Hakin Utd 1 Narberth 2: Hakin United's stuttering season suffered a near-fatal blow at the hands of title-chasing Narberth on Saturday.

Richard Nash's late goal earned the Bluebirds maximum points and leaves The Vikings 10 points off the pace at the top of the first division.

In what was a tough tackling contest, Hakin's Bruce Whisby received his marching orders late on and challenges flew in all over the pitch as both sides fought for every single blade of grass.

On a difficult pitch Hakin settled first and will rue a series of chances which went begging.

Adrian Devonald had the pick of them, but the midfielder blazed over the bar after great work by Andrew Postlethwaite had carved out a golden opportunity to break the deadlock.

The Vikings had the best of the possession and territory in the first period but the Bluebirds' defence is one of the meanest in the first division and it held firm.

After the break Narberth began to sense that the game was there for the taking and pressed forward.

They should have taken the lead when a gilt-edged chance fell to Richard Nash but the midfielder lashed wide when it seemed easier to score.

They continued to press and finally found the breakthrough thanks to substitute Matthew Lloyd's strike.

A ball whipped into the box fell invitingly to Lloyd and he thumped home through a crowd of players and past home keeper Jason Morgan.

Narberth remained on top and were given a perfect chance to finish the game when referee Boswell awarded a penalty.

The normally-deadly Raff Barnett stepped up but his weak effort was well saved by Morgan.

Barnett was also heavily involved in the next controversial incident. He broke in behind the defence and was about to strike when Whisby took him down and was shown a red card.

That incident fired Hakin up even more and they managed to haul themselves back into the game with 10 men. Substitute Scott Davies drove low and hard under Narberth keeper Huw Davies.

A draw looked to be on the cards but with five minutes left on the clock Nash more than made up for his earlier miss with a clinical finish that broke Hakin hearts and keeps the Bluebirds chasing the Swifts.

Hakin United: Jason Morgan, Martin Dawes, Gary Dawes, Bruce Whisby, Kristan Bennett, Nigel Armstrong, Adrian Devonald, Leighton Edwards, Daniel Lincoln, Aaron Owens, Andrew Postlethwaite. Subs: Andrew Charnley, Jonathan Fawcett, Scott Davies.

Narberth: Huw Davies, David Lee, James Stephens, Richard Henton, Charles Smith, James Luxton, Wayne Howells, Richard Nash, Dai Gillard, Raff Barnett, Marc Hughes. Subs: Matthew Lloyd, James Bradfield, Paul Phillips.