Hednesford Town saw all three points slip away from them after two goals in five second half minutes helped Whitby Town claim victory.
It was the away side that almost took the lead in just the third minute when Adam Gell fired in a shot that was somehow hooked off the line by Pitmen forward Michael Howard who had dropped back to help out the defence.
At the other end Charlie Gatter and Joel Logan both went close before the Pitmen went ahead in the 22nd minute when striker Dan Cockerline broke the offside trap before composing himself to fire home past Adam McHugh in the visitors’ goal.
In the 25th minute Hednesford moved the ball well again with Cockerline seeing an effort just deflected behind for a corner.
The home side had a big let off six minutes later when good work by Keiron Weledji saw him pick out Matthew Tymon but the striker fired well over the crossbar when unmarked just six yards out.
A low effort from the Pitmen’s Jed Davies was just kept out in the 34th minute before Tymon missed another good chance inside the hosts’ box.
In the 41st minute Howard went close for Hednesford as his freekick from 25 yards hit the crossbar on its way over.
HT: 1-0
Two minutes into the second half the home side would strike the woodwork again as Cockerline twisted the defence inside out before seeing his low shot hit the post and rebound away to safety.
Hednesford then saw two efforts inside a minute come and go as first Howard had a shot blocked before Cockerline lifted the ball narrowly over the crossbar with a first-time effort in the 49th minute.
These missed chances would prove crucial as in the 54th minute Patton capitalised on a mistake in the Pitmen backline to control and fire home past Josef Bursik in the Hednesford goal.
Five minutes later Whitby went ahead when some nice football on the edge of the box saw the ball fall the way of Patton who made no mistake from 12 yards out.
Hednesford felt they should have had a penalty in the 77th minute as Howard was taken out inside the penalty area, but the officials saw nothing and waved play on.
Although there was five minutes of stoppage time there would be no real danger for the visitors as they played out time to collect all three points.
Hednesford Town: Bursik, Dawes, Fox, Gatter, Misambo, Griffiths, Hallahan, Davies, Cockerline, Howard (Martin 82), Logan (Dodd 71)
Subs not used: Abadaki, McNally, Veiga
Whitby Town: McHugh, Weledji, Suker, Scott, Lees, White, Gell, Patton, Maloney, Tymon (Rutherford 75), Hopson (Coffey 75)
Subs not used: Bullock, Wilson, Norton
Attendance: 265
