NAS BASHIR was relieved to see his Hayes & Yeading grind out a crucial victory over fellow Blue Square Premier strugglers Kettering on Saturday.

The United boss thought his side had missed their chance to claim a vital three points in their fight for survival before Danny Wishart came off the bench to score a late winner.

“I was a little bit worried the goal wasn’t going to come,” admitted Bashir. “I thought we were going to run out of time but credit to the boys, they kept going and we ground it out in the end.

“We didn’t take our early chances and as the game wore on we became a little bit flat. I think both teams were drained but we picked ourselves up for the last 20 minutes and the subs came on and had an impact.”

United were dominant in the early stages with Tom Collins and new loan signing Aiden O’Brien both going close for the home side.

The Poppies started to gain more of the possession but created little until Nathan Ralph stung Steve Arnold’s fingertips seconds before the half-time whistle.

Kettering maintained their momentum after the restart and Marcus Kelly soon forced Arnold into another decent save.

Growing frustrated at his players, Bashir threw on Dwane Lee, Wishart and Julian Owusu in an attempt to swing the game back in United’s favour.

With 77 minutes on the clock, Owusu found himself free in the Kettering six-yard box but the substitute sent his header well over the crossbar.

But where one substitute failed another made no mistake as Wishart volleyed home superbly to seal the points five minutes from time.