Boston Town came unstuck as they lost to bottom markers Long Eaton.
The Derbyshire side moved off the foot of the Northern Premier League Midlands table with their first win of the season.
Grange Park has been a bogey ground for the Poachers over the past 40 years – and this was no exception.
Zak Munton came close to breaking the deadlock after 18 minutes when his shot from an angle hit the bar.
But Jahvan Davidson-Miller struck twice to leave the visitors trailing at half-time for the third game in a row.
Chris Funnell’s side had come from 2-0 behind to win against Barwell and twice equalised to earn a point against Coleshill.
They showed further signs of resilience when Matt Cotton pulled one back with a clever flick from a corner after 62 minutes.
Harry Limb had the ball in the net five minutes later, but the flag was up.
Just as the Poachers thought they might pull off another stirring fightback, Davidson-Miller completed his hat-trick after 71 minutes.
There were further chances at either end as both sides stuck the woodwork, but Riley Mclachlan made it 4-1 seven minutes from the end to make it a night to forget for Boston Town.
On Saturday (3 October), the Poachers are at home to third-placed Rugby Borough. Kick-off at the Mortgages For Stadium will be 3pm. The Croatia v England game will be screened in the club room from 5pm.
Town: West, Bayliss, Houlston (Ging), Gibbons, Ford, Tate, Munton, Van Lier (Graves), Zaluzinskis (Siddons), Limb (L Wilson), Cotton; unused sub: Smith
Here’s how an evening to forget unfolded for the Poachers as they suffered only their second away defeat of the season:
83 mins – Long Eaton’s keeper pulls off a great save to preserve their two-goal cushion – before McLachlan makes it 4-1.
82 mins – Luke Wilson replaces Harry Limb.
79 mins – Tom Siddons comes on for Zaluzinskis.
71 mins – It’s surely all over now as Davidson-Miller completes his hat-trick.
68 mins – Limb pokes the ball in the net but the linesman’s flag was up. Still 2-1.
65 mins – A third booking, this time Kris Zaluzinskis.
63 mins – Harvey Graves on for Will Van Lier.
61 mins – GOAL – MATT COTTON pulls one back from a corner! Can the Poachers come from behind for a third game in a row?!
58 mins – Jordan Tate is the second player to be shown a yellow card, following Richard Ford in the first period.
54 mins – The woodwork is rattled at both ends within the the space of a couple of minutes! Still 2-0.
46 mins – Long Eaton close to making it 3-0 as they hit the bar. That would surely have been game over.
Finley Ging has come on for Ollie Houlston at the break.
We’re back underway in the second half. The Poachers were 2-0 down last Tuesday and came back to win 3-2 – they’ll need to similar resilience tonight. Remember Long Eaton went into tonight’s game without a league win so far this season.
really disappointing first half for the Poachers. They find themselves 2-0 down against the team who started the evening bottom of the table.
41 mins – Now Davidson-Miller does double the lead.
35 mins – Two more efforts for Long Eaton as they press for a second.
A31 mins – Jake West makes a save from a long distance effort.
23 mins – But now the hosts lead through Davidson-Miller.
22 mins – Midway through the first half and it’s still goalless. Best chance so far fell to Zak Munton whose shot hit the bar.
We’re underway!
Here’s how the Poachers line up tonight at Grange Park as they aim to extend their excellent record on the road.
They’ve have lost only once on their travels since February. Kick-off is at 7.45pm.
