Ballymena United manager Jim Ervin praised his players for their stubborn rearguard action in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Cliftonville at Solitude.
The Sky Blues had to soak up pressure from the home side before Andy Scott’s 70th-minute winner which elevated them to third place in the Premiership table, behind the Reds on goal difference.
“I thought it was a really difficult game. I thought we were under pressure for the majority of it. You expect that when you come to Cliftonville and you have to be resolute in defence and brave and you have to enjoy being under the cosh.
“You have to ride your luck at times and enjoy defending.
“We had no passengers – every player stuck to their task and worked their socks off and did their jobs.”
The victory ended a run of four straight top flight defeats for Ervin’s charges.
“I’m so pleased for everyone at the club as it’s been a difficult couple of weeks.
“We’ve worked hard on the training pitch and behind the scenes and we got our just rewards.”
Livewire winger Scott is one of a contingent of players who joined the Braidmen from derby rivals Coleraine in the summer.
“Andy has scored a tremendous goal and I’m so pleased for him.
“He’s a hard working player, he never stops, the amount of energy that he has, and we don’t always see the benefit of it going forward. We see a lot defensively.”