Dereham Town boss Matt Henman praised keeper John Fox for his involvement in the Magpies' 4-1 win over Diss on Friday, just 24 hours after the tragic loss of his mum Beres Brooks.
Beres helped look after the hospitality for the club for almost 25 years while becoming a well-known and well loved figure within both the club and the community.
'John (Fox) wanted to come up and be amongst the people at the club and it is great to see him and his family here,' said Henman.
'As soon as he said he was in the right frame of mind to play, I wanted to get him out on the pitch and hopefully it will help him and his family and the boys think a lot of him tonight as well. We knew we had to get it right and put in a good performance for everyone at the club especially Beres'.
Aldiss Park observed a minute's silence before the game in memory of Beres and tributes have been flooding in on the clubs twitter feed in the build up to the game.
Henman's men put in a performance to be proud of on a emotional night and the Magpies boss went on to say: 'The boys deserve some enjoyment and worked hard to get ahead first half and played some great football in the second half to secure the win.
'Everyone has played a part this season, all our outfield players have now scored, even those troubled by injury'.
He added that planning has already started for the next step in the club's development, saying: 'We are looking forward to next season and the sort of teams we will come up against. We know what we need to prepare for, and myself and Simmo (Neal Simmonds) will do that while the lads go away and re-charge.'
Kirkley & Pakefield lost 2-1 at Stanway in the last Premier League game of the season on Saturday. In Division One Yarmouth ended on a high with a 1-0 win at Saffron Walden.
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