AFC Sudbury interim manager Danny Laws says ‘all the basics are right’ after home win against Redditch United followed by away draw at mid-table Alvechurch

AFC Sudbury’s interim manager Danny Laws felt their four-point haul from games against Redditch United and Alvechurch was a fair reflection as the relegation-threatened Yellows ended a four-game losing run to inject renewed hope into their survival bid.

After a combination of passing up good chances and being thwarted by the Redditch keeper – in front of a bumper crowd of 507 on Non League Day – they made the breakthrough on Saturday via Ryan Henshaw’s 84th-minute header, which was judged to have crossed the line.

And the 12 travelling supporters who had been reimbursed for their coach travel they had booked to make the 300-mile round trip to Alvechurch in Worcestershire on Tuesday by the players’ fines money, looked to be in for the perfect evening when Joe Neal fired them ahead in the 57th minute. It saw the former Cambridge United Under-18s player end his goal drought, stretching back to November 16 in a 3-0 league win against Stratford Town 20 games ago.

But they could not hold out against Tim Flowers’ mid-table side with Jonathan Ngandu’s 77th-minute volley ultimately seeing a share of the spoils, after visiting keeper James Bradbrook pulled off a fine late save.

“Both teams did enough to win it, so on reflection, probably a draw is a fair result,” said Laws, having now picked up points in two of his three games since Marc Abbott was relieved of his duties a fortnight ago.

“It's not always easy to take if you do take the lead but, ultimately, when you look at the course of the 90 minutes, if either team would have lost they would have probably felt they deserved more.”

And reflecting on Saturday’s win, he said: “The result was the most important thing, being able to gain three points for our endeavours.

“Obviously it was a pleasing day together with a pleasing crowd. They had moments themselves but when we got in front, I thought ‘this day cannot get any better’.”

Having used their game in hand on Redditch, it saw Sudbury close the gap to safety in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central to four points ahead of their final six matches – having actually been three a week ago – which begins across the border in Cambridgeshire at 16th-placed St Ives Town on Saturday (3pm).

Laws said: “Everybody knows what the desired outcome needs to be at the end of the season.

“We’re not really focussing on where we are. Obviously, I know where we are and if the season finished tomorrow we'd get relegated.

“We know we've got things to do and the only thing we can do is pick up points, that’s in our control, pick up as many three points as we possibly can.

“We can't look too far ahead, but we’re fully aware of the task ahead of us.”

He said he had been pleased with what he has seen from the players since stepping in.

“Performances are okay,” he said, “All the basics are right: work-rate, concentration, willingness to succeed, all of the basics are in place.

“It's piecing it together into the next game all the time, just learning from each moment, really.”

Ahead of taking on a St Ives side who have lost their last two matches by a 3-2 scoreline, he wished to thank their most recent travelling support and hoped to see a big attendance for the kinder distance on Saturday.

“I just wish to thank them and on a dark Tuesday night a long way from home, I thought the Sudbury fans were incredible, they were really behind the lads and were so loud,” he said.

“If we can triple that away support or even double that on Saturday, that's just going to help us massively.”

Academy side into county final

Meanwhile, the academy side booked their place in a Colchester United FC final on May 7 last night by beating Kirkley & Pakefield 6-0 at Walsham-le-Willows FC in the semi-final of the Veo Suffolk U18 Midweek Cup with Needham Market - who overcame holders Haverhill Rovers in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw at Bury Town FC on Tuesday - already through.

AFC Sudbury had won the competition for seven consecutive runnings ahead of a surprise exit last season.