'Bouncability' may not show up in the Oxford English Dictionary, but John Clarkson still could not have chosen a better word to describe the nature of Tiverton Town's 3-1 win over Bridgwater Town on Tuesday.
The Yellows went into the game having suffered their first back-to-back defeats since mid-August following their calamitous 3-0 loss at struggling Bishops Cleeve.
That game was preceded by the FA Trophy double-header against Weston-super-Mare, in which Clarkson's men expended huge amounts of physical effort, only to fall agonisingly short.
Whether Saturday's defeat was the result of an FA Trophy hangover or not – about which I speculated last week – is open for debate.
Clarkson certainly seemed to think it was a possibility judging by his post-match comments, in which he also described the performance as amongst the worst he had seen in six or seven years.
However, speaking to Tom Gardner after Tuesday's win, he preferred to put it down to the whole team having an off-day (I have paraphrased the defender as the exact language he used was not quite so family-friendly).
Regardless of the reason, Tivvy were apparently pretty abject at the weekend, so the pressure was certainly on them to drag their promotion campaign back on track.
It was certainly not a given against a capable Bridgwater side boasting the familiar faces of goalkeeper Chris Wright and prolific striker Joe Bushin, with Alex Faux on the bench.
Clarkson himself made five changes to the one beaten so comprehensively on Saturday, with no Jon Viscosi – replaced by Neil Montadon – proving the biggest talking point.
But instead of letting any pre-match tension affect them, Tivvy were ruthless in attack and decisive in defence.
Watching Dan Smith harassing Bridgwater right-back Aron Robbins was a joy to behold, while Matt Wright was twice denied superbly by his namesake at the other end.
Some have questioned whether Nicky Rudge has the physicality required to succeed in the middle of the park at Southern League level.
Against a physical Bridgwater side whose aggression grew exponentially as Tivvy's lead increased, he played superbly, picking out precise passes and adding his name to the scoresheet.
It certainly helped having the physicality of Shane Krac and Marcus Martin alongside him, but that should not take the gloss off what was an excellent performance.
Tivvy did still leave a few gaps at the back and were not always the most composed, but the emphasis was clearly on removing the danger rather than building attacks from the back, and in a first half of superb counter-attacking, the tactic paid dividends.
In the wake of the Bishops Cleeve defeat, Clarkson said Tivvy's next two matches could define their season, and Tuesday's win was the ideal start to this crunch period.
One swallow does not make a summer, and only a decent showing against Evesham United on Saturday will show whether the Weston defeat is truly out of their system or not.
However, if Bishops Cleeve was a hangover, then Bridgwater Town was certainly the perfect tonic.
