Neither side could find the back of the net in the first half, despite their best efforts, however second-half goals from Alex Cameron and Reece Flanagan condemned the Blues to defeat.

Brad Munn stuck with the same starting XI as he did in the Blues a previous outing – the 3-2 away victory against Hitchin Town – but this time around, Riece Bertram returned from suspension and made the bench.

In what was a competitive opening half, Tyrell Skeen-Hamilton came closest for the Reds with a low outstretched strike that forced Ross Durrant into a diving stop before having to pounce on the loose ball to deny the visitors a rebound.

Moments later, Jack Rogers almost caught Adam Harrison out with an in-swinging corner that had to be punched off the line to deny the Blues an opening goal in unorthodox fashion.

Andy Kanga then found himself with a superb opportunity on the half-hour mark, as George Atwal and Rogers passed the Blues into the visitors’ 18-yard box and gifted the ball to Kanga for a shot on goal, although the forward could not quite find the top left corner.

It was then Andrew Wright’s chance to put the Blues ahead on the stroke of half-time after Cieron Keane’s whipped corner could only be cleared as far as the midfielder who struck a half volley towards goal, but the ball skimmed just wide of the target.

Two late first-half yellow cards seemingly set up quite a high-intensity second half, as just four minutes after the restart Ryan Campbell-Gordon drove from left back into the Reds’ box and let fire, only to be denied by Ryan Wollacott.

Redditch did eventually take the lead through Alex Cameron in the 67th minute, as a lofted cross could not be cleared after a block from the Blues’ defence, and it was the Reds’ striker on the goal line that jumped and bicycled a half-volley into the back of the net.

Ten minutes later, Flanagan thought he had extended the Reds’ lead with a brilliant curling effort, however, Durrant pulled off an exceptional diving stop to deny the visitors.

Blues’ substitute James Spruce then came close to equalising in the 84th minute when Campbell-Gordon’s low cross towards the near post was flicked towards goal by the forward, but his effort flew the wrong side of the upright.

In the dying moments of the match, a late challenge from Callum Cocks gifted the visitors a penalty – Flanagan stepped up to take and tucked the ball into the bottom right to secure all three points for Redditch away from home.