A 53rd-minute goal from Joshua Klein-Davies was enough to see Sandbach past playoff rivals Brocton 1-0.

With stalwart centre-back Rory Roberts out with a concussion after a club-record 55 consecutive starts for Sandbach, manager Declan Swan chose to hand a start to experienced and commanding centre back Louis Johnson – his first start for Sandbach since early December.

Brocton started the match the stronger side, forcing goalkeeper Eric Merner into a decent save in the opening three minutes.

Sandbach grew into the game after a lacklustre first 10 minutes and were desperately unfortunate not to go ahead on 21 minutes when a spectacular strike from Robbie Hatton crashed off the inside of the post and bounced to a grateful Tony Allsopp in the Brocton goal, who had been a mere spectator to the shot.

Less than 60 seconds later, Sandbach were dealt a real blow when the in-form Josh Oultram collapsed with a serious-looking knee injury. The forward attempted to run it off but signalled that his game was over, with winger Harry Cain replacing him off the bench.

The first half ended without any real goalmouth action and both teams entered the break goalless – a fair reflection on the first 45 minutes.

The second half started at a frankly ridiculous pace, with Sandbach unlucky to not go in front in the 49th minute as Joshua Klein-Davies saw his goal-bound strike hooked off the line by a recovering Brocton defender.

The visitors countered but were denied by a Sandbach clearance off the line, as Callum Chapman found himself in the perfect covering position to block a strike before heading away the danger.

Louis Johnson then somehow got his boot to a Brocton header that looked destined for the net, clearing the danger before setting Sandbach away on a counter of their own. This time, the counter ended with Klein-Davies rounding the goalkeeper Allsopp before coolly sliding home to give Sandbach the lead.

Brocton looked to cause Sandbach some real trouble from set-pieces but the Ramblers were up to the task every time, clearing away when needed and often troubling Brocton with some slick passing moves of their own.

However, Sandbach could consider themselves lucky after a fortuitous bounce sent Brocton through on goal. A pass was played across the face of goal leaving what looked a certain tap-in from 10 yards, but Brocton somehow put the strike wide to preserve Sandbach's slender lead.

Substitute George West almost sealed all three points when his 88th minute header flew towards the top corner, but an excellent save from Allsopp kept it out before the goalkeeper thwarted West once more in additional time, standing up strong to palm away a 1 on 1 effort.

Sandbach held on strongly for all three points, closing the gap between them and their 3rd-placed visitors to just three points, albeit Brocton have two games in hand.

After Ellesmere Rangers had their fixture at New Mills postponed, they now sit nine points behind the Ramblers with one less game played.