Penistone Church are hoping to maintain their record as the league's most defensively-sound and hardest to beat side in a vital match at fellow promotion-chasers Hall Road Rangers tomorrow.

Ian Richards' team won 4-0 at home to lowly Dronfield Town on Saturday and are now in fourth in the NCEL Division One, three points behind AFC Emley who are in the second automatic promotion place having played two more games than Penistone.

Two teams go up automatically while the next four go into the play-offs, in which Church lost last season. The Barnsley side are also in the final stages of two cup competitions.

Hall Road are third in the table, one point and one place above Penistone. The Hull club are unbeaten in 2017 and ended Penistone's 29-match unbeaten league run with a 1-0 victory at the Memorial Ground in November.

Richards said: "It's a huge game and it could be very important for the season. We have to go there first with a mind-set of not losing then second: can we go and win it?

"We've only lost four games this season, the fewest in this league, kept the highest number of clean sheets and conceded the fewest number of goals.  If we defend like we usually do and stay organised, we will get the result."

Church are also in the League Cup quarter-finals, against Teversal on Wednesday, and the Sheffield Senior Cup semi-finals in which they are due to visit Shaw Lane AFC on March 28. They have 11 league matches remaining this season. Eight of them are away from home while their trip to Grimsby Borough on March 21 is the only time they face another top six side after tomorrow's match at Hall Road.