HINDSFORD manager Barry Massey hopes his side can kick on to a fourth successive Premier Division title after braving wintry conditions on Saturday to secure a hard fought 1-0 victory at home to strugglers East Manchester.

The reigning champions went into the match eager to kick-start their campaign after a number of recent postponements had seen them drop to seventh place in the table, eight points off top spot.

Their first match of 2015 looked an easy one on paper, but second-bottom East Manchester are fighting to beat the drop and proved a difficult opponent in tricky conditions.

But, after finishing the game with 10 men and braving a late fightback from the visitors, the relieved Hindsford boss now hopes his side can build up some momentum for the season run-in.

“We played some decent football considering the conditions, though you could see we were a bit rusty," he said.

"I would have took a 1-0 at the start and that win will give us a massive boost now to push on.”

Despite the contrasting fortunes of the teams, the final outcome was far from a formality.

Hindsford side took the lead through an unlikely scorer as left-back Chris Hopward fired home from 30 yards after 25 minutes.

After making the early breakthrough, Massey’s side could not force a second, despite playing some good football and creating numerous chances.

Hindsford were made to sweat towards the end when Tom Valentine kicked out at an opponent, earning him a straight red.

East Manchester nearly made Valentine pay for his mistake when they hit the crossbar in the final 10 minutes.

But the home side held on for a vital win, and with only three matches beating the wintry conditions they moved up to sixth in the table, cutting the gap to leaders Stockport Georgians to five points with two games in hand.

Elsewhere in the Premier Division, Atherton Town saw their match at AFC Monton postponed due to the poor weather conditions. Atherton, who are fourth bottom but have a seven-point cushion over the drop zone, go into next week’s clash against basement club Chapel Town knowing a win will help towards securing their place in the division.

Manager Shaun Lynch said: “We’ve got a strong squad together now, so hopefully we can get a good run going and pull away from the rest.”

In Division One, Pennington suffered heartbreak at Boothstown, going down 2-1 after conceding a minute from time.

The visitors took an early lead through a superb free kick from Steve Anderton, but Boothstown equalised just before half time and then scored the winner with a debatable breakaway goal in the 89th minute that looked to be offside.

Breightmet United had a week off from action and their next game sees a mid-table clash against Heywood St James.

With a promotion push unlikely now, Simon Wilcox feels his side could be closer to the top if certain games had gone their way.

“Looking back we have just conceded too many late goals after being on top in a lot of games," he said. "If you don’t score you don’t win though.”

Leigh Athletic, whose game against leaders Uppermill was postponed, visit second-placed Old Alts this weekend.

They make the trip in fourth place in the table, three points outside the promotion places.