SWINDON Supermarine manager Dave Webb hailed his side’s ruggedness as they claimed their first Southern League West win of the season.

The Webbswood Stadium outfit, who picked up their first victory of the campaign last weekend in the FA Cup, faced a daunting trip to Devon to face a Bideford side that were unbeaten and had yet to concede a goal.

Having left South Marston at 9.30am, Marine didn’t arrive at Kingsley Road until shortly before kick-off.

After rushing their warm up, Josh Parsons’ 24th minute goal was enough to settle matters – much to the delight of Webb.

“It was a horrendous journey - we didn’t start the day off great, but the performance was excellent,” the Marine boss said.

“We were very resilient in defence and scored a good goal through Josh Parsons.

“We defended brilliantly and kept a clean sheet – it was probably not the most spectacular game you will see but one that is very important if you have any aspiration of achieving anything.

“I thought we showed a side of us that some people think we can’t do, but we did it today and that is a real positive.”

With a philosophy of playing football the right way, Webb is hopeful that his side will use their performance at Bideford as a way of being able to adapt throughout the course of the season.

And while delighted with the display in Devon, Webb is aware that he may have to change things around for Monday’s visit from local rivals Cirencester Town.

“Bideford had won all three games, hadn’t conceded a goal and were at home – everything was against us,” the Marine manager added.

“But we talked about what we needed to do and credit to the players, they were excellent and did it to the letter.

“We want the team to play good football, but we have to play a certain way when we go to certain places, Bideford being one.

“It was not a day for flowing football, it is a day for being strong, being organised and being hard to beat and that is what we did.

“Hopefully we have learnt from the previous seasons we have had in this division of how to adapt our style of play, and that is what we were able to do today.

“This is something we can use this in the future.

“It will be a different game on Monday against Cirencester, we know that.

“Maybe we will have to adapt what we do and may take the game to them and maybe play in a way that gets us another three points.

“It is a local derby and we are looking forward to it. We have got ourselves off to the perfect start to a Bank Holiday weekend.”