ROMSEY Town showed “a different side” to their promotion-chasing credentials in Tuesday’s satisfying 1-0 victory at Fawley AFC in Sydenhams Wessex One.

While their previous game – a 7-0 slaying of Totton & Eling – was all about good football, this latest win was more of a slog on a difficult playing surface.

But one moment of second-half class was enough to settle it for Romsey as manager Andy Samuels’ substitutions came up trumps.

Winger Tom Donaldson picked the ball up and played in left-back Joao Aldeano. He in turn found Donaldson’s fellow sub Indrit Elezi, who beat two defenders before striking the ball left-footed into the bottom corner with around 20 minutes to play.

It came as sweet relief to Samuels after a couple of opportunities had passed his side by earlier in the game.

“We’d hit the post in the first half with a Brett Stanley free-kick and, just before that, Andy Turner had controlled the ball in the six-yard box. In training, he would have put it away, but the Fawley keeper made himself big and pulled off a great save,” said the Romsey boss.

“Coming off at half-time you wondered if it was going to be one of those games.

“With the weather we’ve had lately the pitch wasn’t the greatest.

“We hadn’t played since January 13, but Fawley had played on it on Saturday and, dare I say it, it was a bit like a potato field. I know it’s the same for both teams, but for us to grind out a result like that was fantastic.

“We’ve had a lot more supporters coming to watch us this season because we’re playing good football and we’re going for promotion, but this time we showed a different side to our game, digging deep, working hard and pulling together.

“Successful teams find ways to win matches and we need to keep doing that and make sure we’re not dropping points - away from home in particular.”

The fifth-placed Bypass boys will be tested to the max on their travels over the next week.

Following Saturday's trip to Hythe & Dibden, they go to Folland Sports on Tuesday before hitting the road once again to promotion rivals Christchurch on February 17.

“We have to better what we’ve done in the first half of the season,” stressed Samuels.

“We’ve put ourselves in a fantastic position, but we’ve thrown away some points and we need to stay focused and not slip up because it really matters now.

“We must keep the belief, work hard and get ourselves promoted.”

Romsey’s physio Andy Comley also earned full marks on Tuesday.

His help was greatly appreciated by Fawley when the Oilers’ Kieran Roche suffered a nasty injury in the early stages.

“There was a long kick from the goalkeeper and their forward and our goalkeeper and centre-half all went for the ball,” Samuels explained. “His (Roche’s) leg locked out as he landed and Andy, who is a fully qualified physio and sports therapist with his own practice, did go and help him.

“It’s vital to have that expertise to help players, particularly in non-league, and we’re more than willing to provide as much support as we can.”