RICHARD Gillespie defied pre-match injury fears to fire Bashley up to fourth in the Ryman Division 1 with a 1-0 win at Whyteleafe.

The Romsey-based 19-year-old had limped out of training on Thursday complaining of a calf strain and had given up on playing at Church Road.

But manager Geoff Butler persuaded his top scorer to have a late fitness test and, much to his delight, Gillespie got through the whole 90 minutes unscathed, scoring the winner into the bargain.

The breakthrough came on 58 minutes when Danny Gibbons got in behind the defence and squared the ball across. Although it ran just behind Gillespie, the youngster managed to hook out his right foot, swivel and bury a low shot into the bottom corner.

"It wasn't an easy chance, but it was a good, predatory finish by Gilly from inside the six-yard box," said Butler. "He can't have actually strained his calf in training. Maybe he got a kick on it or something, but he didn't feel it in the game at all.

"Whyteleafe are a decent side with a lot of experience up front and two full-backs who bomb on. But we pushed Dave Wakefield up into a free role behind the front two and it worked well. All the best chances fell to us and the side had a really good look about it."

The result leaves Bashley just one point short of an automatic promotion spot and the bonus for Butler was a pleasing first game for new defensive signing Dan Potter, who has just moved into the area from Ridgeons Eastern Counties side Soham Town Rangers. "He had an excellent debut," said the boss. "He's every bit as good as the Soham manager predicted he would be."

The loan signing of midfielder Luke Byles from Havant & Waterlooville has been delayed by an administrative hitch, but Bash hope to complete the deal by the weekend.

Newport IoW have slumped to the bottom of the Ryman Division 1 pile after squandering chances galore in a 2-0 defeat at Ashford Town.

Second-half goals from Hughes and Thorogood condemned the Islanders to their eighth defeat in 12 games, but manager John Linington counted nine clear-cut scoring opportunities passed the wasteful Islanders by.

He reported: "Ashford have made lots of additions to their squad but they were probably the worst side we've played. We had so many chances, but we barely forced their keeper to make a save. Chris Bridges, Ashley Wright, Dave Greening and Adam Barsdell could all have scored and Alex Perry got himself into a good position but took one too many touches.

"Ashford got their second at the end when we were chasing the game. We didn't deserve to lose, but missed chances cost us. We can only go one way from here - and that's up."

Portsmouth-based midfielder Kev Youngs has parted company with Newport and is believed to be interesting Wessex outfits Alton and Fareham.