Justin Edinburgh was “delighted” after his side claimed a “hard-fought” victory against Havant & Waterlooville to stay in the National League promotion hunt.

The O’s had been on a bit of a stutter in the league, winning just twice since the turn of the year, but this result and performance, along with last weekend’s FA Trophy win against Brackley Town, seems to have them back on track.

Edinburgh said to the club’s website after the game: “It was [an important win]. We needed to get back to winning ways in the league. This is a tough place to come and it was a hard-fought victory but it’s a valuable three points today and one we’re delighted with.”

Jordan Maguire-Drew opened the scoring on 35 minutes with a stunning volley from outside the area, and Edinburgh praised the quality that the January signing has brought to the side.

He said: “It was a sublime finish. We know he’s capable of that and that’s why we brought him to the club. He had a good game today in that number 10 role, I thought he got into some good areas on a difficult pitch and it was a splendid strike to put us ahead.”

The former Wrexham and Dagenham & Redbridge loanee was also denied by the woodwork in the second half, with the O’s coming close on numerous occasions before Havant eventually equalised, and Edinburgh was disappointed that his side couldn’t kill the game off earlier.

He said: “I was disappointed that we didn’t go on and get that second goal before they equalised, and it was a bit of a sucker punch. We started to drop deeper and deeper, there were too many gaps between the back three and the midfield.

“When that happens, anything can happen and the goal was probably as good as Jordan’s, so it was disappointing but credit to the players, they responded, and they went on to get the winning goal.”

Josh Coulson, making his first start since his return from injury, popped up to net the winning goal 17 minutes from time, and Edinburgh was delighted to have his man back a lot sooner than they had anticipated.

He said: “He’s been a miss, he’s a big character and a fantastic player. He’s popped up with the winner there, so I’m delighted. He’s put a lot of hard work in with the medical side to get himself back far quicker than we expected, and we’re glad we’ve got him back.”

The O’s continue their National League campaign tomorrow night when they travel to Barrow, with kick-off at 7.45pm.