PASS-MASTER Kevin Brewster showed the value of experience as Sholing returned to winning ways in the Southern One South & West.

His second-half arrival off the subs’ bench proved the turning point of the Boatmen’s 3-2 victory at Wantage Town.

No sooner had Brewster joined the action than he delivered a precision free kick into the area which fell kindly for Stuart Mott to stab home for 2-2 with 75 minutes on the clock.

Then, just three minutes later, the super sub played in Barry Mason who took a couple touches, taking the ball away from his marker, before smashing the winner into the far corner, lifting the Boatmen to 15th.

“Bringing Brewy on was the difference,” said co-boss Dave Fear. “He could see the passes we hadn’t been making in the first half.

“Kev didn’t start because he’s had a bit of a knee problem.

“He’s got through games, but the knee’s been swelling up afterwards and he’s been having to ice it.

“There’s been no pain, but he seems to have fluid there on top of the knee, so we’ve had to be careful.

“Realistically without Kev in the side we lose a bit of passing ability and we’ve tried to get round that with more mobility. But Saturday was all about getting the ball in the right areas and Brewy did that.”

Wantage had twice taken the lead in the clash of the reigning Hellenic and Sydenhams League champions – goals by Brad Shaw (21 mins) and Jimmy Deabill (32 mins) sandwiching ex-Eastleigh and Winchester striker Sam Wilson’s first goal in Sholing colours.

It needed a smart stop by Boatmen’s keeper Matt Brown to prevent Adam Lovegrove making it 3-1 to the hosts before Brewster’s arrival turned the tide.

“Our first-half performance wasn’t very clever,” Fear admitted. “We gave them too much space on the edge of the box for their first goal. We’ve then hit back with a well-worked goal and great finish by Sam Wilson, only to allow their guy a free header from a cross we’ve not closed down.

“We had a few words at half-time and the guys know it’s backs-to-wall for us at the moment and they responded with a really good second-half performance. You could see we wanted to win it.

“Wantage caused us a few problems with their height factor and had a chance or two to go 3-1 up, but everyone kept going and the winner was a typical Barry Mason strike. The referee played six or seven minutes stoppage-time, but we actually kept going right to the end this time.”

Mason, made captain for the day in place of brother Byron, will miss Wednesday’s home game against Didcot Town having gone away to celebrate his 30th birthday.

Byron will be back and Sholing should soon see the return of fit-again striker Alex Baldacchino who scored twice for the reserves on Saturday before going off with a slight knock.