More sloppy defending helped Lynn slip to a third consecutive home defeat.

Lynn fought back from 1-0 down this afternoon to take a deserved 2-1 lead as they looked set to banish memories of miserable home defeats to Cambridge City and Matlock Town. However, despite Phil Gulliver's second goal of the season and Rob Duffy's sixth strike in seven appearances, the home side contrived to mess things up again.

Some woeful play allowed Andy Fowler to bag a double, either side of Lynn's two goals, before the worst case of defending during the 90 minutes allowed Will Jones to bag the 12th goal scored by an away side at The Walks in the last three matches to seal Marine's victory.

The hosts, off the back of a morale-boosting and sensational 4-3 win at Ilkeston on Monday, started brightly. New loan signing Jake Jones dazzled early on with some intricate touches and link-up play operating off his team's right-hand side.

That said, the first chance fell to the visitors. And Alex Street did well to deny Matty Devine with his feet after the wideman had worked himself half a yard inside Lynn's box. Dan Jacob didn't wait long to respond by bursting down the left and pulling the ball back to George Thomson. However, unlike in midweek, his effort from the edge of the box failed to find the net.

Full-back Jordan Yong started the Linnets next attack when he won a fantastic tackle in the middle of the park to release Jacob. He found Gary Mills and his scuffed shot found Jones. But the Tamworth loanee's effort was blocked.

While Gary Setchell's men were on top, it wasn't completely one-way traffic. Josh Sumner curled a decent free-kick into Street's side-netting. However, the Merseysiders next effort didn't miss the target.

Fowler was given acres of space and cracked an effort from long range which flew into the bottom right corner past a motionless Street. Perhaps the goalie, known as Pedro, was deceived by the flight of the ball. If not, he was guilty of making the monumental error of thinking it was going to whistle past the post.

The goal stunned the home faithful who had perhaps expected their side to take the lead. They nearly had something to cheer about a few minutes later when Jones' trickery created another opening for Thomson. This time, his thumping drive was saved excellently by the visitors' number one Ryan McMahon. And he picked himself up quickly to turn away Jacob's header on the rebound to complete a fine double-save.

Setchell switched to 4-4-2 as his troops searched for a way back into the game. Jones moved from right to left with Andy Hall, operating in a middle three, replacing him on the right. Jacob moved up top to support lone striker Rob Duffy.

Yet for all the attacking talent on display, it was Gulliver who squared things up when he headed home Thomson's corner after McMahon had came for the centre and missed it.

The interval came at the wrong time for Norfolk's premiere non-league outfit. But they didn't waste any time in pressing on once the game had restarted.

A thrilling move, which was started by Hall's overhead kick, saw Thomson release Jones. The gifted player jinked his way forward and split the defence to find Jacob. Unfortunately, his slide-rule effort was pushed just wide by McMahon.

They were handed an even better chance to take the lead when Mills' storming run into the box was ended by John Shaw. And Duffy didn't waste it by slotting home his third penalty in Lynn colours.

A goalmouth scramble aside, which saw Jones, Duffy and Jacob all threaten, Marine bounced back well. So it was perhaps no surprise, especially given Lynn's inviting defence of late, that Fowler cut in from the left after his opponents had failed to clear their lines and drilled home the equaliser.

While that moment was the hosts' fault, the next key incident was definitely the referee's as he failed to to point to the spot for a second time when McMahon flattened Jacob. It was a clear penalty and Setchell and his assistant Neil Fryatt were livid.

However, that anger only intensified when Lynn made another hash of a defensive situation. The men in yellow had numerous chances to get rid of the ball, especially Jason Lee who failed to win a tackle in his own area. And even though Street denied Fowler a fine hat-trick, from the resulting cross, Jones – unmarked – headed home.

Try as they might to find an equaliser, with Hall, Lee, and Ryan Clarke, spurning half-chances, it wasn't enough to stop Lynn slipping to yet another defeat on their own turf.

Lynn (4-3-3): Street, R. Clarke, Gulliver, Lee, Yong, Hall, Mills (Spriggs, 72), Thomson (Bunting, 63), Jones, Jacob, Duffy (E. Clarke, 63). Subs not used: Fryatt, Fernandes. Booked: None. Goals: Gulliver (41), Duffy (pen, 51)

Marine (4-3-3): McMahon, Roberts-Nurse, Latham (Morton, 89), Barnes, Shaw, Goulding, Fowler, Woolcott, Jones, Sumner (Dowling, 52), Devine (Monaghan, 81). Subs not used: Lawton, Cumiskey. Booked: None. Goals: Fowler (20, 61), Jones (73)

Ref: J. Smith

Att: 554