Uxbridge underlined their status in the race for promotion as they held on to beat Harlow Town 2-1 to stay third in the Isthmian South Central Division.

After a run of three games without a win, the Reds are now three without defeat, as second-half goals from Alex Paine and Mark Bitmead proved enough for the points despite Tayo Oyebola’s late reply for the visitors.

A tightly-fought first 45 at Horton Road saw a predictably even affair between the two play-off contenders, but the deadlock was eventually broken just before the hour mark.

Mahlondo Martin’s free-kick was well-saved by Josh Bexon in the Harlow goal, but Paine was on hand to prod in the rebound and hand his side the initiative.

It was a lead that they would double 22 minutes later, when Bitmead charged through the Harlow defence before seeing his shot deflected past the helpless Bexon.

And though Oyebola grabbed one back with nine minutes to play, Uxbridge kept their opponents at bay to dump them out of the top five.

Hayes and Yeading won their second game on the spin and their fifth in the last six as they toppled Hartley Wintney 5-1 on the road, with all of the goals scored before half-time.

Omar Rowe opened their account with just five minutes on the clock, before two each from Hassan Jalloh and Elliott Buchanan sealed the deal by the break, with the result seeing them up to 11th in the Southern Premier South. 

Elsewhere, Hillingdon Borough were beaten 2-1 on home turf by Broxbourne Borough in the Spartan South Midlands Division One to leave them mired 16th in the table.