CONCORD Rangers boss Danny Cowley praised the character of his side after they trounced Maidenhead 4-1 at the Aspect Arena.

A brace from striker Sam Higgins helped the Beachboys record their biggest victory of the season so far.

And Cowley was pleased by how his side responded to being beaten 3-2 by Bromley in their previous outing.

“We pride ourselves on how we react to setbacks at this football club and I’m delighted we’ve gone and shown that again,” said Cowley, who side are now 10th in the Skrill South standings.

“We were disappointed to have lost to Bromley after being 2-1 up and we felt we maybe sat back on that lead and were too passive and negative.

“But this was much better, having Steve Cawley meant we had a much better balance to the team in the final third and it was our best attacking performance of the season so far.”

The performance also resulted in Higgins hitting the back of the net on two occasions and the summer signing has now scored three goals in his last two games.

Up until then the former East Thurrock United striker had failed to hit the back of the net.

And Cowley is thrilled to now be seeing the best of Higgins.

“Sam scoring twice was a big plus point and the second goal he got was typical of him because it was a great finish,” said Cowley.

“He’s benefitted from Steve being back in there and 12 points from our first nine games has been a good start for us at this level and it’s shown we’re not just here to make up the numbers.”

Concord proved that on Saturday and took just 13 minutes to open the scoring when a deep cross was not dealt with and the loose ball fell kindly for Higgins to score from close range.

Maidenhead equalised in the 29th minute with Reece Tiler-Lascaris netted with a deflected shot.

But Concord regained the lead 12 minutes into the second half when Higgins cut in off the right before unleashing a powerful right-footed shot which arrowed into the top right-hand corner of the net.

Leon Gordon made it 3-1 eight minutes later with another crisp finish before Concord completed the scoring nine minutes from time when Steve King headed home Gary Ogilvie’s cross.