Hucknall Town claimed a crucial victory as they beat fellow promotion contenders Radford 2-1 on Saturday afternoon (3 December).

Two goals within the space of seven first half minutes set The Yellows on their way to victory and although Radford quickly hit back through Kyle Stovell, Hucknall had enough to see the game out and secure all three points.

It was a fairly even start to the match with both sides going close in the opening 20 minutes.

Sacha Markelic, shot just wide of the post for the hosts before Joe Meakin and Anton Robinson saw efforts well saved by Louis Kinnerley in the Hucknall goal.

For the visitors, Joe Ashurst shot just over after good build up play from Craig Westcarr before Westcarr himself had a shot saved.

As the first half progressed, it became more and more obvious that the first goal was going to be critical in deciding the outcome of the match. And 25 minutes in, it was The Yellows who found the breakthrough with Westcarr bursting clear and firing the ball into the net.

Hucknall soon doubled their lead as an Aaron Lamb's cross caused confusion and uncertainty in the Radford box leading to one of the defenders putting the ball into their own net.

The hosts responded almost immediately as Stovell's volley reduced the deficit with just over ten minutes of the half remaining.

The second half saw Hucknall have to work hard to maintain their lead with Kinnerley forced to pull off an impressive save to deny Robinson with 15 minutes remaining.

However, Hucknall were still a threat on the break with Westcarr almost adding to his tally on a couple of occasions.

Radford threw everything at Hucknall during stoppage time but the visitors held firm to clinch a memorable win.

The victory sees Hucknall leapfrog Radford into fourth place in the Uhlsport United Counties Division One league table.

This week sees the official opening of Hucknall's brand new ground, The RM Stadium, on Thursday (8 December) before they play their first fixture there two days later on Saturday (10 December) against Blackstones.