Bad day all round as Doughboys, Diamonds and Steelmen all suffer damaging defeats
It was a bad day all round as Wellingborough Town, AFC Rushden & Diamonds and Corby Town all suffered defeats in the Pitching-In Northern Premier League Midlands Division.
Play-off chasing Doughboys suffered only a second defeat in 16 games as they were beaten 2-1 at Racing Club Warwick, while Diamonds' winning streak came to an abrupt halt as they were seen 3-1 at home by in-form Boldmere St Michael's.
It was also a chastening day for the Steelmen as they were thrashed 6-1 at champions-elect Carlton Town.
Wellingborough have hit a bit of a stumbling block in recent weeks, and they followed up two draws with a loss at a Racing Club side that still have play-off ambitions of their own.
Things looked to be going well as top-scorer Will Jones fired the Doughboys into a 24th-minute lead, but Jake Stone's side were pegged back in first-half stoppage time by an Aaron Opoku equaliser.
Cameron Ebbutt then netted a winner 15 minutes from time.
The defeat leaves the Doughboys in sixth place, but they are now four points adrift of fifth-placed Coleshill Town, who were 1-0 winners at Sutton Coldfield Town.
Borough have a free midweek before hosting Long Eaton United at the Dog & Duck on Saturday.
Diamonds stay in seventh and are six points adrift of the top five after their defeat, although Elliot Sandy's side do have two games in hand.
Like the Doughboys, Diamonds took a first-half lead when Joel Nketia netted on 23 minutes and that was how it stayed until the half-time interval.
Five minutes into the second-half Boldmere levelled from the penalty spot after keeper Dan Jezeph was adjudged to have fouled an attacker, and the visitors then took the lead on 63 minutes with a well-worked goal.
Boldmere went 3-1 up 10 minutes later, and things went from bad to worse for Diamonds as Nketia was sent off for a second yellow card five minutes from time, with Jezeph also being shown red for a second yellow after the final whistle.
Diamonds can close to within three points of the play-off places with a win against St Neots Town at Hayden Road on Tuesday night (ko 7.45pm).
It was a bad day for Corby as they were hit for six at Carlton.
Leon Mettam's side endured a nightmare opening 57 minutes as the home side raced into a 6-0 lead, before Jordon Crawford scored a 78th-minute consolation.
The loss sees Corby slide to 15th in the table, but they remain eight points abive the drop zone.
The Steelmen are back in action on Wednesday night when they entertain Shepshed Dynamo (ko 7.45pm).