JAMES Simmonds reckons Hampton & Richmond Borough can soar up the table after finally ending their nine-game winless run – because he did the same at Chelsea.

A Simmonds brace and a Dave Tarpey lob on Saturday ensured Hampton did not equal their worst ever start to a season, set 27 years ago, with their ninth successive game without a win.

And former Stamford Bridge youngster Simmonds believes the 3-1 win over Weston-super-Mare will provide the spark to kick-start Hampton's season.

He said: “All it takes is a couple of good results to climb the table. We've had those the last two games, and the team spirit is building.

“I've been in this position with the Chelsea youth team – we lost our first nine games but went on to finish second in the league.”

Two-goal hero Simmonds' double saw him end an injury nightmare which saw him miss the first few weeks of the season.

But for skipper Matt Ruby, every player in red and blue contributed to a win which he too hopes will see Hampton begin a climb out of the Blue Square South drop zone.

He said: “We had 11 leaders out there today grafting and trying to win the ball back. You could see from the off the hunger and desire to work for each other get those three points on the board. “Hopefully this is a turning point. It's just a case of proving to the league, and to ourselves, that we're good enough to do it.”