SATURDAY SPORT '“ Ryan is Corby's hero but Diamonds and Poppies both slip to defeats

All the details from this afternoon's local football action

The youngster, who came on as an early substitute in place of Steve Kinniburgh, grabbed the only goal of the game after 13 minutes as the Steelmen edged past their fellow strugglers.

The victory keeps Gary Mills’ side seven points adrift of safety in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Premier Division after Frickley Athletic beat Sutton Coldfield Town.

AFC Rushden & Diamonds suffered just their second away defeat of the season in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Division One South as they went down 3-2 at Romulus.

Nabil Shariff gave Diamonds the lead but Jordan Francis levelled things up after 34 minutes.

The hosts took the lead early in the second half through Yohan Rutty-Smith before Tom Lorraine made it 2-2 with a thumping header.

However, it was Romulus who won it late on when Jean-Michel Gueyes’ cross found the top corner.

The loss, Diamonds’ second in three matches, saw Andy Peaks’ team drop out of the play-off places.

Kettering Town’s Evo-Stik Southern League Premier Division season looks to be all-but over after they lost 3-1 to Merthyr Town at Latimer Park.

The Poppies never recovered from falling 2-0 down inside the first 15 minutes with Curtin M McDonald opening the scoring from a corner before Eliot Richards added another.

Kettering were given hope when Rene Howe bundled the ball home at the far post in the second half.

But a poor defensive error allowed substitute Corey Jenkins a free run on goal and made no mistake as he wrapped up the points for the high-flyers.

Marcus Law’s team are now a massive 11 points off the play-off places with 17 games remaining.