Hallowe’en came early for Boston Town as they suffered a second half horror show.
They had led 3-0 and seemed to be coasting to a 6th successive win.
But Clay Cross produced a sensational comeback in the final half hour to turn the match on its head.
Manager Chris Funnell said afterwards his side had “absolutely capitulated” and Clay Cross deserved to win.
Jordan Tate had given the Poachers a 1-0 lead after 26 minutes, with Fraser Bayliss doubling their lead just before the interval.
When Matt Cotton converted a penalty after an hour, the result seemed beyond doubt.
But the visitors grabbed 2 goals in the space of 5 minutes midway through the 2nd half to set up an astonishing finale.
First the hosts went down to 10 men when goalscorer Tate was shown a straight red card and then Clay Cross struck again in injury time – not once, but twice.
Funnell told Charlie Fytche in his post-match interview that his team’s 2nd half performance was “unforgivable”.
“We just didn’t match their intensity, their workrate,” he said.
“In the 2nd half they outworked us, outran us, they were miles better than us.
“It’s really hard to take any positives.”
Funnell said the Poachers had been wasteful in the first half and the goals they conceded were littered with their own mistakes.
He labelled his side’s showing as “scruffy” and “physically and mentally lazy”.
On Tuesday (21 October), the Poachers have a chance to redeem themselves when they face Grantham Town at the Mortgages For You Stadium (kick-off 7.45pm).
It will be the first meeting between the 2 clubs for 29 years and the first in the league for 54 years.
Funnell said: “We need to react to this because that last 30 minutes is completely unacceptable.”
Town: Portas, Gibbons, Smith, Tate, Ford, Wilson, Bayliss, Priestley, Gurney (Burdass), Limb (Munton), Cotton; unused subs: Graves, Worthington, Hudson
Words: Simon Ashberry
Pic: Steve Davies
