Dereham boss Matt Henman blamed his side for failing to exploit Wisbech's fragile confidence in a surprise 2-1 defeat for the Magpies at Aldiss Park on Saturday.

The Premier Division's morning leaders faced a Wisbech side apparently in turmoil after a week which saw the departure of assistant manager Chris Dear and a 9-0 defeat against Mildenhall.

When Joe Marsden gave the hosts the lead late in the first half, it seemed another heavy defeat could be on the cards for the Fenmen. But they responded superbly in the second half and Chris Bacon's double allowed them to come away with the points.

'After we scored I felt we had Wisbech on the rack and we probably should have increased the lead before half-time and could have had the game won,' said Henman.

'In the second half they came at us a bit and for whatever reason we did not stand up to it. We stopped competing and allowed them to get the better of us physically.

'I felt that if we could have got that second goal, their confidence looked a bit brittle and we could have gone on to win the game comfortably. But after half-time we gave them a foothold in the game and they deserved to get back into it.'

Bacon's second goal came after the referee waved play on when Marsden was challenged heavily in the Wisbech half and Henman said: 'I think 95pc of the people in the ground and certainly our dug out thought it was a foul, but the bottom line is we did not play well enough in the second half.

'We've had some things go for us this season so we can't complain about that one.'

Dereham's slip-up allowed Wroxham to take over at the top as they beat lowly Wivenhoe 1-0.

Jordan Rocastle's 15th minute penalty proved to be the difference between the two sides, although Rocastle's day turned sour when he was sent off for a second bookable offence with 15 minutes remaining.

Wroxham's 10 men held on to their advantage to go a point clear of Dereham with two games in hand.

An injury-time equaliser denied Kirkley & Pakefield all three points in a 3-3 draw at Ely City.

The visitors came from 2-1 down to lead 3-2, with their goals coming from Kyle Baker, Ryan Crisp and 16-year-old debutant Craig Bedingfield, before Ely's late leveller.

In the First Division, Swaffham slipped to a 2-1 defeat with a disappointing performance at Long Melford.

The hosts went two goals up inside the first 25 minutes, and although substitute Shane Twaite-Smith pulled one back in the second half, the Pedlars were unable to force an equaliser.