It was a case of deja-vu for Lichfield City FC as they suffered their second 4-1 home defeat in a row.
Ivor Green’s men fell behind against Whitchurch Alport in the 17th minute when Alex Hughes began what would turn out to be a night to remember for him as he converted a penalty.
City struck back through Kyle Patterson on the stroke of half-time, but three more second half strikes from Hughes condemned the hosts to another heavy defeat.
Charlie Shaw saw an early shot blocked as Lichfield looked to get off to a bright start.
But they were thrown out of their stride when keeper James Beeson was penalised for a trip before being sent the wrong way by Hughes from the resulting spot kick.
The Lichfield keeper had to be alert to prevent his side falling further behind after a quick counter attack.
Whitchurch Alport thought they’d doubled their lead when they netted after rounding Beeson, but the offside flag came to City’s rescue.
Jack Edwards was denied a leveller by visiting stopper Ellis Allen, while Calvin Camara saw penalty appears waved away after a collision in the box.
The equaliser did arrive just before the break though as Patterson saw a header saved only for the rebound to strike the Lichfield captain and find a way into the net.
Any hopes the goal would lead to a complete turnaround in the second half were dashed with just 48 minutes on the clock when Hughes converted a one-on-one chance to make it 2-1 to the visitors.
The task got even tougher for City when Whitchurch Alport were awarded a second penalty of the game and Hughes made no mistake to wrap up his hat-trick with an hour played.
Shaw sent an effort over the top as Lichfield looked for a way back into the game.
But it was the visitors who continued to show a lethal streak as Hughes scored his fourth of the evening with a shot from the edge of the box that found the back of the net to wrap up a disappointing City defeat.