DAVE Webb watched his young make-shift Highworth Town side pick up a 3-1 away win at Ardley United in the Hellenic League Premier Division, and then admitted the future's bright'.

Highworth's boss saw his hand forced by injury and unavailability to six key, experienced players, but their young replacements excelled and have given Webb plenty of food for thought.

Goals from Phil Corcoran, Gary Hill and Arthur Levett sealed the win for the visitors, with Ardley's sole response coming midway through the second half.

Highworth included new signings, former Yate Town defender Lee Stevens, and ex-Truro City man Anthony Hogg, and Webb could not hide his delight at the performance of his young guns.

He admitted: "It was a superb victory, especially considering all the injuries we had and all the experienced players that were missing.

"The oldest player we had out was 28 and after that everyone was under about 26.

"We had three substitutes all under the age of 20, so the future is looking very good for the club.

"It gives you a real buzz to see young talent come through and play in the side.

"If we can hold onto these young players they can continue to learn from the more experienced players and improve."

Corcoran headed Highworth ahead after 10 minutes, before Hill grabbed their second just after the hour mark with a superb volley.

The home side pulled one back minutes later, but Levett notched late on to seal the victory and all three points for Highworth.

Elsewhere, an inspiring half-time team talk from Pete Horwat may not have altered Shrivenham's fortunes, but it provided a much more acceptable second half performance for the manager as they beat AFC Wallingford 3-1.

Although leading 2-1 at the break, Horwat was less than impressed with the display from his troops, and after 15 minutes of ironing out the problems, Shrivvy looked rejuvenated in the second half.

"We were dreadful in the first half and got dragged right down to their level," Horwat said.

"I didn't lose it at half-time - that only happens about once or twice a season.

"We just had a chat with the players and that comes across a lot better than going mental.

"We squeezed up and defended higher up the pitch, and as a unit we worked a lot harder and got the ball down. It's not rocket science - just the simple things."

Shrivenham went behind with less than 180 seconds on the clock, but were level inside 10 minutes when a Wallingford defender put past his own keeper under pressure from Dennis King.

Midway through the first half, Scott Lane put Shrivvy in front with a fantastic individual goal, firing home from the edge of the box.

And their third came courtesy of King who, having worked his way into the box, smashed the ball past the Wallingford keeper.