Harpenden Town stretched their lead at the top of Spartan South Midlands Division One to four points after a 1-0 win over promotion rivals Baldock Town on Saturday.

James Yates had one of the better chances in the first half when he managed to burst through on goal but he could only pull his shot wide of the post.

Harpenden were the better of the two sides in the early exchanges and Mark Hitchcock went on a mazy run, beating more than two defenders in the process but could only guide a tame shot into the hands of the keeper.

Nick Elliot almost gave the home side the lead in the second half when his low drive was kept out by Connor Hills.

The hosts kept up the pressure and were rewarded with the breakthrough when Hitchcock smashed a low strike into the bottom corner of the net just before the hour mark in the contest.

Baldock almost equalised but were denied when Sam Taylor made an athletic save to tip a shot over the crossbar.

Elliot dragged a chance wide with ten minutes of the game remaining and Harry Hunt, who was unusually quiet, struck a half-volley against the bar in the dying minutes.

Manager Danny Plumb said: “This was a hard-fought game against a good team but we showed lots of character to get a result and grind out a win.

“It was a well-taken goal from Mark that gave us the victory.

“We will need to show the same character for the next month as most of our games are away from home.”

Harpenden have only one game at home, a Tuesday night clash with Southall on October 21, in the whole of the next month.