Kendal Town kept their play-off hopes alive last night with a hard-fought 1-0 win at Glossop North End.
Recent recruit Matt Dudley scored the only goal of the game after 37 minutes.
The Mintcakes are now up to sixth, on the fringe of the play-offs and have 11 games left to play.
Importantly, after a grim winless January, this was their third League victory in a row and had reignited hopes of reaching the top five.
Dudley was brought in to score goals and he has done that, with this latest effort a classy affair.
The Glossop keeper came to head clear outside his area but from 40 yards Dudley lifted the ball back over him and into the net.
Kendal were put under a lot of pressure at the end and in the second of the eight minutes added on had defender Patrick Allington sent-off, but they dug deep to hold on.
Manager Jimmy Marshall was particularly pleased about the gritty way his side got over the line.
“The last eight or nine minutes seemed like the longest of my life! But we got there and that’s a tribute to the lads and how they dug in, because Glossop threw the kitchen sink at us.
“It’s not really how we win games, digging in like that, but we might need to do more of that before the end of the season.
“The lads put their bodies on the line, going in for defensive blocks and really determined to keep a clean sheet.
“I’ve said before that I couldn’t have a better set of lads in that dressing room and they’ve shown that again.
“The only downside was the red card for Pat. I thought he was immense tonight before his sending-off and really I couldn’t fault anyone who contributed to that win.
“We brought Matt Dudley in to add more goal power to the side and I think that’s six in the last three games, and his finish tonight was class. He is such a technically gifted player.”
Kendal will be looking to make it four League wins in a row when they travel to Irlam Town on Saturday.
