Jonathan Afolabi proved the matchwinner with his goal just past the half-hour mark but United deserved far more from the encounter, with Mason Greenwood and Di'Shon Bernard agonisingly close to grabbing what would have been a deserved equaliser in injury time.
Nonetheless, the positives will still have outweighed any negatives on the night for the Reds, who were up against a side determined to defend in numbers and professionally try to see the match out in a fashion that mirrors so many clashes at a higher level. The narrow win takes the South Coast side to the top of the table.