A Danny Mills double moved Dulwich Hamlet up to tenth in National League South after their 2-1 win at Hampton & Richmond Borough on Monday night.
Mills struck in the 41st and 45th minutes to put Gavin Rose’s side in control at the Beveree Stadium, before Jake Grey’s goal in the 61st minute gave the hosts some hope.
But the visitors saw the game out against ten-man Hampton to move into play-off contention.
The Hamlet went ahead four minutes before the break after Dean Inman had been given a straight red card for denying Mills a goal-scoring opportunity. Michael Timlin struck the post from the resulting free-kick, but Mills was there to put his side ahead.
Four minutes later Mills raced cleared before rounding goalkeeper Alan Julian and tucking the ball home.
The home side pressed after the break and got their reward when Niko Muir found Grey who beat Dulwich stopper Charlie Grainger.
Grainger was then confronted by Muir twelve yards out in the 67th minute, after Sanchez Ming had given away a penalty. But the Hamlet goalkeeper went the correct way, diving to his right to preserve his side’s lead.
The Beavers wanted another spot-kick with eleven minutes left when David Fisher’s shot seemed to strike an arm, but Dulwich escaped.
The Hamlet are a point off Havant & Waterlooville in the last play-off place, but due to the chaotic nature of the season with Covid-19 postponements, Havant have three games in hand.
Havant have a whopping five games in hand on third-place Hungerford, trailing them by eight points.
In this most unusual of seasons, Dulwich’s next game at Welling United, which was scheduled for January 2, has already been postponed.
Their next fixture still set to go ahead is at home to Maidstone United on January 5.