MANAGER Tom Rothery says his players have given him a timely lift after a "tough time" in the Brightlingsea Regent hotseat.

The R's had dropped into the Bostik League premier division's relegation zone, in addition to bowing out of the FA Trophy.

However, they hoisted themselves out of the bottom three after back-to-back wins against Burgess Hill Town and Leatherhead.

They then lost 5-0 at title-chasing Lewes last Wednesday before giving themselves another shot in the arm by holding on to defeat Corinthian Casuals 4-3 at the Taydal Stadium on Saturday.

"I'm honest enough to admit it had been tough," said Rothery.

"As a manager, you take personal responsibility and everything to heart.

"You do a lot of soul-searching, looking for answers that aren't always there.

"You question yourself and begin to wonder if you're the right man for the job; if the club should start looking at other options.

"The players know how I've been feeling and they've been brilliant.

"After Aaron (Condon) scored twice against Burgess Hill, he said 'I was desperate to score for you'.

"It means a lot and I genuinely have great faith in this group of boys.

"We've proved throughout the season, and during last year, that we can compete with the top sides in the division.

"Reaching those levels on a consistent basis is the real challenge, especially with a young and inexperienced squad.

"But I firmly believe we're better than our league position suggests.

"If we can find a level of consistency, I have no doubt we'll start climbing the league.

"We need a clump of points, to keep building on these wins."

Regent held their nerve to record an important, dramatic victory against Corinthian Casuals.

It was only the R’s second home victory of the campaign, following on from the Burgess Hill success.

They carried on where they left off that afternoon with an astonishing two goals in the opening six minutes.

Jordan Barnett gave them a dream start, turning in Condon’s cross, and Billy Hunt swiftly made it 2-0.

Condon spun on the edge of the box and fired home to stretch the lead midway through the first half.

Gabriel Odunaike pulled one back but Condon pounced again, scoring direct from a corner just after the half-hour mark, to give his side a comfortable 4-1.

Despite the score, it was far from plain sailing in the second half.

Maxwell Oldham reduced the deficit and Hakeem Adelakun made it 4-3.

However, Regent held on in the closing seconds for a hard-earned, if nerve-jangling, victory to move up to 17th.

Next up for Brightlingsea is a trip to AFC Hornchurch on Saturday.