MATLOCK have given themselves a fighting chance of avoiding relegation from Midlands One East by beating fellow strugglers Huntingdon District.
The Derbyshire outfit remain in the drop zone but have closed the gap on Huntingdon to only two points, with two games to go.
They are five points adrift of Paviors, who claimed a vital win against fourth-placed Bugbrooke.
Matlock went into Saturday’s game at Cromford Meadows buoyed by the previous week’s victory at high-flying local rivals Derby.
They were able to field an unchanged side and both teams began the game playing with intensity and control.
First blood went to Matlock as Nick Coombes passed wide to Henri Packard, who sped past two defenders and raced 40 yards to score under the posts. James Fairclough added the conversion.
The visitors got on the board with a penalty before Dan Hooton’s sublime offload released Luke Howard for a try out wide.
Ben Neville then made a break in midfield and drew the last man before setting up Packard for his second score of the day. Fairclough added the extras.
Matlock appeared to be coasting at this point but Huntingdon hit back with a converted try to make it 19-10 at the interval.
The visitors added a penalty after the break to reduce the gap to six points, though Matlock were still causing them problems.
After having a try disallowed for the slightest of knock-ons, they eventually managed to secure what could prove to be a vital bonus point.
Just inside the Huntingdon half, a missed pass gave Packard room on the outside.
He rounded his opposite number then passed inside to Hooton, who drew the last defender before passing back inside to Howard to cross over for a fine try.
Huntingdon still refused to give up and a converted score left them only four points behind.
There were a few nervy moments for Matlock in the final eight minutes but they held out for a deserved victory.
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