Marc McGrath is about to be brought down by Jody Bisson for the penalty which proved to be the winner, scored by McGrath himself, in Saints’ 2-1 victory over Vale Rec yesterday at the Corbet Field. (Picture by Tom Tardif, 0906600)

ST MARTIN’S yesterday leapfrogged North to become Bels’ nearest challengers at the top of Division One.

Colin Fallaize’s men were made to work hard but came out 2-1 winners over Vale Rec in a match that had been put back 24 hours to allow the Corbet Field more time to dry out.

‘Jody [Bisson, the Vale Rec goalkeeper] was man of the match and that’s a reflection of the game, but if you do not put those chances away you can be susceptible to a sucker-punch,’ Fallaize said.

‘Overall, though, we were pretty comfortable all the way through.’

The result came the day after leaders Bels had seen off Sylvans 5-1 while North had been held to a 2-2 draw by Rangers at St Sampson’s High.

It means that Ian Champion’s side have a nine-point lead over Saints, who have three games in hand, while the defending champions are a point further back having played one match fewer than Bels.

‘We have got quite a big programme of fixtures coming up and we have just got to keep winning and picking up whatever points we can,’ said the Saints boss.

‘We have got games in hand. I’d rather have the points in the bag, but that is not the situation we find ourselves in and we have just got to keep plugging away.’

In yesterday’s other delayed match, Athletics beat Rovers 1-0 at Port Soif.