David Holdsworth gave a masterclass in the art of defending as Scaroborough beat visitors Farnborough 1-0.

In a game of few chances and little free-flowing football, thanks to a fussy referee, Scarborough continued their habit of winning games by producing performances which just see them through.

The only goal came from the head of Farnborough defender Nathan Bunce.

A Paul Shepherd free kick from fully thirty yards struck the crossbar, with the rebound going high into the air,

Bunce, under little challenge, seemed to lose his bearings and nodded the ball firmly past Tony Pennock, so Scarborough's upward push in the Conference continued.

"It was a tight game and we could have done with another goal" said Scarborough manager Russ Slade.

"We defended very strongly and had the better of what few chances there were in the game."

Keith Scott was denied by a fine reflex save from Pennock and then got in front of the goalkeeper but could only direct his header the wrong side of the post.

At the other end Ryan Mallon showed encouraging signs of what he might offer during his loan spell from Sheffield United.

Scarborough continued to impress with another display of resoluteness, which owed much to hard work, with the occasional touch of finesse.

Scarborough have been boosted by the crowd limit for the Boxing Day game against Doncaster being raised to nearly 4,500.

Initially the all-ticket crowd was being limited to 2,000 while safety work at the ground was completed, but the County Council have now approved the work that has been done.

An extra 700 tickets were sent to Doncaster, while the rest were on sale to home fans at Saturday's game against Farnborough.

Boro chairman Malcolm Reynolds said "a lot of people have worked very hard to ensure that more fans can watch what should be a cracking game."

Scarborough: Woods, Holdsworth, Shepherd, Hotte; Blunt, Stoker, Jordan (Brassart, 12), Ormerod (Rose, 88); Mallon, Scott, Campbell (Pounder, 77)

Farnborough: Pennock, Warner, Bunce, Laker, Gregory; L Piper, C Piper (Taggart, 79), Holloway (Lee, 82), Watson; Charlery, Baptiste

Referee: G Simpson (Knaresborough)

Attendance: 1,403

Updated: 11:56 Monday, December 23, 2002