PRESTATYN Town opened up a five-point gap at the JD Cymru North summit with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Porthmadog.

The promotion favourites were made to work hard by the basement dwellers in order to secure another valuable three points in their quest for the crown, and Neil Gibson’s side will look to extend their impressive start to the second-tier campaign this Saturday when they welcome Bangor City to the Motion Finance Stadium (7.45pm).

A good start from the visitors saw Alex Jones and Jack Kenny both miss chances during the opening exchanges, with Town stopper Jon Rushton alert to divert an opportunity at the other end with 20 on the clock.

After the break saw the home side start in a positive fashion and they got their reward on 54 minutes when recent signing John Owen took advantage of some rare space to find the net and give Port a shock lead following some fine approach play from Iddon Price.

James Stead almost levelled matters a minute after the restart when his free kick was superbly saved by Ynys Mon skipper Paul Pritchard, but Town received a boost on the hour mark when the home side were reduced to ten men after Dan Roberts was shown a red card.

The introduction of Jack Higgins and Casey Faulkner gave the visiting attack some much-needed energy, and they were handed the perfect chance to equalise on 75 minutes when they were awarded a penalty after Jones was brought down in the box.

Midfielder Rob Hughes held his nerve to convert from the spot, and the same player almost gave the away side the lead soon after when his thumping drive was turned away by the impressive Pritchard.

With the game heading towards a stalemate, the crucial moment came on 86 minutes when a high ball into the box was flicked on by Michael Parker, leaving Higgins with the simplest of tasks to finish the move and seal another important win for the promotion hopefuls.