AFC Sudbury 1 Brentwood Town 0

Following two successive defeats, this proved to be a hard earned victory for AFC Sudbury against fellow strugglers Brentwood Town, who suffered their fifth consecutive loss.

Tom Maycock's 84th minute strike sealed the points, elevating the home side two places to 14th position in the table, while the Essex visitors remain in 17th spot.

There was one change to the AFC Sudbury line-up from last Saturday's defeat at Soham Town Rangers, Liam Bennett returning to replace Reece Harris.

Sudbury boss Mark Morsley had expressed confidence that his side would be among the goals for this encounter, following a barren spell, but in reality they struggled in front of goal and rarely worked visiting custodian Tim Brown.

Brentwood quickly showed their physicality when an awful challenge inside two minutes on Joe Grimwood rendered him unable to continue - he was replaced by Lewis O'Malley.

The visitors had an early chance when Robbie Rees' pinpoint cross picked out Connor Hogan, who wasted the opportunity, while at the other end Kyle Cassell volleyed narrowly wide.

Up front the twin pair of Hogan and Temilolu Babalola were lively for the visitors, but the Sudbury defence, ably marshalled by Adam Baily-Dennis, stood firm.

The game was developing into a competitive spectacle in front of 274 spectators and the first goal threat came in the 34th minute. Cassell, out on the left, squared to Billy Holland, who in his stride struck a vicious shot that a fully-extended Tim Brown touched over.

The visitors nearly broke the deadlock after the break when Reneilwe Batlakwa broke clear, but Paul Walker made a superb save. Walker also saved well from Zak Pianim just moments later.

In the closing stages both sides sought a winner, but a draw looked inevitable until the final moments. Substitute Freddie King was introduced and he and Sean Marks sought to gain possession from a defender on the bye-line. This resulted in King taking control and releasing to Maycock who fired home the winner.