MATT Clarke enjoyed a ‘fairytale’ return to the Redditch United dugout as Alex Cameron scored a 96th minute winner in a 2-1 victory against 10-man Stamford.
On a whirlwind afternoon for the new United boss, substitute Cameron completed the turnaround at the death after George Atwal cancelled out Jack Duffy’s early opener at the Valley Stadium.
The Reds announced Clarke’s return earlier in the day following the shock resignation of former boss Tim Flowers. Flowers has since taken up the manager’s role at United’s local rivals Alvechurch.
Victory lifts Redditch up to third in the Southern League Premier Central table and Clarke admitted his return to the club came ‘out of the blue’ following the sudden departure of Flowers.
Clarke said: “I’m delighted, it’s like a fairytale finish to score a last-minute winner at home in front of the fans, I’m delighted to be back.
“It was completely out of the blue, I always say football is like a jigsaw puzzle, one piece moves and creates a space for something else, it’s happened really quickly.
“After four minutes, I wanted to be back at home on the sofa, we really struggled in the first half, we were really fortunate to come in one-nil down.
“In the second half, we changed shape and were completely dominant and completely deserved to win the game.”
The Reds made the worst possible start on four minutes as goalkeeper Callum Smith inexplicably missed his kick when attempting to a clear a ball outside of his box which allowed Duffy to run through and finish into an empty net.
However, Smith responded superbly to his howler as he produced a stunning one-handed save to keep out Richard Gregory’s header.
And Smith then scrambled across to his left-hand side to push Gregory’s flying volley behind for a corner.
Smith made another remarkable stop early in the second half as he acrobatically tipped Gregory’s bullet header from eight-yards out over the crossbar.
Redditch drew level on 59 minutes when Atwal powered a low effort into the bottom right corner following a surging run down the left from Johnny Johnston.
The home side dominated proceedings thereafter before Stamford defender George Hobbins picked up a second yellow card on 77 minutes after pulling down Johnston.
And United ensured Clarke enjoyed a dream return to the club when Cameron headed in fellow substitute Sam Fitzgerald’s cross from the left six minutes into injury time.
The goal sparked wild scenes of celebration on the touchline as the home players sprinted over to manager Clarke and embraced the new Reds boss on the sideline.
Redditch are next in action against Studley in the Birmingham Senior Cup on Monday, November 18 with kick-off at 7.45pm at The Beehive.
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