Dereham Town bowed out of the FA Trophy in disappointing fashion on Tuesday evening when they were beaten 4-1 at home by Bowers and Pitsea in a preliminary round replay.

The Magpies, who were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw in the first game on Saturday when their hosts scored a last minute equaliser, effectively lost the tie in a disastrous 12 minute spell in the first half.

In front of a good sized crowd of 180 Bowers & Pitsea took a vice-like grip on proceedings with goals from Jamie Salmon (28 minutes), Tony Stokes (37) and Jamie Dicks (40) and never looked like relinquishing their 3-0 half-time advantage.

Ashley Jarvis reduced the arrears for Dereham on 63 minutes but David Knight made it 4-1 a minute later and the visitors then saw out the tie with the minimum of fuss.

Dereham now return to Bostik League North action, with two home matches coming up in the space of four days.

The Magpies welcome mid-table Potters Bar Town to Aldiss Park on Saturday (3pm) before playing host to Mildenhall Town, who were promoted from the Thurlow Nunn League last season, on Tuesday evening (7.45pm).

Dereham won 1-0 at Mildenhall back in August, with a late deflected effort from Jake Anema settling it.

Fakenham's Town troubled season took a new turn for the worse on Tuesday when they were forced to call off their game with Great Yarmouth Town at short notice.

The teams were due to come face to face at Clipbush Park in the Thurlow Nunn League Premier Division, but the fixture never took place, with Yarmouth's joint manager Adam Mason tweeting: '17 players, physio, coaching staff, committee members and 26 supporters let down ... very poor! In fact a disgrace!'

It is not clear whether the Ghosts called off the game because a shortage of players - or whether the players themselves had decided not to play.

Bottom of the table with just four points from 11 fixtures, Fakenham recently parted company with manager Robbie Harris, with Neil Jarvis in charge for the two previous games.