DERBY day bragging rights go to Prestatyn Town following their narrow 1-0 home success over Rhyl.

The Seasiders’ avenged their defeat to the Lilywhites earlier on in the season with a hard-fought triumph at the Motion Finance Stadium, with a crowd of almost 1,000 descending on the ground for the annual festive clash.

The result leaves Town seven points clear at the JD Cymru North summit ahead of their next outing at Colwyn Bay on New Year’s Day, and Eddie Maurice-Jones’ men now occupy seventh position in the standings as they gear up for a home encounter against Llanrhaedr-ym-Mochnant.

A strong start from the hosts saw them go ahead on seven minutes when Danny Davies latched on to a long ball before calmly slotting past Rory Crowther to break the deadlock.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors on the quarter hour mark when Sam Molyneux was forced off following an extremely reckless challenge from Zebb Edwards, who was fortunate to only escape with a yellow card from referee Aaron Wyn Jones.

Despite the high tempo there was little in the way of goal-mouth action until Alex Jones almost doubled the home side’s advantage when his attempt was turned away by Crowther, and Jordan Davies flashed a shot wide in first half stoppage time.

After the interval saw the youthful Lilies, who fielded four U19 players for the derby encounter, grow more into the game and they carved out their first real opening when Tommy Creamer’s effort was blocked by Michael Parker, and talented teenager Mason Blackwell-Jones’ cross had Jon Rushton beaten only for the danger to clear moments later.

The hosts should have wrapped things up on 65 minutes when confusion between Crowther and Danny Sullivan saw Davies’ attempted blocked by Sion Williams, and the same player found the visiting stopper too good with 75 on the clock.

A nervy ending to the derby game looked assured when Jones was sent off for a second bookable offence with five remaining, but this did not have an impact on the overall outcome as the Seasiders’ took away another crucial three points in their quest for promotion.