Whitchurch United 2 Bemerton Heath Harlequins 1

At last, it was Whitchurch's day.

Derek and Dave Smalley's men finally had a deserved slice of fortune on Saturday to send the Longmeadow faithful into jubilation and relief, with their first win since 3 September. And all of a sudden, survival looks a real possibility for the JWL's bottom side.

Bemerton, who had shots hit the post and bar, and who had their goalkeeper Colin Hopkins sent off for conceding the penalty that set United on their way, might consider themselves unfortunate. But this season, Whitchurch have been nothing other than that; and they still had to work tirelessly for their victory.

The visitors' Matty Holmes hit the post on five minutes, and Smalley junior had to be on his best form in goal to deny Steve Marwood's shot with a superb save soon after.

And when Bemerton took the lead on 17 minutes as Carl Jones crossed for Kevin Hick to tap in at the far post, it looked like business as usual at the bottom end of the JWL.

But United pegged the visitors back, defended doggedly, and kept them to just the one-goal advantage, knowing they would be playing with the wind and slope advantage in the second period.

The forwards took the game to Heath, but even then the visitors saw Hick's speculative volley strike the crossbar from 25 yards, only to fall safely into Smalley's arms.

It all came right for United on 74 minutes, though, as James Scrivens, who had another sterling performance, was put clean through on goal and was brought down by Hopkins.

The keeper, who had been going for the ball, caught the winger's leg, and referee Kevin Downer had no option other than a red card. Defender Mark Gulliver put on the number one shirt for the spot-kick, but stood and watched as Scrivens casually slid the ball home.

Whitchurch poured forward, sensing this was their best chance to win for a long time, and with Heath unwisely opting to attack with 10 men, Scrivens found a super pass to leave Suntah with just the stand-in keeper to beat. The newcomer up front sent a glorious shot crashing past Gulliver into the net to send the home fans into undreamt-of ecstasy.

Relief and joy erupted around the ground; this victory meant the world to those players and fans out there, and you get the feeling it might just be the start of the great escape.

Delighted manager Derek Smalley told the Advertiser: "We haven't been getting the rub of the green for weeks, but today we got what we've been missing, and the lads never let their heads drop.

"Pascal and Rickey Attridge both did well in their first game; Pascal took his goal very well, and we'll be seeing a lot more of them.

"Steve Morris and George Pitts had superb games for us; George was the driving force in the middle.

"The penalty changed the game around for us. Both players were contesting the ball, and James did win it, so we came out with our just deserts. It's about time; we needed our luck to change.

"Everybody was up for it today, and you can't ask for any more than that. If we keep putting in performances like that, we can do it."

Whitchurch lost 6-0 to Bournemouth on Tuesday but actually improved their goal difference over relegation rivals Blackfield & Langley, who lost 7-0 at Cowes Sports.