Devon Homes Wanganui Athletic banked a crucial three points to steady their season with a hard-fought 1-0 win on Saturday over Palmerston North Boys' High in Manawatu.
With the Lotto Federation League fixture moved to the school's grounds, the Reds had to endure a pitch that was short, narrow, andextremely slippery underfoot.
The tightness of the pitch, however, meant the Reds could use their well-structured passing to control the game.
Anthony Bell, who is starting to show himself as a linchpin of the Reds attack, capitalised on a loose ball from a corner to put them ahead in the 30th minute.
Troy Smith, one of the player-coaching staff for the Reds, thought while they were on the end of a few poor decisions by the officials, as a unit they were starting to gel.
"As a team, we played well, and never really looked like conceding," he said.
He was quick to point out Athletic still had plenty to build upon.
While again dominating much of the game, the Reds were still throwing away scoring chances and could have easily stretched their lead throughout the game.
"Their keeper pulled off a couple of great saves, but ultimately we need to start putting the numerous chances created in the back of the net," said Smith.
The win puts Athletic securely in the top half of the Federation League table.
They return to Wembley next weekend, where Palmerston North Marist Reserves will be looking to spoil their recent march on points.
In local football news, my pick of the weekend's matches between the Total Automotive Wanganui City Hammers and the Wanganui Athletic Reserves ended up with last season's premiers taking away the honours with a 2-1 victory after a hard-fought 90 minutes.
The new boys to the league this year, Castlecliff St Anthony's put on a show against the Wanganui High School Athletic International squad, with a decisive 9-2 win.
The St Anthony's boys are showing they could be top-four contenders this season.
In other results, the Marist Bhoys had a 3-2 win over the St John's Club Castlecliff 1sts, Castlecliff Braves went down to a Wanganui Collegiate invitational squad, while the Marist Casuals romped to a 9-2 victory over the Wanganui City Thirsties.
