FIRST-half goals from Mo Bettamer and Alfie Whittingham ensured under-fire Aldershot Town banished the memory of last week’s 6-1 mauling at Dagenham with a battling win over Notts County.

With a point to prove after last Saturday’s horror show, Danny Searle’s men proved their worth to pick up their seventh win of a topsy-turvy season at the EBB Stadium in front of a decent crowd of 2,211.

The vital win eases the pressure on Searle ahead of a tough fixture at free-scoring Yeovil Town next Tuesday night and moves the Shots up to 18th place in the National League table, five points above the relegation zone.

Out-of-sorts Badshot Lea’s troubles continued when they were thumped 4-1 at Knaphill in the Premier Division of the Combined Counties League.

After trailing 2-0, Lea were given hope when youngster Lionel Masudi scored from the penalty spot, but Knaphill scored twice more in the last 15 minutes to condemn the Baggies to a third consecutive defeat.

The defeat leaves Badshot Lea 13th in the table.

And Farnham Town’s proud nine-game unbeaten run was ended in the pouring rain as ten-man AFC Hayes stole the points with a 1-0 win at the Memorial Ground, despite having goalkeeper Tom Clark dismissed after just 11 minutes for bringing down Town forward Pasha Tayo Walker.

Town, who slipped to third in Division One 19 points behind seemingly unstoppable leaders Jersey Bulls, who thumped Cove 7-0 for their 16th consecutive win, were left to regret squandering several gilt-edged chances in the first half, with top scorer Jack May primarily the culprit, before makeshift goalkeeper Yasha Najafi pulled off a string of decent saves to keep Farnham out.

Sixteen-year-old Trey Pender-Brown scored the only goal of the game on 79 minutes after a defensive error from Gavin Brainch.

Second-half goals from Aidan Radford and Duarte Martins saw Alresford Town stretch their lead at the top of the Premier Division of the Sydenhams Wessex League to ten points after a 2-0 win at Lymington Town.

In Division One, Alton Town continued their resurgence after a recent blip to record their third league win on the trot to cement fourth place, just two points behind the leaders.

Goals from George Bowerman, Phil Moore and Scott Sanderson saw them win 3-0 at Totton & Eling on a day when the top six sides in the division all won.

In the Hampshire Premier League, Liphook United were held to a goalless draw at home by Hayling Island while basement boys Liss Athletic showed some spirit for 70 minutes under their new management team before going down 5-2 at Overton United.