SUPER sub Liam Robinson scored with his first touch to keep Winchester City firmly in the Sydenhams Premier promotion picture with a 1-0 win at Blackfield & Langley this afternoon.

Manager Paul Masters admitted his third-placed side had “won ugly” and it was certainly tough luck on the Watersiders who had deserved at least a share of the spoils on a windy afternoon at Gang Warily.

City saw little of the ball in the opening stages and, with just over three minutes gone, keeper Gareth Barfoot’s weak kick fell to Blackfield’s Ed Zanin who hooked it back goalwards, but wide.

Two minutes later Joey Byrne, making a welcome return from a long-term shoulder injury, side-footed a shot past the post after Dan Munday had laid the ball back into his path.

Blackfield’s defence, marshalled by skipper and ex-Saint Kev Gibbens, was scarcely troubled until the tenth minute when defender Hugh Dathan went safety first with Micky Hubbard’s high, hanging ball in by heading it behind for the visitors’ first corner.

In the main, it was the Watersiders who were knocking the ball around better on a sticky surface and another chance came and went on 16 minutes when Jesse Gould slid a shot wide of Barfoot’s left-hand post.

With clear-cut chances a rarity, Winchester needed to make the most of the little that came their way, but Zach Glasspool squandered a dream opening in the 27th minute, striking the outside of the post, after front-line partner Warren Bentley had headed him through.

On 40 minutes good work by Zanin and Byrne led to ex-City favourite Liam Green crossing to the far post where Dan Cann’s downward header was blocked by Barfoot, but the flag had gone up in any case.

A minute into first-half stoppage time, Munday again pulled a dangerous ball back from the right byline, but Cann was crowded out by two City defenders.

Winchester came out fired up for the second-half and had a close call two minutes in when Hubbard drove the ball across the crowded area and Bentley just failed to connect.

But Blackfield soon hit their stride again with Barfoot watching another shot sent wide of his goal, this time by Zanin, and home defender Dathan hitting an inviting ball across the danger zone after an enterprising break down the right.

On 58 minutes Blackfield welcomed another of their long-term injured troops back into battle with Danny Young replacing Zanin.

A highly competitive but largely forgettable contest was in danger of petering out when Winchester attempted to liven things up with the introduction of ex-Blackfield winger Danilo Cadete in place of Geoff Dunn.

But it was the Watersiders who created the next chance with Dathan knocking the ball inside to Cann but the ex-Poole Town targetman thumped his shot well wide.

With just under 20 minutes remaining, the game suddenly burst into life with chances at both ends.

Arguably the best two fell to Winchester with the unmarked Glasspool again firing wide and then Blackfield keeper Scott O’Rourke clawing away Cadete’s close-range strike.

But with Young a lively influence down the right for Blackfield, Winchester’s goal also lived a charmed life.

Barfoot blocked the substitute out on one occasion and, had Young delivered one of his crosses in front of Cann rather than behind him, City would surely have slipped into arrears.

But the arrival of Winchester’s second substitute Liam Robinson changed everything as he broke the deadlock within seconds of his 82nd-minute arrival for Taz Roberts.

Nothing appeared to be on for City as they tried to work an opening on the left edge of the area. But ROBINSON took matters into his own hands, unleashing a superb right-footed strike that O’Rourke knew little about until it was nestling in the bottom corner.

Blackfield pushed Gibbens up top in a bid to rescue something from the game, but their last chance disappeared in stoppage time when the skipper played in sub Ed Dadzie on the left of the area, but his shot was easily picked off by Barfoot.