Hastings Town went joint top of the Dr Martens Eastern Division after a hard fought win at home to ten-man Stamford.

Duncan McArthur's glorious 74th minute strike proved sufficient to close the gap on leaders Grantham Town who crashed to a surprise 5-3 defeat away to Chatham Town.

Grantham remain in pole position but only on goal difference, while Hastings have a game in hand.

Manager George Wakeling tried to play down what could turn out to be a very important day in the promotion race.

He said: "It's about three points, it doesn't matter how you get them, you have just got to get them. That's the name of the game.

"It was a hard three points and I honestly feel we would have played better if they had 11 men because they would have opened up a bit more, it was very frustrating for us.

"We could not get round the back of them, they were so deep in numbers, even when they were 1-0 down they only left one player up."

The only goal of a tough match played out on a heavy pitch arrived just when it seemed Hastings would have to settle for a draw.

Man-of-the-match McArthur exchanged passes in the heart of the Stamford half and from 25 yards unleashed a rocket of a shot which flew past the despairing dive of Steve Corry and into the roof of the net.

Hastings' jubilation was tinged with a great deal of relief because they had to work hard for the breakthrough against a Stamford side reduced to ten men after only 12 minutes.

Visiting captain Darron Clyde was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Chris Honey as they tangled on the ground for the ball.

The dismissal might have given Hastings a numerical advantage but Stamford's response was to defend deep and in numbers.

With little time and space further up the field it fell on the Hastings midfield to provide the best efforts on goal.

New signing Martin Eldridge almost marked his debut with a goal, while Paul Ruddy forced Corry into a smart save.

But the closest Hastings came to scoring in the first half was just before the interval when former Brighton and Hove Albion youngster McArthur hit the post with another of his trademark shots from long range.

Hastings continued to dominate in the second period and Stuart Playford was only a whisker away with a looping header. All-action midfielder Ruddy and captain Tony Burt also went close before McArthur finally broke the deadlock.

Stamford almost snatched an equaliser right at the death but Dave King palmed out a teasing shot from Carl Holmes and Hastings celebrated three more valuable points.

Hastings: King, Yates, Osborne, Playford, Burt, Ruddy, Myall (Ferguson), McArthur, Jones (Webb), Honey, Eldridge (McRobert).

Stamford: Corry, Blowers, Peaks, Ashby, Clyde, Green, Donald (Rhule), Bailey, Ndekwe (Ainslie), Holmes, Staff. Sub not used: Hancock.

Referee: Sean Pryor (Dover).