CONCORD Rangers boss Danny Scopes was delighted to secure derby joy at Billericay Town.

Lewis Simper’s second goal saw the Beach Boys win 1-0 at New Lodge.

And Scopes was thrilled to see his side return to action with a hard fought victory.

“It was nice to come off the back of a two week break with a win,” said Scopes.

“There are obviously temptations over the Christmas period but the boys were really disciplined and there was certainly no lack of sharpness either.

“We matched Billericay all over the park for the whole 95 minutes which was quite pleasing.”

The victory saw Concord move up to 14th in the National League South standings.

And Scopes was particularly pleased with how the Beach Boys hung on to their narrow lead.

“There was a bit of quality from Lewis to get the winner but we held on after that too,” said Scopes.

“We had thrown leads away in 2020 so a consequence of that is to get a bit nervy so I was pleased we got over the line and sealed the three points.

“Hopefully we can keep doing that in 2021 now.”

But the future still remains unclear due to the high number of postponements due to both the weather and the coronavirus pandemic.

And Scopes is therefore keen to not look too far ahead.

“It’s been a difficult season and it’s not been the norm,” said Scopes.

“You have the protocols to follow and touch wood so far we’ve had a healthy camp.

“We said before the game we don’t know what’s going to happen and if we will be playing again next week or the week after.

“There is a lot of uncertainty so we’ve told them to treat every game as if it’s our last.

“We have to stick at it while we’re told we’re playing and stay disciplined too.”

Concord stuck to their guns against Billericay and Scopes took extra satisfaction from the win.

“It’s a local derby and it’s disappointing we couldn’t have fans in because it would’ve been a great crowd,” said Scopes.

“You still treat it like a derby and it’s good satisfaction to have won it.

“The most important thing is that they’re quite close to us in the league table so it moves us up a bit now but we have to try and back that up now.”

Billericay, who had Luke Wanadio sent off late on, are 17th in the table.

And interim boss Dan Brown was frustrated by the defeat.

“In the last game we took our chances and in this game we didn’t,” said Brown.

“We had a number of good opportunities and if you take them then you win the football match.

“Everyone is quite disappointed and it’s a hard pill to swallow.”