City showed excellent fighting qualities as they secured an important away win thanks to Laurie Stewart’s first half strike.

Manager Gary Roberts reshuffled his back four from the one that featured in last week’s FA Cup defeat against Hinckley by bringing in Matt Haniver and Craig Radcliffe at fullback, Tom Pepper dropping to the bench alongside James Krause, who was not quite at full fitness. Stewart’s food poisoning was thankfully a distant memory, allowing him to rejoin Lee Chaffey at the centre of defence.

Meanwhile, Didcot were also struggling with injuries. Josh Dutton Black (knee) and James Mortimer-Jones (knee) were ruled out from selection earlier in the week while Michael Bartlett was declared unfit on the day.

Last week saw City’s poorest performance of the year against a team who produced their best showing – an unhappy combination for the Lilywhites. In Didcot they faced a team that has had a decent start to the season without pulling up any trees, and being fellow competitors in the same league, a decent yardstick against which City could measure themselves.

From the kick off it was clear that the Lilywhites wanted to impose themselves on the match. This season City have launched many of their attacks down the left and the change of personnel at fullback didn’t stop this from continuing. On three minutes, Radcliffe made the overlap and delivered a decent cross that incoming strikers Frendo and Gentle couldn’t quite reach

As City continued their lively start without really creating hard-edged chances, the home team were limited to a free kick which was meat and drink for Zac Barrett. But City’s persistence paid off when they won a corner on the left. The ball came over and Stewart was there to meet it with a firm header. The ball was cleared off the line but only as far as Stewart who made no mistake in burying the ball to give the visitors a deserved lead. A well taken effort that underlines the young defender’s worth to the team, chipping in as he does with important goals.

It was his co-defender Chaffey who very nearly doubled the lead when he met Radcliffe’s cross only to see it deflect off a defender and up on to the bar and away. When the half time whistle went, City were good value for their lead and went in the happier of the two sides.

The second half initially followed the same pattern as the first. Fuller’s cross to Gentle was met by the tall striker but the effort was off target. Minutes later, Adrian Cambridge’s free kick beat the wall and the wrong side of the cross bar and shortly after, Robbie Nightingale had a decent opportunity from seven yards out which he didn’t take. All good signs though of a team that wanted to attack and close out the game.

Not surprising, the Railwaymen had other ideas. A reshaping of their formation saw three men going forward, with resulting pressure on the City defence. However, the Lilywhites were back to their parsimonious best and despite being pressed hard were resolute in defence. There were scares, none more so than when Didcot skipper Martin Brown powered a header from a corner, forcing Barrett to make a half stop. The ball appeared to have enough left on it to go over the line but fortunately substitute Lee Clarke was on hand to thrash it away.

Still Didcot pressed forward, looking dangerous. However, the defence kept them at arm’s length and Barrett wasn’t pressed into meaningful active service.

At the very end of the match, it was the Lilywhites who could have scored when Stewart met another corner with a fine header that drew a terrific save from Matt Trott.

City had certainly experienced life under the cosh during the second half but had the resolve to see off their opponents. A well deserved win which against the backdrop of last week was all the more impressive.