Steelmen back to winning ways, Doughboys leave it late, Diamonds on the up
New signing Amar Sandhu was the goal star for Corby Town as they secured a crucial 1-0 win over play-off rivals Anstey Nomads in the Pitching-In Nothern Premier League Midlands Division on Saturday.
Signed from Harborough Town on dual registration last week, Sandhu made an instant impact as he made a clever run to beat the offside trap before racing through to slot home a cool finish from the edge of the penalty area in the 59th-minute of a tight match at Steel Park.
It was a big win for Corby, who went into the showdown off the back of a 3-0 defeat at leaders Quorn the previous weekend, and it means they are now 10 points clear of sixth-placed Anstey.
The second-placed Steelmen also made up some ground on Quorn, who surprisingly dropped points in a 2-2 draw at rock-bottom Grantham Town.
The gap to the top is still a huge 17 points though, with Corby, who entertain Lye Town on Wednesday night, having two games in hand.
Wellingborough Town were involved in a thriller at the Dog & Duck as they played out a 2-2 draw with Coventry Sphinx.
Jake Stone's side stretched their unbeaten run to four matches, but they left it late as the in-form Will Jones netted a stoppage time penalty to square things up - just minutes after Sphinx looked to have won it with a late goal of their own to go 2-1 up.
The game had sprung to life on 64 minutes when Jones fired the Doughboys into a 1-0 lead, but Iddriss Fuseini levelled seven minutes later, and then scored again to put Sphinx 2-1 up two minutes into time added on.
The Doughboys looked dead and buried, but two minutes later Lloyd Buckby was upended in the box and Jones kept his cool to drill home the equaliser.
There was even more drama to come, as with seven minutes of stoppage time played, the Doughboys were awarded a second penalty after referee Harry Price judged Neo Richard-Noel to have been fouled in the box.
But after talking to his assistant, Price changed his mind and instead of a penalty he awarded a corner that came to nothing and the points were shared.
The result sees the Doughboys stay seventh, but they are now just two points off the play-off places. Borough are next in action on Saturday when they go to Racing Cub Warwick.
It was a good day for AFC Rushden & Diamonds on Saturday, as they moved 12 points clear of the Midlands Division drop zone with a second win in eight days, this time edging past struggling Rugby Town 1-0 at Hayden Road.
In a tight encounter, the match was won with 20 minutes remaining as new signing Nathan Burrows netted on his Diamonds debut to seal maximum points and see his side up to 14th place.
Michael Harriman's side now have a free midweek before going to Sporting Khalsa on Saturday.