Emphatic Worthing win 'a reward for hard work' says Reds boss

Ricky Aguiar (right) grabbed a brace in Worthing's 6-1 demolition of Merstham. Pictured here v East Thurrock by Stephen Goodger.

A Ricky Aguiar brace and goals from Jasper Pattenden, Alex Parsons, Marley Marshall and Ollie Pearce helped Worthing to their biggest win of the campaign, as they kept up their magnificent run of only losing once in the league since August 17.

Ever since the 6-0 home defeat to Hornchurch earlier in the year, only their 3-2 loss to East Thurrock United in October has left a blemish on their league record.

And manager Hinshelwood believes their fine run to the top has been a result of his side’s commitment and dedication to making up for that August defeat.

He said: “I am obviously delighted that, for the effort and hard work the players have been putting in, they’re getting the reward of a convincing scoreline and a good performance.

“And to be top as well is, again, rewarding for the effort that the players have given so far this season.”

Despite another convincing win, Hinshelwood felt there were still areas for improvement, especially when former Red Shola Ayoola, halved the deficit in the first half.

He continued: “I still feel like, at 2-0 up, it was comfortable.

"We missed a penalty and missed a couple of chances but then, to gift them a goal which could have given them a gee up, I thought maybe we were showing signs of being a bit naive to only be leading by one goal with the amount of dominance that we had in the game.

“And then, all the time it’s 2-1, the next goal becomes massive but luckily enough we managed to get it, and then it gave us that two-goal cushion again which was big going in at half-time.”

Hinshelwood was also pleased that his former player, Ayoola, was also on the scoresheet, albeit for the opposition.

He added: “I spoke to Shola at length after and the fact he’s getting regular minutes is really helping him as a player and we wish him nothing but success.

“He was a handful (on Saturday) and I’m pleased that he’s getting regular football and that it’s really benefiting him as an individual.

“He’s a young player and needs to be playing football matches.”