A GOAL four minutes before the break by teenage hotshot Harrison Reynolds secured a vital 1-0 away win for Abergavenny Town at high-flying Cardiff outfit Canton.

Seven straight losses had left the Pennies perilously above the dropzone, but a hard-fought victory in the capital against the third-placed Ardal South East side lifted them four places and three points clear of the bottom two.

The match-winner came after some good work at the back, with Aber countering to put Jack Evans through behind the Canton defence, who squared it for Reynolds to score at the back post .

Just eight points covers a tight bottom half of the table, and having stopped the slide, Aber will now want to push clear of danger, with Abertillery Bluebirds away next on March 22.

The 2nds are in the battle for title honours in the FAW Cymru South East Reserves League, and had a mixed week, winning 4-1 at home against bottom half Chepstow Town on Wednesday night before losing 4-2 at top half Undy on Saturday.

Curtis Methven (33) and Jamie Laurent (38) put the Pennies 2-0 up at half-time against the Jockeys, before Zach Duke (74) and Keane Flage-Donovan (81) sealed victory in midweek.

Joel Ali levelled a first-minute Undy opener with a 12th-minute penalty on Saturday, and then put Aber 2-1 up 15 minutes into the second half.

But three goals in six minutes for the hosts turned the game on its head, leaving Aber fourth nine points behind leaders Cwmbran Celtic.

Elsewhere, first-half goals from Corey Paton (21) and Ben Sherman (38) and one after the break from Jordan Jones (58) gave Clydach Wasps a 3-0 home win over Cefn Fforest, leaving them seventh in the Gwent Premier top tier.

Their 2nds also won through to the final of the Gwent Central Benevolent Cup with a 3-0 win away to Pontypool Town 2nds, thanks to two goals in the first four minutes from Kieran Evans and Jay McCloy, plus a 65th-minute own goal.

Currently second in Division 2, they will face unbeaten table toppers Glascoed in the final, who found themselves 2-1 down at home to Pontnewynydd 2nds in the other semi with 23 minutes to play, before goals from Dawson Stubbs (74), Shaun Ruysch (83) and Brent Chatham (90) saw them through 4-3.

Nantyglo also won through the third round of the Gwent Amateur Cup with a 4-1 win at Albion Rovers, thanks to a Jackson Thomas brace (20, 46) and strikes from Jack Watkins (54) and Ross Hancock (59).

First-half goals from Lance Lewis (25) and Jordan Jones (37) also helped Gwent Premier 2 high-flyers Brynmawr United to a 2-1 win at Crickhowell, the hosts' Ben Ward giving the Jackdaws a lifeline with five minutes to play but to no avail.

And a Jamie Parfitt hat-trick for Gwent Central One basement side Forgeside secured a comeback 3-3 draw at mid-table PILCS 2nds in the visitors' first league game in some seven weeks.

Trailing 3-1, two late goals (70, 76) earned a point after his seventh-minute opener, and with games in hand on those above things are looking up for the Govilon-based outfit.

Crickhowell 2nds did them a favour as well, beating dropzone rivals Race 6-2 away, thanks to an Omar Bojang hat-trick and goals from Josh Jones, Mike Ling and Liam Oliver.

And to cap a good day for Forgeside, their 2nds playing the whole 90 minutes a man short climbed off the bottom of GC2 with a 2-1 home win over Fairfield Development, Owain Hughes and Louie Restall the marksmen.