ABERYSTWYTH Town boss Matthew Bishop could take plenty of heart from a battling 1-0 win at Airbus UK Broughton as his side continued their gruelling run of 10 successive fixtures on the road.

After a 2-1 defeat at defending champions The New Saints, the new-look Seasiders gave themselves the lift they needed - and the future is indeed looking bright in their glaring orange away strip.

Prior to the match, the club had unveiled the loan signing of striker Blake Davies from Forest Green Rovers, and he came straight into the starting side to face Airbus last Sunday.

The centre forward has an excellent scoring record at youth level, which helped him catch the attentions of Conference Premier outfit Forest Green, who handed him his first pro contract this summer.

The 18 year old joined the Green Devils from Bristol Rovers in July, where he completed a two year scholarship in their Under 18s set up, and has previous experience in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier League with Frome Town, as well as previously being a member of the youth set up at Cardiff City.

Davies has also earned recognition at international level, representing Wales at Under 17s level, and has recently made the jump up to the Under 19s age bracket.

“It’s difficult when new players come to the side but Blake fitted in really well,” commented Bishop.

“He’ll be pleased with his performance, and he was unlucky not to get a goal with his one on one chance. But I thought his hold up play was really good, and he linked up well with the midfield.”

Davies takes Bishop’s newly assembled squad up to 18 players - who all travelled to Broughton on Sunday - and competition for places is really hotting up, with Ricky Watts and Chris Jones also stepping up into the starting side.

Cledan Davies, Jack Rimmer and Jonathan Evans all remain in contention, whilst fellow locals Luke Sherbon and Geoff Kellaway were the only members of last season’s squad to start the game at Airbus.

It was a great strike from Kellaway that secured the three points, and the Aber manager was equally pleased with not conceding a goal.

“I’m absolutely delighted in terms of the performance and obviously the three points, but I’m as pleased with the clean sheet,” said Bishop.

“We could have got a few more. We’ve survived a bit of a storm at the end, but the team has dug in, and done really well.

“I’m pleased that things we’re doing in training are coming off in the games. We worked on the movement for the goal in training so it’s really nice when they come off, and it’s a great finish from Geoff. That’s what he’s all about.”

He added: “It’s really important to have a good defence. You’re not going to go anywhere in this league if you haven’t got a good defence. It starts with the goalkeeper, and goes right along the back four and into the midfield.

“They’ve battled and worked really hard to get that clean sheet.

“It’s pleasing because Ryan Wollacott has slotted in at left back today and played well. Cledan (Davies) was unfortunate not to play, but it’s good to have options.”

Aber were also bolstered last weekend by the inclusion of midfielder Kurtis March, who has been unavailable, whilst another former Port Talbot player, Kostya Georgievsky, is still out suspended, after being sent off last season.

Bishop and assistant boss Wayne Jones will now turn their attentions to their next Sunday outing - away to Llandudno this weekend.

Their opponents, managed by former Aberystwyth Town boss Alan Morgan, will be reeling from their 5-0 home defeat to TNS last weekend, but last season’s Europa League qualifiers will have had an extra day to recover for this game.

“We’ll approach that game in exactly the same way,” said Bishop. “We’ll dust ourselves off, and work on things in training, and we’ll come up with a game plan.

“Llandudno are a very good side with some very good players, and they offer us a different challenge, but hopefully we can get a result.”