Weston manager Scott Bartlett praised his side’s character to get past Larkhall Athletic and move into the first round of the Buildbase FA Trophy.

After a goalless first half, James Waite opened the scoring following good work by Lloyd Humphries and Scott Laird, with his fourth goal in two games, after his hat-trick against Larkhall in the FA Cup.

Alex Lambert levelled it up when he scored from a tight angle, following a mistake from Lewis Hall and Luke Purnell, before Matt Jones’ first goal for the club in stoppage time secured the win with an unstoppable first-time shot from 25 yards.

“We are pleased to progress, of course we needed a win and although it wasn’t pretty at times we got the job done with two wonderful goals,” said Bartlett.

“We’ve had three tough games in a week, Eastleigh of course are two leagues higher and Salisbury is one of the hardest places to go.

“I thought we did well at Eastleigh to a point and were unfortunate not to win at Salisbury, but we came through a potential banana skin and I’m happy about that.

“We have gone back to basics and our shape out of possession has been better. There were games we totally dominated but my thoughts were that we became a bit open late on in matches.

“That has improved in the last three games and we showed good character, kept probing and we are deservedly through to the next round (drawn at home against Chesham United).”

Since signing from Hungerford Town, Jones has only played 313 minutes out of Weston’s 11 games in all competitions and was only making his second start for the club on Saturday.

“Matt did well, it’s been a slow start for him with us really but he showed his quality, particularly with that finish late on in a game where he would have been fatigued,” added Bartlett.

“He has been disappointed with a lack of opportunities and I’ve expected a little more when he has played. Football is tough sometimes and you have to get your head down and grind through it and the best way to do that is through performance and hard work.

“At times we applaud players too easily for doing what they are in the team to do. When Matty plays for example, his job is to cross the ball, work hard defensively, be dependable in possession and chip in with goals and I am really happy with him.”