Hardly Athletic moved off the bottom of Division Two after a hard fought and disciplined victory over Port Vale DFC.
PVDFC had, like Hardly, been in good form but were unable to compete against Athletic's superior workrate and finishing.
Hardly lost their opening ten games of the season but have lost just twice in the league during the second half of the season and only one side, F Unit, have more points than Hardly, who will have their eyes on finishing the season with another win to try and claim 5th position.
Chris Cope had given Hardly the lead when he slotted the ball past the keeper to break the deadlock early on before Matt Young side footed the ball in to double the advantage before half time.
Athletic keeper Paul Dale had made some outstanding saves to keep a first half clean sheet but couldn't stop Vale pulling a goal back after half time to keep the game tight.
Hardly were in no mood to surrender though and Matthew Peart restored the two goal advantage with five minutes to go before Hardly defended well to see out the game and claim another crucial victory.