MALVERN Town defeated Cradley Town 3-1 to boost their top-two hopes in the West Midlands League Premier Division.

The game got off to a fast start when Malvern’s Josh Hunt beat his defender in the third minute but his shot rose over the bar.

Cradley grew into the match as it went on and almost went ahead in the 20th minute when Rion Francis-Mills had a chance on goal but fired wide of the back post.

Another chance for Cradley saw Charlie Weaver forced to pull off a low save to keep the game goalless just before the half-hour mark.

Malvern went ahead in the 33rd minute when Hunt climbed high to head Louis Loader’s cross over the keeper and into the back of the net.

After the first goal Les Jones' side were on the front foot and Matt Turner nearly made it two in quick succession by beating the keeper but no one could get on the end of his cross.

Hunt nearly increased his tally just three minutes after his first goal but rattled the post.

The away team were on top heading into half-time and hit the post a further time after a shot was punched away by the keeper.

However, they were made to pay for their inability to extend their lead in the 41st minute when a clinical Aaron Weston jumped on a mistake by Jamie Sauntson to equalise.

Almost immediately after coming out for the second half, Cradley had a penalty appeal but it was waved away by the referee.

This proved to be a pivotal moment as shortly after Malvern took the lead for the second time in the game.

Sam Rathbone played in a good cross after a strong run up the right wing and Turner made no mistake in turning the ball in.

Cradley immediately retaliated but to no avail as they saw a cross from the right drift over the bar.

Their task became even harder when in the 60th minute Malvern scored from a set-piece.

They were awarded a free-kick just outside the area with Loader firing the ball past the wall and into the bottom corner of the net.

With Malvern leading by two goals, the clock was running down for Cradley who continued to test the away defence.

They saw three successive shots blocked and a 73rd-minute corner headed agonisingly wide by Joshua McKenzie.

In the dying minutes of the game, Weaver pulled off another fantastic save and dived onto the loose ball to protect Malvern’s two-goal lead.

Rathbone almost made it four goals to Malvern after a counter-attacking move but had his shot pushed over the bar by home goalkeeper Jack O’Day.