WESTCLIFF secured a brilliant 27-20 win against Shelford at the Gables.

The victory moved bottom of the table Westcliff to within two points of local rivals Rochford Hundred.

And number eight Blaine Webber was delighted to help Westcliff bag their third win of the season.

"Saturday was great," said Webber.

"We had a clear brief, we stuck to it and came away with a really hard fought win.

"Shelford came to dominate physically but the boys really fronted up.

"Our physicality and mentality ultimately won us the game."

Shelford's defeat saw them drop to fifth in the Regional One South East standings.

And Webber admitted the game could have gone either way after the break had it not been for Westcliff's new found strength.

"It was touch and go when they levelled the score in the second half but I’m really impressed with how we reacted," said Webber.

"If that was a few weeks ago, they probably would have gone on to win the game but our attitude is finally starting to change.

"We’re starting to show some real grit now and learning to control games, something that’s been missing up to now."

Westcliff are without a game this weekend before travelling to third placed Sudbury next time out.

And Webber is certain Saturday's win will be a huge help for Westcliff moving forward.

"I think it was really important we got this win," said Webber.

"Morale was high off the back of the win against Tring but we let ourselves down against Hertford last week.

"This was a return to the level we expect of ourselves now.

"Our expectations of each other are getting higher every week, which makes for a really good squad environment."

But Webber remains hungry for more. 

"We want to turn the Gables into a fortress," said Webber.

"We’ve beaten some really good sides at home now and we ideally want to win all of our remaining home games, whilst getting a few on the road too.

"We’ve been working hard at training and the results are showing.

"The last three weeks I feel we’ve come into our own as a squad and with two or three more wins, we can be sitting pretty in mid-table."