CALUM Flanagan believes Redditch United’s last gasp 1-0 win at Barwell will do his side the ‘world of good’ following a tough run of results.
A 93rd minute goal from Johnny Johnston earned the Reds all three points at Kirkby Road as United bounced back from their weekend defeat against AFC Sudbury.
The result moves Redditch back into the Southern League Premier Central play-off places and Flanagan hopes his players will take confidence from the performance after securing a first win against Barwell since 2019.
Reds assistant manager Flanagan said: “We were very good, they’ve been our bogey side for a long time, we completely dominated the game in the second half.
“We’ve not been great in the last few weeks in terms of our performance levels and that’s reflected in the results.
“We knew we needed to be braver, we really hurt them out wide with our attacking flair, we’ve struggled to get any rhythm in the games in the last few weeks.
“When you’re a little bit low on confidence, people start making mistakes and want the ball a little bit less.
“For us, it was about encouraging the boys to try and play and trust their ability a little bit more. A win like that will do us the world of good moving forwards.
“The schedule has not been the kindest to us, we’ve had a few Saturday-Monday turnarounds in a row.”
United dominated second-half proceedings as Barwell goalkeeper William Highland made a number of saves to keep the visitors at bay.
However, Johnston eventually found the winner three minutes into injury time when he smashed a bouncing ball out of Highland’s reach.
Redditch are next in action against Leiston on Saturday, October 19 with kick-off at 3pm at Valley Stadium.
