Lancaster City 1 Redditch United 0

IF Redditch thought they had turned a corner in their fight to avoid the drop, this result illustrates just how much work remains to be done.

Gary Whild's side had enough chances to claim at least a draw from their trip to Lancashire and strike pair Craig Wilding and Jermaine Clarke will have to sharpen up in front of goal if the Reds are going to claim something at Gainsborough Trinity on Saturday.

Wilding had a glorious chance to salvage a point for the Reds late on but they also had keeper Richard Anstiss to thank for keeping City out in the final seconds.

Lancaster had by far the better of the opening half and could have opened the scoring after 16 minutes when Andrew Bond took the ball around the Reds keeper only to see United defender Ian King clear off the line.

Redditch's best chance of the half fell to Clarke on the half-hour when he collected a Mark Taylor pass only to put his shot wide of the target.

The visitors upped the tempo after the break and Lancaster keeper Anthony McMillan did well to deny Simon Hollis after the winger had tried to force the ball home following a neat flick on from Wilding.

Another Hollis effort was blocked moments later and Reds paid the price for those missed chances when teenage sensation Alex Taylor scored from close range on 59 minutes. Anstiss produced an excellent double save to deny Steve Skinner and Tom Pope only for the young striker to drill home the rebound for his 18th goal of the season.

The visitors continued to push for a way back into the game and Hollis again went close on 71 minutes but after running on to Clarke's cross he put his header wide.

Daire Doyle replaced Hollis for the final nine minutes and he forced McMillan into action with a shot from the edge of the area.

As the match entered injury time, fellow substitute Danny Scheppel darted down the right flank and put in a fine cross for Wilding only for the striker to power his header into the ground and then over the Lancaster crossbar.

Seconds later, play switched to the other end as Anstiss saved well to deny Taylor.

Lancaster City: McMillan, Uberschar, Scott, Dodd, McMahon, Elderton, Bond, Skinner, HTAYLOR, Pope, Sullivan (Smith 81).

Reds: Anstiss 6, King 6, Whitcombe 6, Charlton 6, Creighton 7, Field 5 (McGrath 67, 5), Hollis 6 (Doyle 81), HTAYLOR 8 (Scheppel 83), Wilding 6, Clarke 5, Palmer 6.