the winner against a much-improved Ringwood Town on Saturday.

The first half proved to be an even affair with both sides having chances to take the lead but finding it difficult to get the ball over the line.

Some dogged defending from the away side denied Laverstock with a number of shots being blocked and a couple of efforts cleared off the goal line.

At the other end Lavvy keeper Lee Newman-Judd was at full stretch to tip a Ringwood effort onto the woodwork.

The second half started in a similar vein, with both sides cancelling each other out. As the half progressed, Laverstock started to apply more pressure and created some good openings.

Russell Jones saw a last ditch block deny him a goal while Ollie Batchelor's free header went agonisingly wide of the upright.

But on 65 minutes, the breakthrough came when a Tom Mundy free kick was headed into the six yard box by the towering Kane O'Keefe where the unmarked Hurst applied the deft final touch to put the ball beyond the Ringwood keeper.

Laverstock's defence then had to stand strong under some determined pressure to cling onto the points – and a clean sheet.

Boss Robbie Lakeman, who watched his side climb into tenth in Wessex Division One after double league wins, said: “We knew Ringwood would be tough as they beat us earlier in the season and have improved their squad since then, but we totally deserved the points through the hard work all the players put in.

“Our back four and goalkeeper are as good as any in the league and that gives us a great base to build on going into games where we might only be able to nick a goal.

“The gap between us and the top six is now closing so it's important we keep picking up points to see where we can end up.”