Are Witton safe now? 

Not quite, but almost. 

A fourth victory of 2019 moves them further from the Northern Premier League top-flight's relegation zone and a distance to third-bottom Mickleover Sports is nine points. 

Albion, who have risen to 13th place in the Premier Division table, also have at least two games on every rival below them except for Workington who they visit on Tuesday night. 

A trip to title-hopefuls Farsley Celtic, who occupy top spot following a 2-1 win at Matlock on Saturday, follows next weekend. 

Put simply, there remains work to do. 

Avoiding an embarrassment 

Witton have a sketchy record, to put it mildly, against no-hopers. 

They had dispatched North Ferriby already, back in September, but the Villagers arrived at Wincham Park in a more dishevelled state sitting bottom of the table with only two wins from 29 previous attempts this season. 

The visitors had lost their previous nine games too. 

Albion fans can recall, all too easily, notorious slip-ups in similar circumstances. 

In March 2014, they were the first to lose to a Droylsden side that was so bad they had failed to win any of their previous 38 Premier Division games. 

Worryingly, there are plenty of other examples. 

The attitude of Carl Macauley’s men, even if not at their fluid best, ensured there would be no new name to add to that list. 

When Will Jones scores... 

His goals have often been decisive. 

The striker has scored a winning goal against Nantwich and now North Ferriby while his opener at Buxton set his side on a course for a 5-0 victory. 

“It was a fantastic strike, wasn’t it?” reflected Gary Martindale, Witton’s assistant manager, after the final whistle on Saturday. 

“That’s twice Will has done that this week. 

“It was a brilliant hit, and you could see what scoring a couple of goals can do for a player’s confidence.” 

A perfectly-executed volley had also put Albion in front at Basford on Monday. 

Keeping opponents at arm’s length 

Witton have been effective front-runners in matches this season. 

They’ve had to be. 

A total of 12 clean-sheets is bettered only by title-hopefuls Warrington Town (14) and South Shields (13). 

Not only that, Carl Macauley’s men have now taken maximum points from 10 of the 14 matches in which they have scored the first goal. 

The truth is they created enough chances to bury North Ferriby but a combination of impressive goalkeeping by the Villagers’ Lewis Exall, last-ditch blocks and poor finishing left them at risk. 

However this team knows how to defend, and it isn’t a coincidence that only Warrington have conceded fewer goals. 

A moment of ill-fortune 

Will Booth received an award before kick-off to recognise he had been Witton’s best performer during January. 

Little more than half-an-hour later he left the field at Wincham Park in pain, and on a stretcher, with a serious-looking knee injury. 

“It isn’t looking good,” was an initial verdict shared by Martindale after speaking to Witton’s sports therapist Carl Rutter. 

The extent of the damage will not be known until later. 

It presents Witton with two problems; first, they face being without their most in-form player for a spell and, second, an already-tiny squad has shrunk further. 

With Chris Noone (knee) and Nick Ryan (leg) both long-term absentees, they may have only 14 players available to face Workington on Tuesday night.