WESTON arrested their recent slump with two good results in the space of four days.

Despite being reduced to 10 men for much of the match on Saturday, Weston picked up a creditable point away to Dartford who had started the day in third, while Staines Town were defeated 2-1 on Tuesday in a rescheduled fixture.

Manager Craig Laird also confirmed that he was hopeful his squad would be boosted by the signing of another striker ahead of Saturday’s home match against Maidenhead.

Dartford had run out 4-0 winners at the Woodspring Stadium on the opening day of the season, but Weston had put in extra defensive work on the training ground after a run of five league matches without a win.

After an even opening passage of play, Weston took the lead after 29 minutes when Matt Villis scored following Dayle Grubb’s corner and Chris Young’s effort was saved.

Dartford equalised when Adam Green scored after Lloyd Irish had beaten away Danny Harris’ effort and although Jamie Price was red carded by referee Stephen Daly after 74 minutes for an alleged two-footed tackle, Weston held on for a valuable away point.

On Tuesday Weston recorded their first victory in seven league matches as they overcame Staines in a scrappy encounter at the Woodspring.

Academy player Tom Seely celebrated signing his first contract for the club by making his debut at right-back with both Villis and Price absent.

Weston were awarded a penalty after 34 minutes when away keeper Shaun Allaway tripped Nat Pepperell, but he made amends and guessed correctly to save Pepperell’s spot kick. It was his first miss from the penalty spot since joining the club two seasons ago and Staines then opened the scoring with Mark Nwokeji beating Irish from close range.

But Weston grabbed hold of the match in the second half and the pressure finally told when Grubb’s 35-yard free-kick bounced in front of the away keeper before creeping in at the far post.

Substitute Sahr Kabba won the game in the 80th minute, using his pace to outstrip the home defence before slotting past Allaway.

Praising 18-year-old Seely for his debut performance, Craig said: “He did really well, he’s a young lad and it was great for him to come in and play well in a win. It shows the options we’ve got and we have a good squad to pick from.”

Craig did confirm the club were in advanced discussions with an unnamed Blue Square Premier club to sign a striker, following the release of Mike MacKay and Ben Hunt, and Marcus Duharty’s return on loan to Mangotsfield.

He said: “We only want to sign players who will improve the squad, but we are hopeful this player will do that and that he will be in the squad on Saturday.

“We’ve had some tough games of late, playing all the top teams in the division, and we’re hoping to put a run together now and push back towards the play offs.”