Harris' return boosts Liltlington

Dalehead United 1 Litlington Athletic 3

BOUYED by the return of influential striker Paul Harris, Litlington bounced back from defeat against Barton to beat a strong Dalehead United team.

The visitors were presented with a very early Christmas gift just minutes after the start of the game when the Dalehead keeper miscontrolled a back pass and the ball dropped to Harris who scored one of the easiest goals of his career.

Litlington failed to build on their good start and it was Dalehead who did most of the attacking in the remaining minutes of the first half.

The home team had plenty of chances to level, but were thwarted by some inspiring saves from returning keeper Ben Bonfield and several last ditch challenges from Ricky Wilson.

Litlington could also count their blessings when the referee decided not to award a penalty for a foul on a Dalehead striker by Litlington's Andy Orton, and player-manager Ashley Hawkins' team went in one goal to the good at half time.

The second half saw a much improved performance from Litlington with Tom Bradley and Kieran Butler beginning to outfox their opponents across the park while Matt Cottiss continued his fine form with a powerful performance in the holding role in centre midfield.

In fact it was a wonderful pinpoint pass from Butler following a crucial tackle from Cottiss that set up goal number two for Litlington when Harris produced another fine finish.

Dalehead quickly responded with a break away goal and only a last ditch challenge from Hawkins, who had recovered from a terrible individual first half display, stopped them from drawing level.

The scoring was finally completed when James Evans intercepted a poor pass from the Dalehead full back and passed the ball to Butler who beat the keeper with a long range drive late on.

After the disappointment of last week this was a much improved performance by Litlington, and will give them a confidence boost ahead of next week's game against high-flying Figleaves.