Grantham Town lose to Newton Aycliffe in the Northern Premier League East Division

Grantham Town dropped into the Northern Premier League East Division relegation zone after defeat at Newton Aycliffe on Saturday.

The Gingerbreads went down to a 4-1 away reversal and now found themselves in the bottom two on goal difference.

They trailed just one goal at the interval but the hosts scored three times in the final 26 minutes of the match to inflict a ninth defeat of the season on Paul Rawden's side.

The Gingerbreads had made the long trip to County Durham looking to complete a league double over their hosts.

They had run out 3-2 winners in the reverse fixture at the South Kesteven Stadium with Kuwesi Ofushine scoring a late winner after earlier strikes from Gregg Smith and Ethan Bojang.

Smith came back into the starting line-up for Saturday's match as Grantham made changes following their 2-1 home loss to Winterton Rangers the previous weekend.

Elliot Walker, Kwame Boateng and Harry Olivant all started with Sisa Tuntulwana, Harry Lovick, Rodrigo Goncalves and Ofushine making way.

However, Newton needed just 12 minutes to break the deadlock after having a strong penalty appeal turned down for hand-ball moments earlier.

Good work from Ethan Wood created an opening for Liam Adamson who fired home the opening goal from the edge of the area.

The hosts held the advantage going into the break and came close to doubling their lead early in the second half when Adamson smashed a shot against the crossbar.

However, a second goal did arrive after 64 minutes as Kyle Davis teed up Jack Naylor and his pass was swept home at the near post by substitute Cieran Jackson.

The win was then wrapped up by the home side in the 89th minute as Jack Raper raced clear before slotting home past Grantham goalkeeper Curtis Hall as the Gingerbreads pushed forward in search of a way back into the contest.

Grantham did pull a goal back in injury-time when substitute Goncalves crossed for Ifyanyi Ofoegbu to convert.

However, Newton Aycliffe had the final say with a fourth goal deep into stoppage time as Adamson netted his second of the game by rifling home from just outside the penalty area.

The defeat was Grantham's fourth successive league loss and they haven't tasted victory since the 2-1 home win over Grimsby Borough on September 16.

They travel to Sheffield on Saturday before a long trek to Dunston on Tuesday night.