Felixstowe manager Stuart Boardley insisted a play off finish is very much within their grasp after a comfortable two goal win over Hullbridge Sports.

The Seasiders swamped the Sports in the first half, going ahead through George Clarke, and then a penalty from Joe Wight after the Essex side's keeper Lewis Green was red-carded for kicking Milo Grimes off the ball.

Ten-man Hullbridge hung on manfully in the second half, and although they hit the crossbar late on, they never seriously troubled Seasiders' keeper Callum Robinson.

Joe Whight Felix Hulbridge penalty (©NubNews)

The win moved Felixstowe back up to fifth, and play off place, and Boardley was delighted his side rested so positively from the 2-1 home defeat against rivals Bury Town in midweek.

"It was important to set Tuesday' result right because we were not at it at all," said Boardley. "So it was vital we bounced back with a win today and we did.

"We are 100% still in the hunt to go up and while Sudbury and Hashtag have pulled away at the top a little we are still in there.

"It is about us knuckling down and keeping those wins coming right up to the end of the season."

After dominating in the first 45 minutes, Boardley felt his side were flat in the second half and rarely troubled substitute keeper Tommy Wodcock.

With Clarke leading the attack and scoring his third goal in four games, when he got the better of the two centre halves to beat the keeper midway through the first half and then going two up when the keeper was dismissed on the half hour, Felixstowe looked good but endured a frustrating second half..

George Clarke celebrating (©NubNews)

Boardley summed it up and said: "First half we played really well. We got the ball down and played some really good stuff. We went 1-0 and felt we could have been up three or four by half time if I'm honest.

"The second half was a bit of a non-event. Hullbridge sat back and tried to hit is on the counter We were a bit lazy and lackadaisical in what we did and did not capitalise on what we felt could have been a better result."

As well as Joe Whight returning, Armani Schaar was welcomed back into the fold coming on in the second half but that did not pep up the team enough and Boardley put the failure to ramp up on the scoreline to a couple of factors..

He said: "Perhaps the players carrying injuries, and also we were two up and they were down to 10 men and we kew we would win if we just took care of the ball. Perhaps we got lured into doing that rather than go on the front foot and going for amore convincing result."

A crowd of 411 watched the win and after trips to East Thurrock and Great Wakering Rovers one rah next week, they can enjoy a romantic evening with the Seasides when they entertain Sudbury on Tuesday, 14 February at the AGL Stadium.

Henry Barley left foot shot (Picture: Stefan Peck)