PERSHORE Town remain five points above the Midland League Division One relegation zone despite suffering a 1-0 derby defeat at Littleton on Saturday.
Quentin Townsend’s side were edged out by Chris Hayden’s goal little more than ten minutes from time but, with second bottom Pelsall Villa losing 10-0 at Bromsgrove Sporting, Town remain five points and three places ahead of Villa, who have a game in hand.
Both teams received numerous yellow cards in a fiery derby and Town captain Shaun Griffiths a red card when adjudged to have fouled Ki Evans and prevented a goalscoring opportunity, which was the turning point in the game.
Town edged the first half, with Reece Jacobs’ cross-shot bouncing off the top of the crossbar and Steve Roche just wide with a shot from the edge of the box.
At the other end, Town keeper Shaun Edwards was called upon to make saves from a couple of free kicks from the edge of the box.
Town started the second half better with Jacobs unable to steer home a flick on from Jamie Clarke, followed by another opportunity when Griffiths headed over from a corner.
The turning point was Griffiths’ red card after an hour and Littleton took advantage of the numerical advantage to put the visitors under pressure.
The hosts had a couple of decent efforts go wide before the winning goal was scored with a shot from the edge of the box by Hayden.
Town do not have a fixture on Saturday. They travel to Leicester Road on Easter Saturday, followed by a home match on Easter Monday (3pm) against champions-elect Bromsgrove Sporting.