A SUPERB brace in only his second Barnston AFC first team appearance made Campbell Wilson the hero at West Clacton on Saturday.

The forward capped a dogged team performance from the boys in blue to help them record an impressive 4-2 over one of the title favourites.

Before the Essex and Suffolk border first division clash, Barnston hadn’t tasted victory in three games whereas Clacton had managed 5-1 and 9-0 wins and one draw.

Confident, they put the visitors under heavy pressure in the first half using direct, physical attacks.

Breaking point came midway through the opening 45. Keeper Jack Welton spilled an easy catch from a 25-yard free kick allowing the Clacton forwards to pounce.

This spurred Barnston into action. Jay Haberland struck the crossbar with a fierce drive and Mark Pledger had a goal ruled out for offside.

Ten minutes later a team move sent James Cordery through on goal, he fired past the keeper to make it 1-1 just before the break.

The second half started like the first. Clacton poured forward and dominated possession. But Barnston remained disciplined and looked to break.

And, with 25 minutes left, they took the lead. Central midfielder Luke Nash lofted a diagonal ball for Jay Haberland to chase. The 22-year-old winger cut in and buried his shot into the far corner.

Soon after Barnston sent on super-sub Wilson to utilise his pace up for front. But it was Clacton that capitalised on the re-organisation first.

A looping header beat Welton and skimmed the underside of the crossbar to bring the scores level.

The home side began to chase the win, leaving gaps in defence. Wilson was the man to punish them with two quick-fire strikes in the last 10 minutes.

Firstly he drilled home from the edge of the box after latching onto a through ball. He then added his second as Clacton failed to clear a corner, 18 yards out he produced a quality chip to beat the keeper for 4-2.

Speaking afterwards manager Leighton Williams said: “When we went 1-0 down, no one moaned at anyone, the whole team just rolled their sleeves up and got to work.

“We had to call up players who had played for the reserves the week before and they should be extremely proud of their performances in what was a very difficult game.”

Man of the match was Luke Nash.

- Elsewhere, Paul Cranfield scored but Barnston AFC Reserves went down 3-1 to Rowhedge Reserves.