ERNIE Howe is hoping his side's 1-0 success away at Hayes can be the springboard to a winning run that will see Basingstoke Town get back among the Nationwide South play-off spots.

Saturday's dogged success, courtesy of Cristian Levis' ninth-minute winner, lifted Town up a league place to seventh and a 50 points tally.

The win got even better for Howe when he learned the sides within reach above them - Thurrock and Eastbourne - both lost.

Town now lie just four points adrift of the fifth and final qualification place held by Eastbourne.

And with just seven games left, Howe has urged his men to maintain their current form and work ethic as the season's finale approaches.

The Town boss rallied: "We have got to 50 points and now have to try to push on from there to make the play-offs.

"Other results have gone for us this weekend and it's put us up a place, which is another pleasing reward to a good win that we had to work hard for.

"We are still in with a shout of the playoffs, although it will need a winning run to get us back up there.

"But the signs have been there in the last few weeks that we are returning to form and can achieve such a run."

Howe believes his squad is primed for the task in hand, given those displays and also now that he has been able to recruit fresh blood.

Following the acquisition of David Stroud from Swindon, new Nigerian midfielder Uwa Ogbodo - for whom relevant FA/Home Office clearance came on Friday - and striker Adam Wallace have come to the Camrose.

Both were on the bench at Hayes, with Wallace replacing Neville Roach with 20 minutes left.

Howe said: "For the first time in a long while we had options on the bench, which as a manager is something you always want.

"I thought Adam was quite lively when he came on and he is a proven goalscorer.

"I was going to send Uwa on with 10 minutes left but decided against it because the timing wasn't right. The game was still tight."

After being frustrated for so long in his attempts to bring new players in, Howe is suddenly having success.

"That's how it goes sometimes," he reflected. "But it's never too late to freshen things up and I hope I have brought the right players in to have a positive impact."

Howe also refused to rule out another addition to the squad this week, saying: "There is another possibility but we will have to see."

Howe was pleased with the team as a whole in Saturday's win but singled out Levis, central defenders Jason Bristow and Mark Paterson and goalkeeper Scott Tarr as key performers.

He said: "Cristian's goal really gave him the lift he needed, Jason was his usual dominant self at the back and I have been impressed with the way Mark has slotted back into the team after so long out with his broken wrist.

"Scotty has made some very good saves for us, especially at the end of injury time, when he was very brave and made a vital stop.

"But I felt there were a couple of attacking situations we should have done better with - German (De La Vega) should have scored to have wrapped up the game before then."

Howe felt the decision to revert to a 4-5-1 formation with 30 minutes left - deploying Levis to right wing and packing the midfield - helped his team eke out all three points.

"It was the right decision to make as Hayes were seeing too much of the ball in midfield," he said.

"Perhaps I should have done the same at Bognor two weeks ago to help us get a draw, but I made the decision today and it worked."

After the rigours of last Tuesday's 2-2 Hampshire Cup semi-final first-leg draw with Aldershot, Howe said training was light on Thursday.

"We didn't want the lads to feel too tired for Hayes, although some said they did and there were some tired legs out there by the end.

"But it was important, after such a big game as Aldershot, that we approached Hayes in the same way - working hard to get the right result. And we did that."

First published: Monday, March 21, 2005