JOHN Coventry feels East Thurrock United’s 2-1 win over local rivals Billericay Town will galvanise his side ahead of the National League South run-in.

A Rickie Hayles brace, against his former club, allowed Rocks to come from behind after Adam Coombes had given Town an early lead at Rookery Hill.

And East Thurrock boss Coventry was pleased to see his side follow up a battling display against Torquay United in midweek with a winning performance against Harry Wheeler’s in-form Billericay.

Coventry said: “We showed the same effort and commitment as we did on Tuesday night against Torquay.

“We got the opportunity to hold onto the lead and we thoroughly deserved the win.

“We have conceded a lot of goals after going ahead this season, so we were in a different position after going behind early on.

“But we battled back and that was great to see.

“I’m particularly pleased because things would have looked very bad had we lost.

“It’s great to have got the three points, but the more important thing was getting the belief because we have a squad that is putting everything into getting out of the situation we are currently in.”

Billericay raced into a fourth minute lead as Coombes slotted home the rebound after ex-Town goalkeeper Jack Giddens had denied the striker from the penalty spot.

The hosts’ Alex Osborn could not convert from a tight angle after rounding Billericay custodian Alan Julian, while Michee Efete saw Giddens tip his strike onto the post as a golden opportunity to double the visitors’ advantage went begging.

The miss proved costly as Hayles levelled matters just a minute later.

Hayles turned the game on its head 10 minutes before the interval by heading beyond Julian to complete his brace.

Billericay felt they should have been awarded a second half penalty after a raised boot from Ryan Scott stopped Moses Emmanuel in his tracks, while Coombes went close to finding a leveller.

But Town saw their seven match unbeaten run come to an end and boss Wheeler was less than impressed with his side’s performance.

“We made a good start and could have gone 2-0 up through Michee,” said Wheeler.

“But we didn’t take our chance and they scored within a minute.

“We then got beaten up for 45 minutes.

“We have very good players who have got a great attitude, but that is the first time where I thought we have got beaten up and we have made it very clear that is not acceptable.”