KEVIN Coyle netted a precious late winner as FC Clacton gave their survival prospects a huge boost by sinking rivals Wivenhoe Town 1-0.

The sides had gone into today’s derby locked in a battle to climb away from the Thurlow Nunn League premier division relegation places.

Clacton had clambered out of the bottom three, at their neighbours’ expense, as a result of Saturday’s 4-0 romp at Diss.

This vital result means they now have a five-point lead over the Dragons.

At the same time, it stretched their winning run to four games and was their second clean sheet in a row.

Coyle’s late winner, two minutes from time, was a stunning way to settle a match that had crackled into life in the last half-hour.

The wide man picked up a loose ball on the edge of the box and fired an unstoppable right-foot shot into the top right-hand corner.

For a full report and pictures, see tomorrow’s Daily Gazette.

Elsewhere today, STANWAY ROVERS drew 1-1 at home to BRANTHAM ATHLETIC.

In division one, HALSTEAD TOWN lost 4-1 at AFC Sudbury Reserves while BRAINTREE TOWN RESERVES went down 3-0 at home to Long Melford.