HARWICH and Parkeston manager Mike Wallace says he can see a hunger in his players' eyes - as reflected by their hard-earned victory against Wivenhoe Town.

The Shrimpers battled both the elements and their opponents to secure a 2-0 victory in the Thurlow Nunn League contest, at the Gwinnell and Sons Royal Oak.

Jake Plane and Adam Hampson, with his first for the club, scored their goals in the first division south fixture.

Harwich have now kept clean sheets in their last two league games and that is down to hard work and determination, according to Wallace.

"It's a credit to the whole squad," said the Shrimpers boss.

"You always lose players at this time of year, because of holidays, injuries, work and suspensions.

"However, every player has stepped up and given their all for the club, sometimes playing in positions they're not used to.

"Jordan (Brazitis) and Nicky (Palmer) are examples of that.

"In terms of the upturn in our defensive performances, I also need to credit Dan Clark.

"He' been consistently solid, organising the back four.

"He never stops talking and his presence has been vital.

"On Saturday, we handled the conditions better than Wivenhoe.

"I also saw the hunger in the lads' eyes because they wanted to repay the fans for their performance over at Wivenhoe (when losing 2-0 on January 21).

"We know we didn't perform as well as we can that night."

Wallace was also quick to shine the spotlight on another hero from the weekend - vice-chairman and groundsman Chris Smith.

With Storm Dennis set to pound the county, leading to wet and windy conditions, the match was given the go-ahead despite many other fixtures being off.

"The weather was horrendous but we need to credit Chris," said the Harwich boss.

"He works full-time but has managed to get our pitch playable week in, week out.

"He spent four hours working on it on Friday night.

"Myself and the players are so grateful.

"Without people like Chris, clubs at our level would struggle.

"We have a plan in place for the summer to improve our pitch, but the weather in recent weeks and months hasn't helped.

"Professional clubs as high as League One level have been struggling with their pitches and that's with full-time staff."

Harwich are away to Wormley Rovers on Saturday before travelling to Coggeshall United on Tuesday.

Little Oakley, meanwhile, return to action with a home match against Benfleet on Saturday.

The Acorns had been due to visit Coggeshall last weekend but the contest was postponed because of the conditions at West Street.

Elsewhere, Harwich and Oakley have been drawn against each other in a mouth-watering First Division Knockout Cup semi-final.

The sides will meet at the Royal Oak on Wednesday, March 11.