A second-half horror show put a huge dent in Diss Town's hopes of preserving their Premier Division status.

The Tangerines, unbeaten in five league games, were 1-0 up at Brantham Athletic and just 45 minutes from moving to within four points of safety with both FC Clacton and Wivenhoe Town losing.

But they blew their big chance by shipping four goals in the second period to slip to a damaging defeat and leave boss Mark Reeve less than impressed at what had unfolded in front of him in Essex.

The man who has overseen a huge upturn in form, especially in the last month, at Brewers Green Lane since taking over in late November took to Twitter to let rip. He said: 'Brief summary of today's second half...pathetic'.

That less than impressive second-half collapse leaves Diss seven points from safety having played more games than any of the other sides around them who are also battling to beat the drop.

Fakenham Town remain eighth during a hugely impressive first top-flight campaign following promotion yet came out on the wrong side of a seven-goal thriller at Felixstowe & Walton United. The Seasiders took the lead in the topsy-turvy encounter but found themselves 2-1 down thanks to excellent finishes from Robbie Harris and Ashley Jarvis.

It was all level after the interval when, despite Tommy Rix's best attempts to deny Danny Thrower a second, Duane Wright buried the rebound. Jarvis doubled his tally to put Wayne Anderson's charges in front for a second time but they were pegged back in the 87th minute thanks to Tom Dew's unstoppable shot.

It was a blow that the visitors never recovered from and at the death Brad Barber pounced on Rix's poor clearance and surged on a 30-yard run before slotting the ball into the net. The win allowed Felixstowe, third, to close the gap on the top two of Norwich United and Godmanchester Rovers who saw their respective matches postponed.

Managerless Kirkley & Pakefield recorded an impressive 5-0 victory at Haverhill Rovers with Matthew Brown, Ross Gilfedder, Ian Hunter, Ross King and Miguel Lopez finding the net. Another team went nap in Thetford Town's home game against Stanway Rovers, but unfortunately for Mark Scott it was not his hosts. They blew a 2-1 lead, after Shane Leech and Bruno Tavares had registered, yet crashed to a 5-2 reverse.

In the second tier, a host of matches were postponed as the wet and freezing conditions wreaked havoc with the programme being reduced to just four matches.

First Division King's Lynn Town Reserves were the day's biggest winners with Robert Palmer grabbing the headlines.

The versatile player scored four times from right back, which included two penalties, to inspire his troops to a 6-2 triumph over Braintree Town's second string at The Walks.

Jack Frohawk and James Dougal got in on the act as Jonathan Hawes' charges – who moved up the non-league ladder in the summer after winning the Peterborough Premier Division – remain seventh in the 19-team table.