They recorded a second successive victory by beating Ebbsfleet United 2-0 at Nene Park last night thanks to goals from substitute Sam Smith and summer signing Lee Phillips who marked his home league debut.

But Hill was "really chuffed" to pass another tough test after the 1-0 weekend win at Blue Square Premier new boys Eastbourne Borough.

The Diamonds boss said: "We knew it was going to be a very hard game.

"They are the FA Trophy winners with a lot of young, mobile, quality players who came at us and could have been 2-0 up after five minutes.

"The tempo and quality which they played with was of the highest standard. As a manager you are saying to yourself 'are they going to slow up?'

"To be honest, apart from Andy Burgess hitting the woodwork and one or two half-chances, we found ourselves under a lot of pressure.

"I was very relieved to come in 0-0 at half-time. I said to the boys in the interval that we had to answer questions in respect of character,
quality and desire.

"We came out in the second half, kept a clean sheet and went on to win the game. So I think you can already see the resilience, determination and will to win which are big things in football and life if you want to be successful.

"We have put ourselves on the line here. No disrespect to the squad last year but they would have folded.

"We showed a lot of desire and belief to keep a clean sheet – even though people might say we were lucky.

"While we are not playing well at the moment, it will take time when you consider there were a lot of changes over the summer.

"We've beaten a very good side so I'm really pleased."


Full coverage in today's Evening Telegraph.