LEATHERHEAD are just two points off the play-offs after two goals in two minutes saw Leatherhead leave Three Bridges with all three points on Saturday.
The Tanners had to come from a goal behind after Williams Peauroux opened the scoring for Bridges after 36 minutes, but goals from Mark Simmons, Tom Bradbrook and substitute Sam Blackman saw Richard Brady's team return to Surrey with what he deemed a deserved win.
"It wasn't the best preparation we have had for a game, we have had a few injuries and with the ice we didn't have a game on Tuesday. There are no easy games in this league and we knew it was going to be a battle," the manager said.
"We thought we could freshen it up in the last 20 minutes and the boys came on and made an impact.
"It is a squad game these days and I think when he came on Sam Blackman has done well; charged the player down and got his goal and if I'm honest I think we were the better team. Although it's a cliché every game is a difficult game at this level and if they [Bridges] carry on playing like that they will get some results."
The home team took the lead through Peauroux on his third Bridges' debut, but Leatherhead equalised two minutes later when Simmons' free-kick flew over the Bridges' wall.
The game looked a comfortable stalemate at 1-1 until the 74th minute when Bradbrook directed the ball across the face of goal and into the bottom left corner.
Straight from kick-off, substitute Blackman ran at the Bridges' goal and thumped the ball past Alan Mansfield, ending the contest less than two minutes after the Tanners took the lead for the first time.
After going 3-1 up, Brady's team dominated the remainder of the Ryman South game, and could have added more goals had it not been for Mansfield.
But despite being so close to the play-offs, Brady is determined to concentrate on each game as it comes.
"We are taking it game by game, we don't like to think too much about what we want to achieve because then you often end up achieving nothing," he added.
Leatherhead: Wells, Pestle, Mathias, Nnamani, Simmons, Thompson (Holness, 70), Francis (Ouani, 54), Bradbrook, Smart, Terry (Blackman, 70). Unused subs: Copland, Greener-Simon.