ROB Small was full of praise for his side after Bowers & Pitsea came from behind to seal a 3-1 win over Soham Town Rangers.

Lewis Manor's close range effort cancelled out Sam Mulready's opener for the visitors, while David Knight claimed a brace of goals to turn the game on its head.

A third consecutive victory has allowed Bowers to remain top of the Isthmian North tree and Small was pleased to see his players grind out the three points at the Len Salmon Stadium.

Small said: "I'm not happy conceding goals, especially having conceded the first goal in both of the last two games, but the resilience of the players to dig in, be patient, get back in the game and win it is something that is difficult to teach.

"Earlier in the season we had to chase games a couple of times but we didn't chase it well enough because we were too direct and relied too much on the long ball.

"I felt our use of the ball was better, the decision making on the ball was better and the constant pressure on the Soham goal told."

Mulready headed beyond Bowers goalkeeper Andy Wilton with 16 minutes on the clock, but referee Chris Bodell ruled the goal out for a push on Tom Stephen.

However, Mulready got his goal eight minutes later from the penalty spot after Stephen was adjudged to have fouled Callum Russell.

But Manor poked home on the stroke of half-time to equalise.

Knight came off the bench and gave the hosts the lead nine minutes later after guiding Richard Halle's goalbound header over the line.

The frontman completed the scoring with the last kick of the game and Small admitted Knight was disappointed not to start the clash.

"He let me know he made an impact and I really like that because the boy wants to play football but he was left out at Dereham and against Soham," added the Bowers chief.

"But he did what David Knight does best. He scored two goals from three yards out in total and there is probably no-one better in this league than David Knight at doing that.

"I'm delighted that he made an impact and made his statement, because he wasn't happy at being left out, in an acceptable manner.

"I think that puts him on 20 goals for the season which, before Christmas, is a phenomenal return."

Bowers & Pitsea: Wilton, Sammons, Stephen, Stokes, Halle, Leahy, Monville (Nyanja 89), Sartain, Manor, Warner, Thomas (Knight 55)