THE Magpies took a giant step towards securing seventh as Oscar Knight’s late winner gave them a 2-1 victory at Wadebridge Town on Wednesday night.

Holsworthy headed to Bodieve Park looking to bounce back from their 1-1 draw with third bottom St Day on Saturday and boss Kevin Squire – who once again had to change the pack – brought in Chris Wildern, Tallan Burns and the dual-registered Knight into the team.

Wadebridge have had a mixed season sitting in mid-table, and the first half was a scrappy affair with chances at a premium.

Ben Sharpe struck a shot over close to the half-hour mark before Holsworthy took the lead just before half-time.

The ball fell to Wildern – playing out of position at right-back – but he showed his usual striker’s instincts and found the bottom corner at the near post from the edge of the D.

Wadebridge were much-improved early in the second half and forced a series of corners, one of which saw them level on 56 minutes.

A ball to the back post was nodded down by full-back Ed Bowers for centre-half Matt Sanders to thrash in from close-range.

Chances continued to be tough to come by for both teams, but Knight’s moment of magic with five minutes remaining gave Holsworthy a 12th victory of the season.

He took a pass on the counter from Gavin Carter before curling a superb finish into the far corner of Steve Raven’s net.

Magpies boss Kevin Squire admitted it wasn’t a classic, but praised the way they ground it out.

He said: “Basically it was a very scrappy game which we were able to come out on the right side of.

“I was a bit frustrated after Saturday against St Day, but we still managed to get a point. We’re not playing that well at the moment, but I cannot fault the players’ efforts and attitude, so credit to the players for securing another win.”

Holsworthy sit four points clear of neighbours Bude Town who have a game in-hand, and round off their season on Saturday when they host a Sticker side who helped the Devonians out on Wednesday night by winning 2-1 at sixth-placed Falmouth Town Reserves.

The Magpies also have a highly-anticipated Devon St Luke’s Bowl final against South West Peninsula League Premier East leaders Bovey Tracey to come on Wednesday, May 6 at Coach Road, Newton Abbot.

However, Squire is more worried – for now at least – about ending their league campaign on a high.

He concluded: We’ll be making sure we give it a good go, and our focus is on Saturday as the final will take care of itself.

“We want to get another win if possible, but Sticker are a good solid side who got a really good win at Falmouth last night.”

Skipper and centre-half Jedd Peschke has missed the last two matches after going off in the Good Friday victory over Bude, but Squire says he is in contention to return at the weekend, concluding: “We’re hoping to get Jedd some minutes on Saturday, but for everybody else it’ll be a case of playing the best team which I think can win us the game.”

HOLSWORTHY: Ryan Chadwick (capt); Chris Wildern, Sam Hill, Callum Martyn, Gavin Carter; Tallan Burns, Jay Thomas, Gabe Rutter; Ben Sharpe, Brad Ausden, Oscar Knight. Subs: George Plumb, Joe Barker, Lewis Haxell.

Magpies’ man-of-the-match: Oscar Knight.