Matt Clements saluted his St Neots Town players for delivering the perfect response last Saturday.
Saints roared to a 5-2 success against Kings Langley to edge three points clear of the Southern League Premier Division relegation zone.
It was an immediate return to form after they had collapsed by the same scoreline at bottom side Cinderford the previous weekend.
Jevani Brown led the way with a second successive home hat-trick while Fernando Bell-Toxtle bagged his first goal in Saints colours before their haul was completed by a late own goal.
“There is no doubt this is our most important win of the season,” said Clements. “We showed a lot of character and quality to bounce back from the loss at Cinderford.
“The first-half performance was the best 45 minutes of seen in my time as St Neots manager, and we stayed in control of the game.”
Brown needed only nine minutes to break the deadlock after a Jonny Herd throw, and doubled the advantage from the penalty spot after Lee Clarke had been sent tumbling.
Bell-Toxtle pounced to fire in a rebound seven minutes before the break, but Saints saw their lead cut two minutes into the second period.
That’s the way it stayed until Brown completed his treble in the 90th minute after a Tom Knowles cross.
There was still time for two further goals in stoppage time as a second consolation for the visitors was followed by an own goal as Gary Connolly swiped a Knowles delivery into his own net.
Saints, buoyed by three wins in their last four games, go to play-off bound Leamington this Saturday.
Clements added: “We’ve gone toe-to-toe with top teams in recent weeks. I think we now have the firepower to match any side in the league, but we will continue to work on being tighter defensively. We’re still conceding a few too many goals for my liking.
“We’re edging to a point where our destiny is in our own hands after getting out of the bottom four with games in hand, but we need to ensure we continue to build momentum by picking up results.”
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