Hadleigh boss Steve Holder hailed new signing Jack Baker as United held on for a 1-0 win over 10-man Kirkley & Pakefield and moved a step further up the Premier Division table.

Joe Yaxley snaffled the winner minutes after the break, much to the delight of his well refreshed mini-fan club, but it was Baker that caught the eye.

Some fans have dubbed Baker 'Jesus' due to his hair and beard and he

was certainly their saviour with a goal-saving tackle when he stepped in at left back after skipper Ben Elliot tweaked a hamstring and limped off. Holder played with Baker at Stowmarket Town so knows what he is capable off. "Jack came in as a striker and was immense" said Holder. "We did not have any defenders on the bench but I knew I could play Baker there and he would do a good job and he was superb. "He is winner, he has that bite and fight about him, which we may have been lacking and he can get people on edge and get us over the line and we did that today." Baker was also involved in a key moment after 20 minutes the he tangled with Miguel Lopez off the ball and claimed he had been stamped on and went down dramatically. After conceding a string of free kicks and picking up yellow cards, the niggly Royals settled down after the sending off but Hadleigh stayed calm, held firm and might have added to their goal tally. Baker hit the crossbar, and went close with a header lobbed over the keeper, while Joel Glover had couple of decent half chances. Holder admitted his side got off to a slow start but soon wrestled control of the match. "We were poor for 25 minutes then we raised our game after their lad was sent off," said Holder. "We dictated the play especially in the second half and deserved the win." "They were always a threat and anyone can score a goal in this league but we held on and Punton kept a clean sheet." The win moved Hadleigh up to 15th with a big month taking on the teams around them coming up. Holder said: "We still have a couple of games in hand over Thetford who we still have to play. "I like to think we can win at Swaffham and while Brantham at home is always tough game so if we can get anything from them that will be important." With back to back Saturday and Tuesday games through March, Holder will utilise his squad by making changes for their Suffolk Premier Cup second round match against Lakenheath in midweek. "I will be giving a few other lads a run out in that but the next three league games are important for us. "Marcel will be starting in the cup on Tuesday as I would like to give him a lot more minutes." Meanwhile, Holder reported he will be seeing a specialist afters cans revealed he had a bruised lung suffered when he cracked ribs playing a couple of weeks ago,

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