A PATCHED-UP Ramsbottom United side bounced back from the weekend’s 1-0 defeat at home to promotion rivals Bamber Bridge to see off Brighouse Town 2-1 on Tuesday night.

Sam Heathcote scored a goal in each half to put Rammy in the driving seat and after Jack Normanton pulled one back for the visitors on the hour Mark Fell’s men dug deep to secure all three points.

The Rams boss was down to the bare bones and forced to field a number of players out of position, but he was happy with the way they rallied round to seal the win, which moved them up to fifth in Evo-Stik North.

“No doubt we did enough for all the points and when you consider we played a centre-half up front, had to make three changes in the back four due to injury and had to rush Spenny (Grant Spencer) back earlier than we would have liked. So it was a good display.

“Again, we’ve had enough chances to win several games, but we managed to stifle them when they got back into it at 2-1 and other than a goal from a corner and a couple of other half-chances from set plays they’ve not offered a lot.

“For us, it’s an important win. It puts us back in the play-off places and I hope we can put in another progressive display in the Trophy on Saturday.”

Heathcote showed his versatility after being pushed forward in a central striking role as injuries and unavailability deprived the Rams of their usual options up front, while Liam Brownhill made his debut at right-back and midfielder Ben Richardson filled in at left-back.

Jerome Wright laid on the opener for Heathcote to slot home in the 13th minute after finding him with a cross into the box following a typically strong run down the left.

Rammy were then rewarded for a bright start to the second half when Greg Daniels skipped past a couple of Brighouse challenges before feeding the ball through to Heathcote, who unleashed a powerful shot to add a second on 54 minutes.

The Rams almost increased their lead when Daniels had a goal-bound effort cleared off the line.

But they were put on the back foot on 60 minutes when a punched clearance by goalkeeper Danny Taberner rebounded in off Normanton.

The home side rode their luck as Brighouse headed over two late chances.

Rammy now revert to cup action on Saturday with the visit of Colwyn Bay in the FA Trophy.