The Blues picked up another important three points as a last gasp Arron Martin goal gave them a thoroughly deserved win over fourth placed Westella. Leighton Nicholson made his full debut, with Ngoni Dongo returning in midfield. Town had the benefit of the strong wind blowing straight down the Station Road pitch in the first half and made full use of it, Reece Self sending in a shot inside the first minute which bounced off Nathan Otley in the visitor’s goal. Sam Wilford was next to threaten, but the ball was carried away just far enough to find the keeper, the same fate befalling Martin after Jordan Thomas squared the ball across the area. The visitors were struggling to clear their lines, many balls out of defence ending up way off limits. A Martin corner led to James Munson’s shot being charged down, but a lob from Dongo almost paid off, after a Luke Parsons free kick was flicked on by Thomas. Man of the match Nicholson was making an excellent early impression, his pace and distribution causing the opposition many problems, one shot on the half hour cannoning off Rob Dodson for a corner. Craig Rhodes was scarcely troubled in the Blues’ goal, having only back passes to field for most of the half. Martin again came within inches of breaking the deadlock on 35 minutes after Thomas weaved his way past three defenders, but couldn’t quite stretch far enough to make contact. After so much pressure it was beyond belief that the first half ended goalless.
Self started the second half as he had the first, sending a 20 yard effort past the right hand post. Munson then had Otley at full stretch to hold on to a header, before seeing another close range chance trickle narrowly wide. The visitors weren’t taking anywhere near the same advantage from the elements that Town had, and it was 56 minutes before their first serious threat on goal, Lewis Andrew’s run down the right finding Andy Coverdale, Rhodes comfortably holding on to the shot. There were strong appeals for a penalty after Sam Gregory was taken down on the edge of the box, but the referee thought otherwise, the resulting corner being headed wide by Parsons. Gregory was then in action at the other end, getting in a well-timed challenge on Coverdale. Martin yet again brought Otley to his knees after carving through the defence. Chris Dobbie replaced Munson and saw his drive flash inches over the bar. The match looked to be heading for a goalless conclusion, although the stalemate once more came close to being broken as Martin’s raking ball across the area just eluded three Town men on its path across the penalty area. Westella then lost captain Matt Fyvie with a nasty looking eye injury after an accidental collision. With just thirty seconds left of the ninety minutes, Town’s dominance belatedly paid dividends, with Arron Martin deservedly the scorer, one last shot across the area evading Otley’s despairing dive and inflicting only a third defeat of the season on the visitors.