Bedworth Utd 0

Redditch Utd 1

STRIKER Richard Leadbeater came off the bench and elevated himself to hero status with Redditch United fans by notching the winner at The Oval.

Leadbeater, who had been relegated to the bench despite scoring a glut of goals last month, replaced the injured Mark Shepherd and made an instant impact.

Within three minutes of being on the pitch, the striker found time and space in the Greenbacks box and coolly tucked home a Lee Ross cross.

From then on, Reds were forced to go on the defence to claim all the spoils with Martyn Myers later seeing his goal ruled out for offside.

Victory put the Reds five points clear at the top of the Dr Martens Western League with Ilkeston Town the visitors to The Valley this Saturday.

And, afterwards, coach Gary Whild said: "You could say that was the kind of game where we just had to grind out a result.

"We have done that a few times this season but a lot of the better teams seem to do that anyway. We saw that with teams like Weston-super-Mare and Merthyr when they were promoted. Teams like that may not always be the best to watch but getting the three points is all that counts."

He added: "We were pleased for Richard (Leadbeater) when he scored. Mark Shepherd took a bump on the head and wasn't feeling too well at half-time. Richard came on and did well - he always seems to get the first goal.

"It was a crucial one for us and although it's a clich, we just have to take each game as it comes. We came through a difficult November and we have an even tougher Christmas period coming up.

"But I suppose the only teams that take an interest in the table at this time of year are the ones at the top, and it's a very nice to be there - although no-one at the club is getting carried away."

The Reds go into Saturday's clash with Ilkeston (3pm) at full strength with Shepherd expected to have recovered from his knock.