Dereham Town's brief winning streak came to an end as they were thumped 3-0 by in-form Shepshed Dynamo.
The Magpies had gone into Saturday's clash in confident mood after consecutive victories over Yaxley and Cambridge City.
But they were sent crashing back down to earth by a spirited Shepshed side who have won six out of their last seven games to surge up the table.
Defeat leaves Dereham 14th in the Northern Premier League Midlands Division, while the Leicestershire outfit sit ninth.
Skipper Dion Frary was presented with a plaque before the game to commemorate 250 appearances for the hosts, but he and his teammates were unable to mark the occasion with a win.
Dereham started brightly at Aldiss Park, with Charlie Clarke, Louis Henman-Mason and Luke Johnson forcing saves from Shepshed keeper Brandon Ganley.
The visitors' first good opportunity came after 18 minutes when Zayn Hakeen was denied by a great stop from Ross Bilham.
Tom Parke's side largely sat deep for the remainder of a disappointing and goalless first half, during which neither side could really find their groove.
However, it didn't take Shepshed long to find the all-important breakthrough after the restart.
A well-worked move saw captain Jake Betts deliver a long ball from the back to Reece Morris on the right flank. He picked out Hakeem who finished past Bilham with a low drive.
Dereham continued to sit deep and, just a few minutes later, the referee pointed to the spot after Morris was fouled in the box. A grateful James Snedden made no mistake from the spot to make it 2-0.
With little option but to push forward, the Magpies finally began to threaten the Shepshed goal.
Clarke set up Ryan Swift, whose powerful effort was saved superbly by Ganley.
From the resultant corner, the ball dropped on the Shepshed goal line but two home players were unable to stab it home.
And a bad day at the office for Dereham was capped off in the 78th minute, as the impressive Zayn Hakeem struck with a fine individual goal.
Cutting in from the left, the striker hammered an unstoppable drive into the roof of the net, leaving Bilham with no chance.
Next up for Dereham is a trip to Stamford on Saturday (January 14).
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