HEAD coach Kenny Redmond praised Oxford City Stars’ determination after a 4-2 win over Bristol Pitbulls kept them in the hunt for the title.

Despite going 2-0 ahead, the visitors hit back to level before Stars wrapped up victory in the South Division 2 clash.

And Redmond was delighted with the application on show.

“We got off to a great start in the first period,” he said. “It was a physical game, but we stayed focused and kept our discipline.

“I’m delighted with the two points. We’ve now got two tough games on the road, but we’re in good shape.”

Stars dominated territory and possession in the early stages, but were unable to find the net.

The visitors were restricted to efforts on the break, none of which troubled netminder John Dibble.

Stars got the goal their pressure warranted when Joe Edwards scored in his final appearance for the club, with the assists going to Josh Oliver and Josh Florey.

Two minutes later the lead was doubled when Conor Redmond scored from close range.

However, Stars got off to a shocking start in the second period, conceding inside two minutes when Martyn Gray netted.

And three minutes later it was 2-2, Ollie Shone tapping in after Dibble had denied Sam Shone.

The bumper crowd were treated to an end-to-end match, with battles all over the ice.

None more so than between Stars’ Michal Oravec and Bristol’s Mike Hargreaves, who tested the patience of the referee one too many times, both receiving penalties.

However, with less than 90 seconds of the period remaining, Stars went ahead.

Tom Davis was in the right place to fire past Miller after good work by Redmond and Lee Richardson.

The hosts restored their

two-goal advantage four minutes into the final period, when Davis finished after exquisite work from Richardson.

Both netminders made big saves as Stars kept up their challenge at the top of the table.

They travel to Cardiff on Sunday, before visiting Peterborough the following Saturday, in a game moved forward by 24 hours from the original fixture.