Corby boss Graham Drury has praised his player’s work ethic following their 2-1 win over Solihull Moors on New Years Day.

The Steelmen won their first match in six on Sunday and finally broke the Moors jinx which has seen them lose five in a row to Marcus Bignot’s side.

Drury told www.corbytownfc.co.uk: “I thanked the lads for their work ethic today. I’m a big believer that if you put in the work ethic, you’ll always get something from something. We stuck to our game plan today and I really think the lads were superb.

“They may have had more possession and beaten us in the percentage game, but they couldn’t break us down. I thought we also deserved the clean sheet, so it was disappointing to concede a penalty right at the end, but the three points are really what matters.”

The Steelmen gaffer openly criticised his player’s commitment after the loss to Solihull on Boxing Day but admitted he is pleased with his side’s response, just one week later.

“I’ve been very strict and really harsh on the lads this week, but I think that’s what they needed. The camp needed shaking up a bit and they needed to realise that their futures were on the line. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I literally cannot accept performances like the one we put in on Boxing Day, not at all.”

“But today was a great response from the lads and I fully believe we deserved to get back to winning ways today.”

Mark Jones, making his debut for the Steelmen, opened his Corby account with two well-taken goals, but while Drury praised the former Deeping hit-man, he singled out his partner for special praise.

“It was a fantastic start for him (Jones) today, but I thought his partner up top, Mullarkey, was brilliant today, a thorn in their side all afternoon. There’s a good bit of banter in there between the two of them at the moment – Jones has just said to Sam; “Well if you do all the work I don’t mind sticking them in the net.”

“It’s good to see that between players and the atmosphere in there is definitely in contrast to that of Boxing Day’s.”