GORNAL Athletic's chances of survival were given a massive boost thanks to victory over Boldmere St Michael at Garden Walk.

The Midland Alliance strugglers took a vital three points from fourth-placed Boldmere on Saturday after Dreniz Bala's only goal of the game gave them an unexpected 1-0 win.

The win moved second-from-bottom Gornal onto 23 points, just three away from the next placed side Rocester and four from 19th-placed Heath Hayes.

Manager Andy Wyton now wants his side to use Saturday's victory as a springboard to survival.

He said: "We have been playing well in recent weeks and I was keen to put the previous weekend's loss against Westfields behind us. I thought it was a one-off, and that proved to be the case.

"I want the players to use this result to propel them forward. It is key we now build on it. If we have any hope of staying in this league, we need put together good back-to-back results."

Gornal are set to face 16th-placed Kirby Muxlow at Garden Walk tonight (7.45pm ko) before travelling to take on seventh-placed Coventry Sphinx this weekend.

"It is no good getting an unexpected win against Boldmere and then losing to Kirby Muxlow. The only way we are going to survive is if we back up Saturday's bonus points by beating Kirby, who are down near the bottom with us," added Wyton. "It is even more important because I'm expecting a difficult game against Coventry at the weekend. But the players have shown their ability and now need to follow that up by performing to the same level in the coming weeks."

Gornal will be without seven absent players against Coventry and Wyton will turn to his squad to fill the gap. That now includes new signings Lewis Clarke, from Bromsgrove Sporting, and Chris Brown and forward Geoff Hill.

Wyton added: "I needed to get some more players in to boost our numbers. The players I have brought in will really help us and I may look at adding a few more in the coming weeks as well."