Witham Town manager Garry Kimble was relieved that his players hadn’t dwelled on the disappointment of missing out on the Ryman League division one north title in their play-off semi-final against Needham Market.

A draw at Cheshunt meant Witham surrendered the chance to claim the title on Saturday and they had to pick themselves up quickly to face Needham on Tuesday.

It may have turned into another disappointment but, instead, the Town players showed their fighting spirit to win 1-0 and set up a final showdown against Harlow Town on Sunday.

Kimble said: “What the lads showed me was that they could bounce back from the disappointment of Saturday.

“I wasn’t worried that they wouldn’t because I changed it around.

“Perhaps they were changes that people weren’t expecting, but I needed more energy in the midfield with Kris Newby, Danny Emmanuel and Tom Wraight.

“I thought Danny’s energy levels with picking the ball up and driving at them was excellent.

“Then with Shami (Pedulu) and Felix (Ogeah-Andrews) coming on we had pace at the end.

“Shami is an impact player and you could see how the crowd lifted when he came on.

“Next year we will go with pace all over the field because that kills, but in this game we deserved the win.

“The only way Needham looked like scoring was if we slipped up with a silly mistake.

“We went with pace and energy because it wasn’t there on Saturday, but I couldn’t fault anyone on this game as they all put in a shift for me.

“What happened Saturday was a real low point, but you could see after the Needham game how much it meant to them.”