Mansfield Town made it 11 wins in a row in the league to further enhance their promotion chances in the Blue Square Bet Premier.
Stags needed just the one goal to see off home side Tamworth, with Luke Jones showing the touch of a striker with a cool finish just after the hour mark.
With Wrexham losing at Hyde and leaders Kidderminster beating Braintree, the victory means Mansfield and Harriers look set to battle it out for the title – although Stags do have three games in hand and trail their rivals by just one point.
Left-back Greg Taylor made his debut for Mansfield, having signed on an emergency loan from Luton Town during the week, while Notts County youngster Liam Mitchell was in goal for Tamworth, who he has signed a loan deal with.
And Mitchell was called into action in the first few minutes at the Lamb Ground to keep his side on level terms.
Matt Green was played into the clear and played in Lee Stevenson but he was denied by a fine block and from the resulting corner, from Adam Chapman, was met by the unmarked John Dempster but his header was cleared off the line by Mitchell.
After their bright start, the hosts then started coming more into the game and former Aston Villa midfielder Lee Hendrie tried his luck with a speculative effort, which took a deflection.
From the resulting corner, the Stags were at sixes and sevens at the back as Tamworth tried to scramble the ball home, but striker Darren Byfield managed to miss the target from just six yards out.
Moments later, the home side hit the Stags on the break but Adam Cunnington let the visitors off the hook with a poor finish when well placed.
But Paul Cox's men rode the storm well and ended the half on top.
Green went close from inside the area with a left-foot shot that Mitchell kept out and Louis Briscoe was unable to steer the ball home seconds later.
But, once again, Mansfield Town looked dangerous from a corner and Jones connected well only to head wide.
Briscoe then saw a shot deflected wide, before Dempster had to be alert at the other end to clear following a dangerous Tamworth attack.
Stags will have felt they should have gone into half-time ahead, but Adam Murray, Lee Stevenson and Chapman all went close as they poured on the pressure before the interval.
In the second half, Hendrie again tried his luck only to find Alan Marriott.
Cox made the early decision to bring on Colin Daniel and Matt Rhead in place of Briscoe and Stevenson to switch to a 4-4-2 with Rhead joining Green in attack.
Marriott was kept busy in a second half that was stop-start and scrappy at times.
First the Stags stopper made a fine one-handed save and later on he tipped two efforts onto post and bar.
In between these two woodwork saves, Stags scored what would prove to be the winner from Jones – who started and finished the move.
The defender flicked on with his head to find Green, who in turn played back into his path and he finished off clinically into the bottom left corner of the net on 61 minutes.
Green himself went close to adding to the lead but saw an effort pushed away by Mitchell, but it was the hosts who ended the game the better and Cox's men were forced to hang on – with Anthony Howell coming off the bench as Cox switched to a 4-5-1 to keep the lead safe, brining off striker Green.
Marriott was booked late on for a foul on Marcus Kelly outside the area in a moment of clumsiness from the keeper, but the resulting free-kick was sent over.
Kelly saw a shot saved late on by Marriott, but in the end it was Stags' day once again on a day when there were more Stags fans present than there were home supporters – with 1172 making the trip out of a crowd of 1968.
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