After their superb 5-0 victory at Corby last Wednesday night, Erith & Belvedere came back down to earth when they suffered their third consecutive home defeat against Sittingbourne, losing 2-1.

The first chance came after five minutes for the away side when Bradley Spice saw his close range efforts blocked by Deres goalkeeper Dean Lee.

It was a keenly contested game with both sides challenging for every ball and the first chance for the Deres came on 35 minutes when Mark Vercesi saw his left-foot drive go just wide of the far post.

But it was Sittingbourne who took the lead on 41 minutes when Andrew Drury took advantage of a defensive mishap. Erith responded and on the stroke of half-time Chris Whitehouse saw his powerful volley shave the cross bar.

Sittingbourne increased their lead 13 minutes from time when Tyrone King's cross was initially gathered by keeper Lee, but he dropped the ball and saw it agonisingly cross over the line.

The Deres brought on three subs and piled on the pressure and a consolation goal came in the dying seconds when Adams slid the ball under the advancing Hopper.

In the Corby game, Steve White scored two first-half goals, Marvin Neufville added another two in the second half and the fifth came from a Chris Whitehouse penalty.

This Saturday, The Deres make the short journey to Fisher where earlier in the season they were beaten 5-0 in the FA Cup third qualifying round.