King’s Lynn Town’s survival hopes are hanging by the thinnest of threads.

Defeat at home to Maidenhead might not have been the final nail in the coffin – but it may need just a couple more hammer blows for the immediate future to be settled.

Lynn went into the game with what passes for momentum when you’re second from bottom of the table – only one defeat in their previous four games and just one goal conceded. But that, and frankly any realistic hopes of survival, were blown out of the water as the home defences crumbled.

An early lead was quickly wiped out, but the main damage was done by Josh Kelly’s quickfire double before the hour was up, Lynn visibly wilting as the visitors began toying with them.

Lynn boss Tommy Widdrington kept faith with the starting line-up that earned a point at Barnet in midweek.

There was an early warning sign of what was to come for Lynn when Kelly had a sighter of goal but his shot on the turn slipped just past Paul Jones’s right post.

Ryan Upward drove one past the same post as Lynn failed to deal with a corner.

Lynn had an opportunity to take the lead minutes later when they smashed in a trio of shots from close range. Ross Barrows and Josh Coulson saw their shots blocked before Barrows saw his effort deflected for a corner.

Gold Omotayo, who has found goals hard to come by, showed the defenders how to do it on 15 minutes when a neat sidestep to his right teed up a shot from 20 yards which ended in the bottom left corner.

But then came the body blow, when Lynn were again caught wanting at the back and Kelly found Dan Sparkes, who travelled 20 yards with the ball before firing past Jones to level matters.

Lynn struggled to get any grip on the game but 10 minutes before the break were denied a goal when Jak Hickman’s deep cross from the right was brilliantly met by Omotayo, but his header to the far corner was cleared off the line by Manny Parry.

Two minutes into the second half Sparkes should have put the visitors ahead after some calamitous home defending but Jones parried the effort away for a corner.

Kelly put that right on 54 minutes when he out-muscled Barrows inside the area and fired high into the net, leaving Jones no chance.

Two minutes later Kelly added another – Brett McGavin opted to head clear when he should have hoofed. Maidenhead accepted the gift and Kelly did the rest, driving into the area, brushing off three challenges and again leaving Jones with no chance.

It was about game management for the visitors. Kelly could have had a hat-trick but his curler was inches high. However, Upward tapped in from close range on 74 minutes with the defence nowhere again, to ensure a cruise to the final whistle.

King’s Lynn Town: P Jones, Hickman, Coulson, Phipps, Barrows, Scott, Hargreaves, McGavin (Charles 76), Widdrington (Sundire 65), Barrett (Clunan 54), Omotayo. Subs not used: Denton, Fernandez.

Maidenhead: Gyollai, De Havilland, Parry, Clerima, Donnellan (Smile 77), Ferdinand, Sparkes (Wells 81), Beckwith, Acquah, Upward, Kelly (McCoulsky 73). Subs not used: Blissett, Adams.

Att: 863

Referee: Paul Marsden