Zeiko Lewis believes he is reaping reward for the hard work he has put in on the training ground practising free kicks.

The Charleston Battery forward netted his second goal in three games and sixth of the season from a set piece in his team’s 3-2 win away to Hartford Athletic in the USL Championship at the weekend.

The Bermuda player opened the scoring at Dillon Stadium on Saturday night with a curling left-footed free kick from outside of the box to put the visiting side ahead just before the interval.

“I’m glad it went in,” Lewis said. “The coach [Michael Anhaeuser] has a few of us practise free kicks every week going far and near post.

“I saw the goalkeeper leaning and told my team-mate to come over a little more to block his sight. It was nice to see it go in the back of the net and be on the scoresheet again, but most importantly to me is getting the win.”

Hartford levelled in the 57th minute through Wojciech Wojcik’s opportunistic strike and then went in front through substitute Mads Jorgensen’s 35-yard effort eight minutes later.

However, Charleston, who are ninth in Eastern Conference table with 26 points from 18 games, were not done just yet as they scored twice inside of two minutes through Ataulla Guerra and Dante Marino.

“It was a big road win for us,” Lewis added. “Our away record hasn’t been the greatest so doing it away from home is huge.

“We have been undefeated at home so winning and putting together a strong team performance on the road is huge for us.

“Also, after having our last two games cancelled due to rain it felt good winning and being back on the pitch.”