FC CLACTON manager Kieron Shelley hopes a welcome quirk in the fixture list benefits his side’s survival mission.

The Seasiders are fighting relegation from the Thurlow Nunn League premier division and gave their chances a shot in the arm by beating Saffron Walden 2-0 on Saturday.

They remain second from bottom but are now six points behind both Hadleigh United and neighbours Wivenhoe Town.

And something that could work to their advantage is the fact five of their seven remaining fixtures are at the Rush Green Bowl.

“It’s a little quirk of the fixtures that really could work in our favour, because in the last four months or so teams have found it hard going at the Bowl,” said Shelley.

“We had one big defeat at home, when we lost 6-0 to Newmarket.

“They were really good and much better on the day, but even then it was one of those matches where everything they hit went in.

“We need to put a run together and this final spell of fixtures could give us that opportunity.

“It really should benefit us being at home.

“Teams don’t like coming here and you tend to have a stronger squad available when there isn’t any travelling to do.”

Hadleigh have played one match fewer while the Dragons have no less than four games in hand.

Shelley still believes his side can escape the bottom three and hopes his players can build on last week’s success when they entertain Gorleston on Saturday.

“It’s do-able and achievable, especially when you consider we’ve still got to play the likes of (struggling pair) Wivenhoe and Swaffham,” he said.

“We always felt we could get something from Saturday’s game.

“We know that if we play to our best, teams will struggle against us because we’ve got a good squad and shouldn’t be second from bottom.

“If we’d had this group together from the start we’d be in mid-table, or possibly even breaking into the top seven or eight.

“It’s a nice feeling and now we want to experience it again and again, starting this weekend.

“We want to keep moving forward, in terms of our performance, rather than going backwards.” The win was Clacton’s first victory since January 14.

Goals in each half from Kyelan Marvell and Sam Cripps, allied with a timely clean sheet, made it a highly-satisfying afternoon for the Seasiders.

Marvell got the ball rolling when his cross-shot flew into the net after just five minutes.

And Cripps, a late substitute, settled nerves with a cool finish from Marvell’s pass.

It was Clacton’s first Thurlow Nunn League premier division victory since January 14 and followed three straight defeats, at the hands of Newmarket, Long Melford and Thetford Town.