TIVERTON Town's recent encouraging run of form came to an end in emphatic fashion at Ladysmead on Saturday.

Recently the Yellows have shown signs they are better than the league table suggests and, after consecutive good performances against title-chasers Farnborough and Brackley Town, it seemed the only way was up for Martyn Rogers' men.

But many more performances like the one they produced during the 2-0 defeat to Hednesford Town at the weekend will see Tivvy back in the relegation mire again.

From the first whistle the hosts looked below par and second best, unable to match their opponents.

Suspended skipper Nathan Rudge and midfielder Jamie Hatch looked on from the stands, visibly growing more and more frustrated as the game wore on — how Rogers' men could have used both on the pitch.

Without Rudge, the Pitmen's assortment of six footers were able to dominate the aerial challenges with ease, while the absence of Hatch's energy in midfield meant the Yellows were woefully lacking any dynamism going forward.

Sam Malsom looked dangerous with the ball at his feet on the rare occasions Tivvy ventured forward, but in the main he and top scorer Joe Bushin were starved of service all afternoon.

A difficult pitch meant Elliott Frear was unable to weave his usual magic, Lee Collier and Alex Faux spent most of their time chasing shadows in midfield while stand in captain Colin Marshall looked threatening when dribbling with the ball, but his passing was simply dreadful.

Such elements paved the way for a relatively simple victory for the Pitmen, although that did not stop the referee from trying to grease their passage to three points further, when he awarded a dubious penalty on 23 minutes.

The talking point came when the impressive Elliott Durrell burst into the box from midfield having robbed Mike Booth.

Durrell was denied by a fantastic Tom Gardner tackle which appeared to poke the ball from under Hednesford's No. 7, but the referee only saw a foul and pointed to the spot.

Justice was done when Steve Book saved Sean Platt's resulting spot-kick with his feet, but the visitors got the goal they deserved eight minutes before half-time when the unmarked Durrell calmly slotted past Book after running on to Tyrone Barnett's flick.

After the break Rogers threw on Mark Saunders, Adam Mortimer and the returning Richard Pears in a bid to bring his team to life.

Yet Tivvy's fate was sealed with 10 minutes left when Hednesford hit the hosts on the break and Durrell evaded a weak tackle from Alex Faux in order to set up Ross Dyer for the killer second goal.

The Pitmen deserved more goals and could have got them late on when Barnett had two chances from close range, but Book produced a fantastic double stop to salvage some pride for the hosts.

Tiverton Town: Book, Groves (Mortimer, 70), Alex Faux, Booth, Adam Faux, Gardner, Collier, Marshall, Bushin, Malsom (Pears, 70), Frear (Saunders, 46). Booked: Booth (foul, 25), Adam Faux (foul, 82), Saunders (dissent, 90)

Hednesford Town: Brock, Platt, Gibson (Martin, 79), Bailey, Francis, Gomes (Adkins, 82), Durrell (Proffitt, 83), Craddock, Barnett, Dyer, Dunkley. Booked: Dunkley (foul, 9), Durrell (foul, 58)

Referee: W Bull (Southampton) Attendance: 289

Match stats (Tiverton first): shots on target 2-9, shots off target 2-4, free-kicks conceded 14-15, corners 1-10, offsides 3-4