Jamie Ramwell’s second-half strike sealed a 2-1 win for Daisy Hill against Steeton in their North West Counties League First Division North clash at the Plumb Factory Stadium on Saturday.

In a fast-paced game that saw both sides create numerous scoring chances, a header from Sam Glendon had given Daisy the lead at the break, but Steeton levelled 11 minutes into the second half with a well-struck shot from Luke Baldwin.

But a fine goal on the counter attack from Ramwell 17 minutes from time sealed Daisy’s first win in almost two months, and afterwards captain Jake O’Brien felt his side had deserved the win.

“We showed today we can play and create chances, but we also showed in the second half that we can dig in and grind out a result,” said O’Brien.

“It was a dogged game, the conditions made it that sort of game, and in these types of conditions you have to play percentage football.

“In the first half it could have been about 5-2 at half time, we created some good chances, and (Daisy goalkeeper) Morgan Newns made two absolutely unbelievable saves, one after the other before we scored.

“It was good to see Jamie Ramwell get a goal, it was a great finish, and seeing our strikers scoring good goals rather than us scoring from step pieces or tap ins is massive for us.

“Performances recently have been good and haven’t given us the results we deserve, but I feel this could be a turning point in our season.

“We have been unlucky recently, but we have been our own worst enemy as well, and I think today we didn’t take any risks and it’s paid off for us.

“It’s a massive relief and takes pressure off us and can only inspire us to go on and do better.

“I’m buzzing for the squad, but I am buzzing for the management team. They have been working so hard trying to see how they could change things and get a result, and we’ve done that for them today.

“We’ve now got to look ahead to Darwen on Monday, they are a team who if you try and make it a dog fight they thrive on that, and can gain confidence from it.

“It will be a different type of game where we need to try and keep the ball on the floor a bit more and play in the right areas, and I am confident we will start creating more chances and score more goals and build on the performance.”

Daisy began the game well, and after Ramwell and Malick Tanou combined to set up Jack Iley for a shot that flew wide from 20 yards, Ramwell came close when he just missed the target when getting on the end of a Tom Brown cross.

But on the 20-minute mark, Steeton were denied by a terrific double save from Daisy keeper Morgan Newns, who thwarted visiting front man Toby Jeffrey with two point-blank stops in quick succession.

As play flowed from end to end, Brown had a shot from 25 yards that just cleared the bar and Sam Glendon headed over from an O’Brien free-kick. At the other end, Daisy had a let off when Steeton’s Josh McKiernon raced through on goal but missed the target from the edge of the box.

But the deadlock was broken on the half-hour mark when Daisy skipper O’Brien curled a corner into the near post and Glendon met the ball with a header that took a slight deflection on its way into the net.

It was a vital breakthrough in a close-fought game, but Steeton drew level 11 minutes into the second half when the Daisy defence were caught out by a long ball down the middle, and Luke Baldwin kept his cool and drilled a low shot past Newns to bag a well-taken equaliser.

Steeton ramped up the pressure and at one stage won five corners in succession, but the Daisy defence held firm and it was from a quick counter attack they scored the decisive goal with 17 minutes remaining.

A long ball out of defence found Ramwell in space wide on the right just over halfway, and he outpaced the covering defender before finishing with a cracking shot across the Steeton keeper James Catlow from the edge of the box.

Four minutes later Catlow was in action again when Sam Twist set up Alex Dodd for a shot the keeper managed to palm clear.

But in the closing minutes, Steeton threw men forward in an attempt to salvage a point, and the Daisy defence had to dig deep and withstand late pressure and some nervy moments.

There was almost a dramatic equaliser from a corner deep into stoppage time, when visiting keeper Catlow joined his team-mates and just failed to connect with a ball played deep into the six-yard box.

But in the end, Daisy’s resilient defence held out to secure their first win since the end of September.

Daisy are back in action tonight when they host Darwen in another North West Counties League First Division North fixture at the Plumb Factory Stadium.