IT may have been a testing start to his time with Stanway Rovers but manager Lee Fisher feels their opening win of the Essex Senior League season can be a key moment in their campaign.

Rovers have made the switch from the Thurlow Nunn League into pastures new this year and with a new managerial team at the helm and changes in the boardroom in the opening part of the campaign as well, it has taken a while for things to settle at the Hawthorns.

However, Fisher believes his side's 2-1 win against Southend Manor - their first win following three straight defeats at the start of the league campaign - is the platform they need to push on.

Rovers came into the game sat bottom of the Essex Senior League table and had also exited the FA Vase last the weekend after a 1-0 loss at Baldock but they held off an concerted late push from Manor to take a morale-boosting victory this time.

The Stanway boss said securing a win was a must and he was delighted to see them deliver.

“The main thing from the game was the three points," said Fisher.

“We said to them that we may have had to play differently to how we had been doing but the main thing was to go out and win.

“Three points was a must."

Rovers' goals came from a Callum Griffith strike on the stroke of half-time and a close-range finish by Romario Dunne after the break and while Southend Manor halved the deficit and pressed hard for an equaliser in the closing stages, Stanway were glad to hold on for their first league win.

Fisher added: “We haven’t actually played that many league games at the start of the season and that was only our fourth game so it’s been a bit stop-start for us.

“It’s been difficult as a start as we had to bring in a whole new squad and we’ve had to gel.

“You can see that we’ve been starting to do that over the last three or four games, but we’ve also had a few suspensions.

“That hasn’t helped and it wasn’t great last weekend (in the Vase) so we said to them ahead of the Southend Manor game that this is the time to push on.

“We now have to show we have what it takes to be in this league.

“We want to be here and we have to start putting performances and results on the board, so to do it against Southend Manor was excellent.

“We rode our luck at times, especially at the end, but we were creating chances ourselves and that was encouraging.

“I don’t think we had a shot on goal in the Vase (at Baldock) so, aside from the result itself, doing that against Southend was the biggest plus for me.

“The lads did a job and it’s something we can build on.

“Unfortunately we don’t have a game on Saturday, but I was really pleased with the performance against Southend Manor because we needed it.

“We’ve been seeing more success recently as we’ve won a couple of games, but they have been in cup competitions and this was different because it was the league.

“It’s good to have got three points on the board.

“People may have been looking at us and thought we’re basement boys but we’re going in the right direction.

“If we’d picked up nothing in the last few games, I’d be concerned myself but we now have points on the board."