SUBSTITUTE Dean Barker scored a late winner on his return to the Trowbridge Town side - with a little help from the linesman.

Barker, making his first appearance for the Bees since rejoining from Chipping Norton Town, looked at least five yards offside when he stroked home the winner with five minutes remaining.

Trowbridge boss Paul Shanley was thrilled with the second coming of Barker, though he admitted the Purton players had every right to feel hard done by at the final whistle.

Shanley said: "I have to admit, the goal looked miles offside. If it was my team on the receiving end I would not have been too happy.

"But maybe this is the stroke of luck I've been talking about. We needed something like this to help us claw back some ground on Lydney at the top of the table."

Before Saturday, Trowbridge had not won in the league since the 3-1 victory over title rivals Lydney Town on October 28.

Since then, the Bees have surrendered their lead at the top of the Division One West table, and Shanley is determined to get it back.

He said: "We were poor in the first half on Saturday against a poor side, but we turned it round and got the three points.

"We've got three games coming up against teams at the bottom of the table so we want maximum points.

"It doesn't matter how we win these games, just that we win them."

Trowbridge fell behind to a 15th minute Warren Fuller strike as hosts Purton dominated the opening exchanges.

Matt Penman levelled for the visitors just after the hour mark with a thumping finish from 20 yards.

Barker was crowned the comeback king when the substitute beat the offside trap to give Trowbridge a vital three points.