Petersfield Town maintained their push for a Southern Combination Football League Premier Division play-off spot with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over bottom of the table Saltdean United at Love Lane.

In front of a crowd of 324, their highest attendance this season, the Rams took control of the game from the off and were constantly probing the visitors' defence.

Despite their dominance the Rams found it difficult to create clearcut chances, with Archie Whatman in the Saltdean goal rarely called into serious action.

Meanwhile, Saltdean's sporadic attacks were comfortably dealt with by the Rams defence.

The breakthrough came in the 29th minute when a goalmouth scramble led to a corner from which Harrison Cable scored, much to the delight of the home supporters.

In the 35th minute Saltdean created their first chance with a shot that went wide of the near post, but other than that the Rams had no scares for the remainder of the half.

The second half continued in much the same vein, with the Rams looking the better side without creating many clearcut chances.

The closest they came to adding to their tally was in the 53rd minute when a shot from Asad Ssemwogerere forced a decent save from Whatman.

Saltdean managed to apply a bit more pressure on the Petersfield defence in the final 15 minutes, but the Rams held firm to pick up maximum points.

The Rams remain fourth in the table with four games to play.

Petersfield co-manager Connor Hoare said: “It was a professional performance and we deserved to win the game.

“It maybe wasn’t the most entertaining game for the fans, but once we got in front we never felt threatened by Saltdean.

“It’s good to know the play-offs are still in our hands.

“We’ve got four big cup finals left.”