Torpoint moved up to second in the table after a hard-fought victory over play-off rivals Saltash at a packed The Mill on Boxing Day.

Athletic are four points behind leaders Clevedon Town with two games in-hand after a 68th minute Sam Pearson volley settled the South East Cornwall derby.

It proved to be a game of the number 12s with Torpoint’s Pearson providing the winning moment after Saltash’s Jack Jefford received a straight red card in the 17th minute.

In front of a crowd of 522 – the biggest attendance at a competitive match at The Mill this century according to football secretary Robbie Morris – the Ashes started the game brightly, but after the dismissal of Jefford they were always facing an uphill struggle.

In the circumstances they played well and there was plenty for manager Lee Britchford to be pleased about but Torpoint, with skipper Elliott Crawford and Callum O’Brien solid as a rock in central defence, proved a hard nut to crack.

There are good reasons why the Point have been beaten only once in 19 league games this season and the partnership between Crawford and O’Brien is one of them.

The only time in the match where O’Brien was found wanting was in the fifth minute when Deacon Thomson got the better of him out on the left and the talented young striker produced a magnificent ball across the face of the six-yard box which deserved to be finished off.

At the other end seven minutes later, a Crawford free-kick from the left picked out the unmarked O’Brien on the edge of the penalty area, but he directed his header well wide.

Then came the key moment in the game when Jefford retaliated to a kick out by Torpoint striker Joe Rapson and after consulting an assistant close to the incident in front of the grandstand, referee Ryan Dennis brandished the red card at Jefford.

With more than an hour left the Ashes were up against it, but they kept Torpoint at bay until the second minute of time added on at the end of the half when it took a fine double save from Tyler Coombes to deny Pearson.

Against the odds Saltash started the second half on top, and six minutes in they created a great opportunity with a superb through ball from Alfie Wotton sending Reece Thomson through the middle. But under pressure from a defender he fired his shot from the edge of the penalty area into the side-netting.

This prompted Torpoint to make two significant substitutions, bringing on more quality in the form of midfield maestro Tom Payne and top striker Rikki Shepherd.

But before they could make an impact, Saltash carved out another chance just before the hour when a free-kick from wide on the left picked out Hayden Greening, whose header crashed against a post.

That was as good as it got for the visitors because Torpoint found the breakthrough in the 68th minute – and Payne was at the centre of it.

Very much a left-footed player, he turned inside his full-back and transferred the ball to his right foot before delivering a delicious cross towards the six-yard box where Pearson arrived to volley into the net.

Seven minutes later Torpoint produced a similar chance, this time Owen Haslam’s cross picking out the unmarked Curtis Damerell, but he headed straight at Coombes.

Damerell came much closer three minutes from time with a fierce shot from 20 yards which took a deflection and bounced off the bar for a corner.

The corner was cleared but O’Brien, who had stayed up, was found wide on the left and he pulled the ball back for Shepherd, whose right foot shot was tipped around the post by Coombes.

In a frantic five minutes of time added on, Saltash were reduced to nine players when defender Alfie Wotton was sin-binned and Torpoint boss Dean Cardew was shown a red card for allegedly intercepting a Saltash player on the touchline.

TORPOINT ATHLETIC: Ryan Rickard; Dave Barker, Sam Hepworth (Fred Chapman, 60), Owen Haslam, Callum O’Brien, Elliott Crawford (capt) , James Rowe (Tom Payne, 53), Sam Pearson (Sam Morgan, 85), Curtis Damerell, Joe Rapson (Rikki Shepherd, 53), Gary Hird. Sub not used: DarrenHicks.

SALTASH UNITED: Tyler Coombes; Max Everall (Rhys Connew, 82), Alfie Wotton (capt), Ben Goulty (Jayden Gilbert, 82), Hayden Greening (Joe Preece, 73), Charlie Elkington, Cole Fisher (Kian Burch, 63), Fin Wilkes, Deacon Thomson, Reece Thomson, Jack Jefford. Sub not used: TylerYendle.

Men-of-the-match: Torpoint Athletic – Owen Haslam; Saltash United – Fin Wilkes.