Jasper Mather’s goal after just seven minutes secured the three points in Kent as Blake’s men answered their critics following the 4-1 FA Trophy loss to South Park in midweek.
The Nyewood Lane boss asked for a response from his players after the dismal defeat at the MKM Arena on Wednesday — and he got just that on a terrible pitch at the Alcaline Stadium in front of 645 supporters.
He was forced into an early change when an injured Lucas Pattenden was replaced by Isaac Olaniyan on 28 minutes. But by the then the visitors had a foothold and were in no mood to take their eye off the ball in terms of defending their precious early advantage.
And they went on to fight tooth and nail, contesting every ball and rolling their sleeves up to earn the win. The Rocks were dealt another injury headache when Joe Rabbetts was forced off. The defender, on loan from Dorking Wanderers, was replaced by Reuben Livesey-Austin, another loanee with Bognor from Worthing, on 69 minutes. The change in personnel couldn’t disrupt the desire to run out victors and when the final whistle sounded there was a huge sigh of relief all round in the Rocks camp. It was a deserved win and the joy was unconfined.
Speaking to Peter Hood from Rocks Radio, Blake said: “We wanted to respond in the right way — today was about our attitude and commitment to the club. I had a few choice words Wednesday after the defeat at home to South Park in the FA Trophy and rightly so; so, I’m very happy to thank each and every one of the players for that performance.
“And the supporters were magnificent today as well so I want to thank them also. It’s a long way to come and to finish off with a win is great. Our record has not been great away from home results wise — but this was the best result of the season so far.
“If you want to be successful in this division, at this level, you have to put blood, sweat and tears into it and we did. I’m over the moon. It’s not an easy place to come and we dealt with what they had. We dealt with a bit of pressure in the second half and I thought that in the first half we were pretty good. We had a stonewall penalty not given as well. At his level it’s about results and we got a good result today and we are all delighted.”
Now Blake wants the same again in terms of desire and commitment when Bognor host Margate in a league clash on Tuesday. He added: “The goal is another three points and if we can put in another battling performance like that then we have every chance to doing well.”
Bognor Regis Town: 1 Ryan Hall, 2 Spencer Spurway, 3 Joe Rabbetts (Reuben Livesey-Austin 69′), 4 Calvin Davies, 5 Kieran Douglas, 6 Craig Robson, Lucas Pattenden (Isaac Olaniyan 28′), Matt Burgess, 9 Dan Smith, 10 Dan Gifford, 11 Jasper Mather (Tommy-Lee Higgs 90′). Subs: 12 Isaac Olaniyan, 14 Danny Howick, 15 Tommy-Lee Higgs, 16 Joe Briffa, 17 Reuben Livesey-Austin.
