Danny Fitzgerald hailed the “Colney Heath spirit” after his late goal capped a great turnaround at Arlesey Town.

Harry Shepherd had put the Magpies into the lead at Hitchin Road only for Derek Feyi and Jalen Miller to give the hosts the advantage just past the hour in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division clash.

But with nine minutes to go substitute Hadley Gleeson levelled things up and seven minutes later the skipper drilled in an effort from the edge of the area to give Colney a 3-2 win.

And the skipper says the victory shows that the never-say-die attitude that the club had last year is still very much alive despite the comings and goings in the summer.

Fitzgerald said: “It was a tough game away from home. We’ve got players suspended, we had some injuries and two more at half-time and we had a lot of kids pitch so we showed great character to come back and win that.

“That Colney Heath spirit is still there and that comes from Tommo [manager Ryan Thompson] and a few of us who have been around for a while.

“We’re looking to embed that into the youngsters and get them up to speed but it’s tough.

“We’ve got a lot of new players, new defenders but there’s a lot of spirit and a lot of good players in the team.

“We’ve got a lot of improving to do but we’re on the right track.”

His goal was a throwback to days gone by too, described by one supporter as a “typical Fitzy goal”.

“It was maybe five years ago,” laughed the midfield man. “Now I’ve probably got one a season in me and I’ve used it up in the second game. It’s downhill from here.

“But you’ve got try,” he added. “George [Devine] laid it to me, I’ve taken a touch and swung my left boot at it and it’s gone into the bottom corner luckily.

“I’ll take that.”

The victory comes on the back of a 2-0 win on the opening day of the season and leaves the Magpies, denied the title and promotion last year by the voiding of the season, back on top of the table.

And the skipper says they couldn’t have asked for anything more.

“That’s all you ask for at the start of the season,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how you win them just as long as you pick up the points.

“I remember last year when we had similar games to this and we nicked it late on and probably didn’t deserve to win.

“But away from home and 2-1 down in the second-half, it was great character.

“We’re going to get stronger with players returning from injury and suspension.

“And with the young lads coming in, they’ll feed in around the experienced players and hopefully we’ll be well set.”