Two late goals from Tom Bath and Isaac McCue earned Exmouth Town a fantastic victory at the Loop Meadow Stadium, beating Didcot Town 2-0.

Despite having nine players unavailable, Town dug in with a superb defensive performance before punishing the hosts late on.

Didcot started with a long shot, with Josh Davis having an effort from range that went over the bar.

After a brilliant display on Wednesday, Frankie Phillips picked up where he left off as he saved Jenson Wright’s free kick onto the crossbar.

Exmouth’s first shot was also from range, with Callum Shipton looking to mark his 200th appearance with a goal, but his long range effort was straight at the goalkeeper.

The hosts started to build momentum after 15 minutes, and Connor Barrett played through Davis, who rushed his shot and blazed over the bar.

Their was a real lack of quality in the game, which may have been affected by the sudden wet conditions that came about before the game.

Exmouth were also struggling to make the ball stick up front, but opting for a more defensive approach, a slow first half was not unexpected from the visitors.

Ben Griffith would put a shot on target on the board, after Nelson Iseguan recovered a wayward free-kick and found the attacker in space, but he could not test Leigh Bedwell with his effort.

Exmouth had the first good chance of the second half, when Bath’s cross was kept alive by Shipton, who then found the striker in the box, but he could not find the target from his effort.

Didcot were trying to put a move together to break down a resilient Town defence, and some nice one touch play lead to Wright having a shot from the edge of the box, which went over. 

With only two available subs, it was understandble when the visitors started to tire, and that allowed the hosts to continue to press for a winner, but Karl Riddell closed Davis down well to reduce the angle and force a poor shot.

Town would have a foray forward with ten minutes to go, and Josh Cann’s corner was met by Bath, whose effort only found the side netting.

Didcot would have their best chance of the game with three minutes left, as Taylor-Jay Bedwell found himself in space in the box, but his shot was over the bar, which summed up the hosts attacking output.

You could understand Town settling for a draw with moments to go, but as McCue’s cross to Shipton looked fruitless, the midfielder, in trademark fashion, refused to give up and was fouled by Bedwell, giving Exmouth a penalty in the last minute.

Bath stepped up, and sent Bedwell the wrong way and slotted his spot kick into the bottom left corner, to send the Town fans wild behind the goal.

Just moments later, it got even better for Exmouth, when Griffith put the ball across to Bath, who squared it to an unmarked McCue, who fired in from close range for his first Southern League goal.

It was a defiant display from Town, whose spirit has been clear in recent weeks, and they will look to continue that form when they travel to Bashley on Tuesday evening.

LINE-UP: Phillips, Cann, Thorne, M.Landricombe, Riddell, Morison (Rowe, 90), Shipton, Griffith, Iseguan (McCue, 84), High, Bath.

SUBS NOT USED: Denny.