St Ives Town’s survival mission received a Boxing Day boost thanks to a fine result against the Southern League Premier Division table-toppers.

Striker Danny Watson grabbed the first goal of his second spell as a Saints player to earn a 1-1 draw at King’s Lynn.

Watson struck three minutes into the second half when pouncing on a defensive error to cancel out a free-kick from home skipper Michael Clunan.

A series of super Tim Trebes saves then secured a deserved point as Saints eased 10 points clear of bottom side Dunstable.

Marheineke admitted: “Most people from the outside looking in would have expected this game to be a home banker, but no-one in our dressing room thought that way.

“We have huge amounts of belief in ourselves and produced a very good performance to deservedly get something from the game.

“We were unfortunate to be behind at half-time after having the better chances in the first half, but we managed to get the goal early in the second period.

“It’s been an excellent Christmas for us after following up the win against Gosport on Saturday with another good result.”

But fellow locals St Neots Town were beaten by another set of title challengers when suffering a 4-2 home defeat at the hands of second-placed Kettering.

Matt Clements’ side fell behind to a dubious penalty early on, but loan striker Lewis Irwin levelled just before the hour.

That sparked a flurry of four goals in 10 minutes with Kettering opening up an advantage that was halved by Saints substitute Dylan Williams. He matched Irwin’s feat of scoring for the second successive match.

But a fourth Kettering goal condemned Saints to just a second defeat in their last 13 league games.

St Ives entertain St Neots on New Year’s Day.