Farnham Town manager Paul Johnson praised his side’s mentality after they won 1-0 at home to Berkhamsted.

Town have had a gruelling run of fixtures in recent weeks, and Johnson was delighted by his side’s character as they picked up three points to move up to second place in the Southern League Premier South.

“I thought it was a tough afternoon,” said Johnson.

“It was almost an end-of-season game. Everyone looks tired – and rightly so on our behalf. The boys are slogging it out. I take my hat off to them.

“Berkhamsted are a physical side and are powerful up top. We didn't allow them in behind, especially in the first half. We controlled the first 20 minutes and made them run hard. I think that paid off in the second half.

“We got our goal as it started to open up but after the 70-minute mark we looked really flat on our feet. We dug in to hold on.

“We score late in so many games but it has been a gruelling couple of weeks. We'll try not to use it as an excuse. Winning is a great feeling and we're grinding them out.”

Johnson made all five of his substitutions by the 61st minute as he manages his players’ minutes, and he admitted it is a necessity with the fixtures coming thick and fast.

“It's difficult with the game flow to try to get a bit of consistency, especially when we're making five substitutions as early as we are,” said Johnson.

“To try to get rhythm into the game and rhythm into the players is difficult, but they're adapting to it. They know the score and know it's going to happen. It's working.

“When the game opened up we got chances and we took one. Berkhamsted fight for everything and you've got to compete with that.”