KIRKHAM & WESHAM gave their fans the best Christmas present of all - three points in a come from behind victory at Bootle on Saturday, and against arguably one of the toughest sides in the Second Division.
Injured club skipper Dougie Shaw who could only watch from the sidelines added later: "It's frustrating for me not to be playing but in saying that the lads are winning and that's all that matters.
"We played some good stuff in the first half and had to dig deep in the second to hang onto the points.
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"It was a great win for us."
Back in September the Merseysiders had given Kirkham boss Mick Fuller's side a 45 minutes lesson before a half-time roasting turned things around in a 1-1 draw.
And ten minutes into Saturday's reverse trip to Merseyside it was again advantage Bootle after striker Danny O'Connor had given them a 10th minute lead following a Chris Tyson cross from the right was thrashed home.
But within a 60 seconds Kirkham had learnt their earlier season lesson and hit back through veteran James Sheppard, who with striker Sean Paterson caused havoc in the home defence to tie things up.
Skipper Phil Thompson went near to giving Kirkham the lead after 21 minutes when he dropped a header onto the crossbar, but Bootle should have re-taken the lead on 34 minutes when Jamie Hay headed wide when the goal was at his
mercy - again from a telling cross by Tyson.
But the game came to life four minutes later when Kirkham full-back Tony Keefe picked up a loose ball in midfield and preceded to play a couple of one twos with Phil Blackwell through the home defence and then unleash a 15 yard strike that nestled into the bottom right hand corner of the goal.
It was a rare strike by the Kirkham defender, his first of the season and although the home side exerted pressure in the second-half to get back into the game, Kirkham had their moments and could have made the game safe had they taken their chances.
And perhaps the best of them fell to striker Mark Wane after 53 minutes when his powerful shot was headed on by 16 goal striker Paterson, only to see his header canon back off the underside of the crossbar and be scrambled away.
And when Blackwell hit the bar for the third time for the visitors on 67 minutes it looked as if Kirkham might pay for only chipping the woodwork.
Thankfully though they managed to hold on as Bootle twice went close in added time to extend their winning run to five games - the last four all on the road and once and for all end their early season away day blues.
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