Ashby Ivanhoe 2 Heanor Town 0

Goals either side of half time saw Ashby Ivanhoe to three points over Heanor Town - and a fourth consecutive league victory.

The match was a polar opposite of the nine-goal thriller the two sides played out in October, the Derbyshire outfit coming out on top on that occasion.

Ivanhoe were resolute at the back this time, rarely allowing a sight of goal to danger man Sacha Markelic who scored twice against Andy Gray's side last time out.

At the other end they struggled to carve out a clear opening as attacking proved to be a struggle for both sides for much of the first half. Ivanhoe came closest though on 30 minutes as Ash Garner saw his back post header cleared off the line.

On the stroke of half time the deadlock was broken as Chris Acott fired a low strike towards goal. Taking a deflection off the foot of the defender, goalkeeper Louis Kinnerley was left stranded as the ball flashed past him into the bottom corner.

Ivanhoe had the ball in the net early in the second half, however a late flag from the linesman on the near side proved a source of frustration for Gray and his bench, a theme that persisted throughout the match.

Heanor looked to plug away at Ashby's lead and came closest to an equaliser through Lewis Weaver, who saw his lobbed effort beat Sam Taylor but land agonisingly onto the crossbar before being cleared.

Acott was in the thick of the action again on the hour mark. Capitalising on a loose pass, he beat Heanor's defender to the ball and won a penalty for his side. Kinnerley however made a smart save to deny Grouse from the resulting spot kick, diving low to his right.

With the game still delicately balanced, it took a moment of brilliance from midfielder Ben Bradshaw, 12 minutes from time, for Ashby to get breathing space.

Lining one up from 30 yards, his right footed strike appeared to be going over the crossbar, but dipped late and nestled in the top corner, sparking wild celebrations from home fans, players, and coaches.

Bradshaw's season looked to be in jeopardy against Wisbech when he was forced off injured, but he was able to return to action against Heanor to score his first for Ashby Ivanhoe, and possibly the goal of the season.

The goal took much of the tension out of the contest and Ivanhoe were able to see out the remaining minutes trouble free.

The closely fought contest was perhaps not ideal for Gray with his side travelling to Mansfield on Thursday for their third game in six days.

However they will take confidence from their cup victory over the same side in September which saw them run out 6-0 winners.