Erkan Okay has praised Craig Gillies after the striker netted the winner in Soham Town Rangers’ 1-0 win at AFC Sudbury last night.

Former Chatteris Town and King’s Lynn Town ace Gillies stabbed the ball home after an hour to give the Greens their first win in four Bostik League North games, and assistant boss Okay was quick to praise the target man who has now found the net three times since his move to Julius Martin Lane in October.

“It was pleasing for Craig to get the goal as he led the line brilliantly and worked extremely hard,” he said.

“We were superb, we looked comfortable and although they had a lot of possession they didn’t really hurt us. The back five were different class which helped us going forward.

“We grew into the game and created some very good chances and in the end got a deserved win. Collectively it was a perfect away performance.”

Last night’s win comes at a perfect time for Soham who now face a run of fixtures against sides surrounding them in the league table.

That run starts on Saturday with the visit of Tilbury, who sit two places below the Greens in 17th.

“We have a home game to look forward to now and Tilbury will be tough,” Okay added.

“They came back from two goals down in their last game so it shows that they have plenty of spirit in their squad.

“But if we continue to produce displays like we did on Tuesday we can definitely climb up the league – but consistency is needed to do that.”

Elsewhere, Soham’s reserves were brought back to earth with a bump on Saturday in the Kershaw Senior A Division.

The Greens’ second-string went into their clash with Over Sports full of confidence after their impressive 5-1 derby win over Soham United, but crashed to a 4-0 defeat.

Boss Chris Gibson said: “A poor first half left us with too much to do in the second but we got a reaction in the second half to challenge and experience side and work hard.

“Lessons have been learned and we move on.”

Soham go to Cottenham United on Saturday (2pm).