Wimborne’s first-ever visit to Chertsey’s smashing ground was a winning one. After The Curfews had taken a first-half lead through a deflected free-kick, The Magpies flew back to deservedly take all three points with goals from Will Fletcher and Matty Burrows.

Unusually, manager Tim Sills kept the same starting XI from Saturday’s hard fought win over Frome.

On a crisp, clear evening, on a good-looking surface, it was the hosts who made the initial running: Little fired over in the first minute from the left; Cameron Plain caught a second minute free-kick; Harvey Wright raced across to clear a through ball for danger-man Mazzone; and Wimborne’s shot stopper was well-placed to catch Mazzone’s instant drive. Having weathered that early storm, The Magpies began to assert themselves. Owen Roundell-Prince, who had another storming game, found Drew Eccott-Young, likewise, who crossed for Matty Burrows to test keeper Strizovic who saved well. Next, Jez Bedford won a corner on the right, resulting in a mass melee at the far post before the ball was scrambled clear.

Play flowed from end-to-end: Eccott-Young blocked Brown’s cut-back from the by-line; Cameron Munn fired wide from 25 yards following a Burrows’ corner; Will Fletcher’s strength won another corner; Eccott-Young’s slide-rule pass for Fletcher saw a super sprawling save by Strizovic; and Wright was inches away from the first goal following Fletcher’s knock down. Then, against the run of play, just after the half-hour mark, it was Chertsey who scored that first goal. Three defenders tried to stop Mazzone as he chased a ball over the top, and in a coming-together of bodies the forward went to ground. The referee gave a free-kick inches outside the penalty area, in the centre of the “D”. Little’s free-kick evaded the defensive wall only to take a massive deflection off another defender into the opposite corner.

Munn had a shot blocked, Burrows’ cross from Munn’s pass was diverted by the keeper’s legs, and Eccott-Young won the ball with a robust tackle to set Burrows away on another exhilarating run as the visitors sought an equaliser before the break.

But we didn’t have to wait long after the interval for that equaliser to arrive. On 48 minutes, determined tackling and quick feet delivered the ball to Burrows wide on the right. His low cross was met by Fletcher who blasted the ball into the net from 10 yards. Both teams went looking for more: Wright headed away a quick Chertsey break; Burrows was denied when he came in from the right from Munn’s pass; defenders combined to stop Mazzone on the edge of the area; and Plain made a brilliant stop to deny McCoy from close range.

Then on 73 minutes, Wimborne scored again, and it was no surprise that Burrows and Fletcher were at the heart of it. In the centre-circle Fletcher controlled Sam Jackson’s driven pass with his chest, headed the ball over his marker, and charged towards the home goal. Keeping a couple of defenders at bay, his shot from inside the area was saved by Strizovic; Burrows was quickest to the loose ball and fired into the empty net. Chertsey came back strongly with Wimborne looking to counter-attack: Plain made a great catch under pressure; Sam Roberts won the ball then started a four-man break with Toby Holmes firing wide; and in the final minute of the six added-on, The Curfews’ Lee fired a 35-yard free-kick wide of the post.

Given Wimborne’s less than impressive away record this season, and coming just three days after that strength-sapping battle with Frome, this was a terrific victory. It was a whole team victory. From back to front, all the boys were at least a seven out of ten. But Will Fletcher deserves a special mention – it was probably his best game for us, a proper old-fashioned centre-forward’s performance!

Remarkably, the three points lifts us to 11th in the table. Five games unbeaten, and back-to-back wins for the first time since the opening week of the season – maybe we should be looking to see who else Tim’s team can catch above us in the table rather than looking downwards to see who might catch us. It’s a funny old game!

Wimborne: Plain, Eccott-Young, Roberts, Wright, Jackson, Roundell-Prince, Morgan (Neale 67), Munn, Bedford (Lovell 73), Burrows (Holmes 83), Fletcher (Walker 90+3)

Unused sub: Biss

Attendance: 357

Match stats: