“If we had a 15-point lead then maybe it would be a different story, but it’s extremely tight,” says Downham boss after midweek win

Downham Town manager Dale Stokes believes the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division title race remains wide open going into the season’s final two months.Striker Dylan Edge scored a midweek hat-trick as Downham Town moved five points clear at the summit by beating Brantham Athletic 3-2 at the Memorial Field.It was Downham’s seventh league win on the bounce – but Stokes is refusing to get carried away with his side’s lofty position in the table.”In terms of our league position. It’s not something I’m particularly focused on,” he said after the Brantham win.”If we had a 15-point lead then maybe it would be a different story, but it’s extremely tight.”As ridiculous as it sounds, first to eight doesn’t mean a great deal at the moment and it’s all to play for.”It’s a classic cliche, but the main thing right now is that with nine games to go we just take it as they come. “Naturally, you’re going to be a target for teams because no matter what level you’re at, you want to beat the team who are sitting top of the table. “The fact of the matter in our league is that there are eight or nine teams that could easily fill the top five spaces between now and the end, so we are just going with the flow and will see what happens.”Stokes felt his side should have been out of sight in Wednesday night’s encounter before some late pressure from the visitors.”It was a needlessly nail-biting end to a game that we completely dominated first half,” he admitted. “It was a really impressive half from us. They couldn’t live with what we were doing and we were all over them.”It was one-way traffic throughout and it’s no exaggeration that we should have been at least five ahead by half-time, we missed four one-on-ones. “They then nicked a second to make it 3-2, from a free-kick that I have to say was extremely soft.”Then suddenly, from what should have been game over long before, the last 10 becomes a case of defending for your lives and almost hanging on for the three points. “It would have been a travesty had we not won that game but thankfully we defended the box pretty well and managed to get all three points.”On Saturday, Downham entertain Lakenheath.