Eastbourne Borough's run of ten successive victories came to an abrupt end with a 2-0 defeat at Rothwell.

The eastern division leaders failed to master the sloping pitch and were left reeling by two goals in the space of five minutes.

Borough's lead over second placed Salisbury City is now just four points but manager Garry Wilson was far from downhearted.

He said: "People were beginning to talk statistics and count points. It was becoming a bit of a stigma. Now we have been beaten all that is out of the way and we kick off all over again.

"We knew this would be a hard game but we have got to take it on the chin and keep working hard."

Things might have been different for Borough if Scott Ramsay had not missed a clear chance in the third minute.

But the scorer of 33 goals this season saw his header from six yards tipped over the bar by keeper John Hughes after John Westcott had done superbly on the right.

Rothwell always looked dangerous going forward and Jason Turner broke the deadlock in the 27th minute when he beat Paul Stark with an acute angled drive.

Five minutes later Turner made it 2-0 after a one-two with Micky Garside.

Borough tried to get back into the game in the second half but although they had a lot of possession, they rarely looked like making it count.

The best they offered was a John Price header that was just too high and a 30-yarder from Ben Austin which skimmed the bar.