THE New Saints battled to a 1-0 win over Carmarthen Town and three precious points in atrocious conditions at Richmond Park.

But in the end they were grateful for an early Christmas present which gifted the only goal of the game after just six minutes.
Goalkeeper Rhys Wilson failed to deal with a right-wing cross from Craig Jones and his punch fell to Alex Darlington, who took one touch before driving the ball into the net from six yards.
Aeron Edwards came close to increasing the lead midway through the first-half when he curled a shot against the post with Wilson beaten.
Only a last ditch tackle from Cledan Davies stopped Jones when he was through on goal but the Saints survived a scare straight after half-time when a Steve Evans slip let in Steffan Williams, who fired over the target.
Celebrating his 150th consecutive game for the club, keeper Paul Harrison got down well to block at the feet of Nick Harrhy on the hour but, with conditions deteriorating rapidly, the Saints failed to turn their increasing domination into goals.
Darlington fired straight at Wilson, sub Chris Seargeant saw his shot blocked and the home defence survived some pinball in the box before referee Kevin Morgan thankfully brought proceedings to a close.
Photo: Alex Darlington scored the Saints' winner.