BRANTHAM Athletic coach Ben Swan pinpointed a key flashpoint involving his goalkeeper and full-back which paved the way to Saturday’s 4-1 victory against Haverhill Rovers.

Two-goal hero Jack Smith and fellow scorers Sean Bartlett and Sam Newson took the plaudits after helping the Imps to a convincing Thurlow Nunn League victory.

Swan sung their praises too – but reflected on a crucial moment when keeper Callum Robinson made a brave save from a one-on-one position. The loose ball was then crossed from the right and powerfully steered towards goal – only to be heroically deflected onto the bar by Will Crissell.

“That was such a key moment as far as I’m concerned, because it was 1-1 at that stage,” said Swan, who works alongside first-team bosses Matt Carmichael and Michael Brothers.

“It was a remarkable save.

“Then Will cleared one off the line, via the bar, and those two moments were the difference.

“It might have been a different story if we’d gone behind.

“I know we scored four goals and our strikers will take the credit, but those moments were crucial.”

Smith scored twice for the hosts, after well-taken lobbed efforts from Bartlett and Sam Newson.

“We were on top early on and went in front,” said Swan, whose side went onto win 2-0 at Hadleigh United on Tuesday night, thanks to two more goals from Sam Newson.

“But after conceding the equaliser, it went a bit flat.

“We said to the boys at half-time that we needed to be more on the front foot and that’s exactly what happened.

“We’ve got such quality in the top half of the pitch and that really showed.

“The score possibly flattered us a bit but, in the end, we were more than happy with the performance.

“For an hour at least, we were the better side and deserved to win.

“Things are going well and our league form is decent.

“We had a couple of poor results on the spin against Redbridge and Felixstowe.

“However, we feel we’ve addressed some of the problems that arose in those matches so it was massive to win at Wivenhoe (1-0, last Tuesday).

“Everyone was a bit tense and it relieved a bit of pressure going into Saturday.

“It’s an ongoing project but we’re getting there, slowly but surely.

“We’ve only lost two league games against top sides and we certainly would have taken that at the start of the season.”

Brantham have a premier division fixture at Walsham-le-Willows on Saturday and then host Halstead Town in the League Cup on Tuesday night.