LEE Richardson was delighted to mark his first match in charge of Oxford City Stars with a hard-fought 5-4 comeback win at Guildford.

The caretaker head coach, who took over from Kenny Redmond just a couple of days before the South Division 1 clash, admitted it was a huge relief for everyone to maintain the side’s winning run.

And he paid tribute to the players, who held their nerve to maintain their title push.

“After the week we’d had it was great to get the win,” he said.

“It was a very close game but the boys worked hard, dug in and did what we needed to do to earn the points.

“Guildford is a tough place to go and we did well to keep our winning run going.”

He added: “The boys were excellent and I couldn’t have asked more of them, you could see what the win meant to them at the end.

“I’m really pleased to have got off to a winning start and now just want to take that into this weekend and go again.”

Stars got off to a disastrous start in Guildford, falling 2-0 behind inside the opening ten minutes, both goals scored by Haydn Wootton.

They reduced the deficit through Matt Lawday to start the second period just a goal behind.

And within two minutes of the restart they were level when Michal Oravec’s excellent wrist shot found the back of the net.

Soon after the visitors led with a strike from Tom Davis.

However, just as it seemed Stars would lead going into the final period, Luke Tull made it 3-3.

The goal did not deflate Richardson’s side, however, and they took advantage of a powerplay to restore their lead as Davis bagged his second goal of the night.

But Guildford again hit back, capitalising on a powerplay of their own to level through Jared Lane.

With just six nervous minutes remaining, it was the travelling support who were given further cheer when Dax Hedges struck to seal a crucial win.