RAMSBOTTOM United boss Chris Willcock says Saturday's 2-0 win against Brighouse Town in the BetVictor League North West Division was a big step in the right direction for his side.

Goals from Reuben Jerome and Nic Evangelinos sealed a home victory as Willcock saw his side bounce back from successive heavy away defeats – 6-0 at Gateshead and 5-1 at Workington in the league.

And while he admits there is still room for improvement, he was happy with the response from his players.

He said: "It’s been a challenging few weeks but I was pleased with the performance levels.

"Two good finishes is always nice and backed up with Nic (Evangelinos) scoring and coming back to form.

"It's great to see Reuben (Jerome) back too, we’ve been missing him in the past few weeks.

"I’m not going to stand here and say I thought we would get a clean sheet, I didn’t come with that thinking at all.

"The new players have done a great job. They’ve come in and trained really hard.

"We haven’t turned a corner but made a step in the right direction.

"I’ve always thought we can challenge [for promotion], we’re not even 10 games in yet.

"We are not off the pace and there are points being dropped all over the place.

"I won’t give up till it is mathematically impossible."

Going into Saturday's game, Willcock made four changes with Peter Doran, David Maher, Daniel Murphy and Jerome coming in while Teddy Perkins and Josh Hmani dropped to the bench, and Sam Adetiloye and Anointed Chukwu were absent from the squad.

The Rams made a strong start and should have taken the lead inside the first minute. A long ball forward from the Blues' backline caught out the respective Brighouse defenders, leaving Evangelinos with a one-on-one against visiting keeper Jordan Porter. Despite an admirable effort, his attempted shot was deflected wide.

The home side looked a different outfit to the one who had shipped 11 goals in their previous two games and Jamie Rother, who was named player of the month for September, saw a shot cannon off the post, while Mason Fawns looked to lob Porter, but the man between the sticks was well behind the effort.

Brighouse slowly began to grow into the game and threatened the home goal on several occasions. First, a long-range shot from midfield hit the post leaving Tom Stewart rooted to the spot, then moments later Eddie Church failed to convert a low cross by Ousman Cham.

The best chance for the Yorkshire side came when Thomas Haigh beat several Rams defenders while drifting into However, the Rams netted the opening goal through Jerome on 39 minutes.

Evangelinos found the striker with a smart pass, leaving him with a simple finish that found the far right corner.

The second half began with chances at both ends, Jerome again causing trouble for right-back Joe Wilkinson before shooting wide, while at the other end, Cham drove at the defence but Kelvin Lugsden managed to deflect the winger’s effort away.

Then, substitute midfielder Eddie Moran’s left-foot drive had Porter beaten but not the woodwork.

The game was sewn up in the 87th minute with Evangelinos deservingly netting. Expertly controlling a testing forward pass, the tricky winger-turned-striker coolly stroked the ball home to mark the manager's first-year anniversary at the club with three points.

On Saturday, the Rams host Colne in the FA Trophy, kick off 3pm.