CAERNARFON Town moved to within five of JD Cymru Premier leaders The New Saints after a last-gasp 1-0 win at Carmarthen Town.

The Canaries’ now occupy fourth spot after another determined performance that saw them snatch three points at the death despite being down to ten men, and the unlikely title challengers go in search of their fifth straight victory in all competition when they welcome Bala Town to The Oval on Boxing Day (5.15pm).

A cagey start to proceedings saw little in the way of goal-mouth activity from either side, but Josh Bull was looking lively and forced a smart save out of Cofis’ stopper Alex Ramsay with six on the clock.

Bull spurned two more good chances during the first quarter of the contest before the away side carved out their first opening when link-up play between Nathan Craig and Sion Bradley resulted in Ben Clark’s attempt sailing narrowly over.

This spurred the visitors on to a strong end to the first period, with Jamie Breese, Bradley and Craig all finding former Bangor City keeper Lee Idzi a tough proposition to pass to leave things with all to play for at the interval.

After the break saw Bull come close yet again on 55 minutes when he rounded Ramsay only to see his effort hacked off the line by experienced defender Gareth Edwards.

The commanding centre half’s elation was quashed on 64 minutes when he was sent off for a second bookable offence after bringing down Bull, but Town responded well to the setback and almost broke the deadlock twice in quick succession through playmaker Leo Smith and the outstanding Bradley.

Manager Sean Eardley introduced forward Cai Jones into the fray in the closing stages and this proved decisive in the overall outcome of the clash, with the former Porthmadog standout latched on to a delivery from Bradley to despatch the only goal of the game with two remaining.