Rommy Boco scored a brace to seal Accrington Stanley's crucial win over Notts County at the Wham Stadium.
A goal either side of half-time for the midfielder maintained Stanley's eight-match unbeaten home run and kept their pace up with the top three clubs.
Two goals late on from Ronan Murray and Adam Campbell put pressure on the home side towards the end, but the Reds held on for the three points.
After putting themselves within touching distance of the automatic promotion places with victory at Oxford on Saturday, Accrington started the brighter of the two sides.
Mark Hughes was making his second debut after signing in January and the defender's effort from long-range was an early sign of intent despite the shot sailing wide of the mark.
Inside the opening 15 minutes, John Coleman's men were rewarded for their early pressure with a fine goal from Billy Kee.
The striker continued his great run of form in front of goal with a low strike into the bottom corner from 25 yards out, taking his tally to 13 goals for the season.
A breakaway almost gave the home side a quickfire second, but Matt Crooks poked a chance inches wide when played through one-on-one against County goalkeeper Roy Carroll.
The lead was soon doubled though as Stanley found the net just five minutes after breaking the deadlock.
Piero Mingoia found space on the right hand side before finding the well timed run into the box of Boco who headed home. It was his first goal since returning to the club for a third time last month.
Having a two-goal advantage didn't stop Accrington from pushing players forward in search of more and an overhead volley on the turn from Crooks flew agonisingly over.
A curling effort from the visitors' frontman Izale McLeod came close in the final action of the first-half.
The interval did anything but stop Stanley's flow as they found a third straight after the restart.
A long ball forward from Hughes was chased down by Boco, who managed to beat the onrushing Carroll and tap home from close range.
Notts County then found their feet though and were able to pull the deficit back to two thanks to Ronan Murray.
Substitute Murray raced onto Curtis Thompson's through ball and tucked his shot into the corner past Ross Etheridge for a potential lifeline.
The game opened up with both teams creating chances, but it was Adam Campbell who found the net to give the visitors hope of a surprise comeback with a driven strike from the edge of the area.
County's forwards gave the home supporters some nail biting moments in the final few minutes, but John Coleman's men defended well to earn victory heading into a home fixture with Barnet this weekend.
Starting line-up: Etheridge; Halliday, Hughes (Wakefield 70'), Pearson, Buxton; Conneeley, Crooks; Mingoia, Boco (Brown 68'), McConville; Kee
Subs not used: Mooney, Barry, Procter, Carver, Shaw