Witham Town 2 Wroxham 1

Wroxham left Essex wondering what might have been as they slipped to their third away league defeat of the season.

The Yachtsmen had a goal disallowed for offside, conceded when they felt the ball didn't cross the line – and then saw striker Nathan Stone miss the target from a yard out, minutes after claims for a second equaliser fell on deaf ears.

It left Wroxham looking to tomorrow night's home game against Bury as a way of erasing memories of their trip.

Witham started well enough, with a tempting a cross from George Cocklin followed by a shot from captain Lewis Godbold after a promising move.

A spell of home pressure was followed by some pressing by Wroxham, with Jamie Forshaw playing a fantastic ball between the two defenders, before Seamus Kelleher saw his shot well saved by keeper Jason Baker.

On 20 minutes David Hinton's run from deep for Wroxham resulted in a ball between the Witham centre-back pairing being exploited by Stone, whose tidy finish in the bottom right corner of the net was judged offside.

Witham then started to push Wroxham back as the game became scrappy, but controversy wasn't far away: on 26 minutes a corner by John Watson found Godbold whose powerful header smashed against the underside of the bar and came down onto Yachtsmen keeper Elliot Pride. It was then cleared off the line by Stephen Taylor, but, to the visitors' disgust, the referee's assistant indicated a goal.

Witham took control and pushed for a second, with Pride doing well to keep out a effort by Watson.

With the official indicating a minute of added time, it seemed Witham would go in ahead, but a free-kick on the halfway line from Matt Halliday found Stone, whose header smashed against the crossbar, before he was the victim of a late challenge from Baker – and after a lengthy delay while Stone received treatment, Forshaw stepped up to convert from 12 yards.

Wroxham began the second half in positive mood – Kelleher had a shot blocked and Forshaw's half-volley went well wide of the post.

But on 53 minutes, Emmanuel ran from the halfway line and managed to cut the ball back across to Ryan Charles, who slotted it home for what proved to be the match-winner.

Wroxham responded with some good football, and Kelleher's corner the ball appeared to have crossed the line – but the referee's assistant on this occasion was not in the mood to award what appeared to be a legitimate goal.

A free-kick later in the half found the head of Matt Halliday who headed it down on to the inside of the post – the ball then seemed to crawl across the goal-line, before Stone miraculously smashed it over the bar from a yard out, which left everyone stunned.

Minutes later a free-kick on the halfway line from Pride almost found the top corner, forcing a great save from Baker.

Witham saw out the match – and Wroxham were left licking their wounds.

Witham Town: Baker, Kemp (Pavett 63), Hayes, Payne, Akins, Cocklin, Emmanuel, Kemp, Watson, Godbold (Tejaiye 63), Charles (Oaei 85). Subs not used: White, Osei, Devaux.

Wroxham: Pride, Norman, Rust, Hinton, Taylor, Halliday, Garrod, Guyton, Stone (Attree 72), Forshaw, Kelleher (Waters 75). Sub not used: Sommerfield.

Attendance: 75