Nelson had to fight all the way to take three points against Alsager Town at Victoria Park on Saturday. The visitors looked lively in the opening period despite their lowly position in the table.

But Nelson soon began to find gaps in the visitors' defence and Michael Cheetham's through ball after 15 minutes gave Martin Payne the chance of a close range angled shot which keeper Luke Hebblewhite did well to save at the near post.

As play swung to the other end, it was Chris Thompson's turn to save Timothy Drohan's angled shot as he found room to the right of the Nelson goal.

After 20 minutes, Lance Ogunyode shot wide from a good chance in the visitors' penalty area but, four minutes later in a similar position, he decided to cross the ball and Daniel Gleave blocked the cross with his hand giving Nelson a penalty. Martin Payne fired in the spot kick to give the Blues the lead.

Alsager came back strongly and Andrew Whitney shot just over the Nelson bar after Chris Thompson had blocked Lee Jones' shot in the home penalty area. Darren Wright cleared the ball off the goal-line from Louis James' effort after 36 minutes. But a minute later Alsager levelled the scores. The persistent Lee Jones laid on the chance for Dean Williams to strike a 20 yard shot into the bottom corner of the home net for the equaliser.

Nelson regained the lead just one minute into the second half when Marc Berry's pass found Martin Payne out on the right wing and his strong run took him into the penalty area before beating the keeper with an angled shot. Payne should have completed his hat trick from a similar build up eight minutes later but pulled his shot across the face of goal.

On the hour, Darren Wright again came to the rescue with a header off the line from Dean Williams' header as the visitors tested the home defence.

After 70 minutes, Chris Ogunyode and Sam Heap combined to provide an opening for Martin Payne who won the ball off the advancing Luke Hebblewhite and found the net with his shot only to have the goal ruled out for his challenge on the keeper. After 76 minutes, Nelson again threatened but Lance Ogunyode's shot was blocked by the keeper and Ashley Higgins could not take advantage of the rebound. Minutes later, Higgins saw his shot blocked in the Alsager goalmouth and Martin Payne saw his cross cleared by Nathan Grifffiths after a good attacking run on the right wing.

But Darren Wright needed to make a vital clearance when he chested away Andrew Whitney's shot in the Nelson goalmouth and Chris Thompson made several excellent saves in the closing stages as the visitors desperately looked for a second equaliser.

But, in a quick counterattack, Phil Prescott sent Lance Ogunyode clear at the other end only to see his early shot sail wide of the Alsager goal.

Nelson travel to Atherton LR on Tuesday night hoping to continue where they left off.