MATCHWINNER Bradley Gray doesn’t care how he scores, as long as his goals seal Swindon Supermarine vital points in their battle to beat the drop.

After playing with their backs against the wall for much of their visit to Hitchin, the striker’s shot twelve minutes from time was deflected over the home keeper and into the back of the net to secure a vital 1-0 win.

While many of Gray’s team mates remain convinced it was a cross, the forward insisted it was an effort on goal and was happy with the helping hand.

“It was definitely a shot, no doubt about it,” he told the Advertiser.

“It took a huge deflection but we take every goal we can, and it was great that it secured all of the points.

“As a striker you don’t really care how they go in, as long as they do, especially at this stage of the season.”

The victory saw Marine close the gap on Evesham who occupy the last place above the relegation zone, and Gray admitted he and his team mates are quick to look at their rivals’ results whent they come off the field.

“You do look, yes, but it is more important what we do really,” he said.

“We need to take points from every game we play, and if we do that I am sure we will close the gap because the teams above us will drop points.

“We have nine games left and we need to take as many points as we can, but we are playing well together at the moment and we need to keep that going for as long as possible.”

Hitchin were on top for most of the first half but poor finishing let them down and kept the scoresheet blank.

John Frendo shot straight at Ashley Harrison and soon after hit the side netting from close range just before the break, It was the same story after half time, as Ieuan Lewis hit the post, and then created a golden opening for Inih Effiong, but Harrison made a good save.

Effiong then missed another great chance from six yards before Gray’s deflected shot won it.

Chippenham’s poor run of form continued as they lost 1-0 at Redditch United.

Jimmy Deabill grabbed the only goal to condemn Adie Mings’ side to another defeat, but the Bluebirds boss refused to criticise his players.

“You can’t fault anybody for effort or anything but it’s of our own making because all it takes is giving away one soft goal and then sides who are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table make it difficult for you,” he said.

“It was always going to be a game that was going to take one goal either way because of the conditions and the state of the pitch.

“One long ball into the box has ping-ponged around through to their striker and he’s put it into the corner – they then had a ten minute spell where they had their tails up but from there, I thought we were in control.”

Cirencester also suffered defeat as they lost 3-0 at home to Arlesey.

Derek Brown gave the visitors the lead before Chris Dillon and Jordan Patrick secured the points.