Redditch United 4

Droylsden 1

Redditch stunned visitors Droylsden to win their first game in seven - a victory that lifted the Valley Stadium side off the foot of the Nationwide Conference North table.

And manager Rod Brown stressed it had been the better work ethic shown by his players that had made the difference at the end of what had been a testing seven days at the helm.

"I've had to make some very difficult decisions this week," the Reds boss said. "They have not been nice decisions for various reasons but I felt something wasn't right."

The departure of goalkeeper Ryan Young and striker John Williams alongside coaches Barry Powell and Phil Parkes has been proof of those changes but notably the return of Simon Hollis after an unsuccessful spell at Tamworth clearly injected a much needed freshness to the squad.

Brown added: "I felt the work ethic was not in the team and what I have done is taken back control of the training ground and done the things that have been successful for me over a number of years.

"I didn't expect to turn things around as positively as we have done but I did expect to give them a good game. The score heavily reflected the way we played and what we did do is all the things that we haven't been doing for the previous seven games.

"They've worked hard this week. We've seen a different attitude on the training ground, you could sense there was going to be a more positive reaction needed after last week's mediocre performance.

"The way we played will be more indicative of the way we will be playing. But let's not get carried away, we've had one win."

Indeed the writing was on the wall from the very first minute. United's first foray into the Droylesden half produced a goal when a long ball forward allowed Joe Broad to curl his effort beyond the Droylesden keeper after Craig Wilding had helped create space.

Reds should have doubled that lead soon after, yet Wilding blazed over after Broad had beaten Droylsden keeper Paul Phillips.

Hollis' trickery on the wing created the second straight after the interval, Broad notching his second after Phillips fumbled the initial effort.

Danny Scheppel provided the telling through ball that saw Scott Rickards round the keeper and finish for Redditch's third before the visitors grabbed a consolation through substitute Jody Banim, last season's leading scorer.

But it was the home side who had the final say when skipper Mark Taylor superbly chipped Phillips deep into stoppage time.