FLINT TOWN UNITED gave Niall McGuinness the anniversary present he craved - and Penrhyncoch threw in a gift of their own.

The Silkmen managed to grind out a 1-0 win at Gresford Athletic as Brandon Burrows fired home the only goal of a hard fought contest before the break.

And things only got better for McGuinness, who celebrated two years in charge of Flint in midweek, as Penrhyncoch came from 2-1 down to beat leaders Prestatyn 3-2 in stoppage time.

A pleased McGuinness said: “It’s never an easy place to come. I think we beat them three times last year and they were all by one goal and it was the same again.

“It shows we’ve got both sides to our game. When we are on top and dominating the ball we are able to score goals, but we knew it wasn’t going to be like that - the pitch plays a big part - and we’ve had to adapt our style.”

The lively Nathan Brown created the only goal of the game, the former Chester man skipping down the left with a nutmeg on Adam Hesp, before crossing for Burrows, who kept his cool to bring the ball down and fire home.

“When it mattered, that little bit of quality and composure won us the game,” continued McGuinness.

“Hats off to the lads, they’ve defended really well with our backs to the wall, when we had to, and it’s a clean sheet, which is something we haven’t managed in the last few weeks.

“We’ve limited them to one or two chances all game, so I’ve got to give massive credit to my players.”

What was even more impressive about Flint’s win was that it came without their leading three goal scorers in Mark Cadwallader, Richie Foulkes and Callum Bratley.

“It shows that we are not relying on one player,” added McGuinness, who was afforded the luxury of following events at Cae Baker with three points in the bag.

Ifan Burrell opened the scoring for Penrhyncoch, who were left trailing as Prestatyn hit back through Jordan Davies and an own goal from Rhys James.

But Steffan Davies levelled matters before Steffan Gittins struck the winner in the fourth minute of added time as Prestatyn’s lead at the top was cut to four points.

Gresford director of football Steve Halliwell, meanwhile, was encouraged with his side’s display against second placed Flint.

“It was a big improvement from where we were two weeks ago,” said Halliwell.

“The results against Bangor and Buckley has put us on a level we want to be at and I felt, with the players they had missing, we had a chance to have a good go at them.

“Unfortunately, looking at the result, it didn’t quite go to plan.

“The goal was a bit sloppy from our point of view, but they’ve got quality all over the pitch and they are rightly up at the top of the league challenging for the title.

“They haven’t had that many chances to win the game, and to be fair to them, they’ve defended really well with their experience at the back.

“It’s tough to take, it’s another home game where we’ve been beaten, which is unusual because Clappers Lane is a fortress for us.”